How to Get New Mail Desktop Notifications for Gmail

See message alerts even when Gmail is closed

by
Heinz Tschabitscher
Heinz Tschabitscher
Writer
A former freelance contributor who has reviewed hundreds of email programs and services since 1997.
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Heinz Tschabitscher
Updated on February 02, 2021
reviewed by
Jon Fisher headshot
Jon Fisher
Lifewire Tech Review Board Member
Jonathan Fisher is a CompTIA certified technologist with more than 6 years' experience writing for publications like TechNorms and Help Desk Geek.
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Article reviewed on Nov 06, 2020
Jon Fisher

It's possible to set up desktop notifications in Gmail so that you get alerts when you receive new emails. You'll even see notifications when you aren't actively using Gmail.

Instructions in this article apply to the web version of Gmail. Desktop notifications for Gmail work in most browsers, including Chrome, Opera, Firefox, Edge, and Safari.

How to Turn on Desktop Alerts for New Gmail Messages

Enabling Gmail alerts requires a small tweak to your Gmail settings and then telling your browser to accept push alerts.

  1. Select the gear in the upper-right corner of Gmail, then select See aa settings from the drop-down menu.

    Gmail with the Settings command highlighted

  2. Select the General tab.

    Gmail settings with the General tab highlighted

  3. Scroll down to the Desktop Notifications section and select one of the options:

    • New mail notifications on: Gmail sends you notifications for all new messages arriving in your inbox folder. You won't receive notifications for messages that are filtered to trash, automatically marked as read, or identified as junk.
    • Important mail notifications on: Gmail only sends desktop notifications for emails that are identified as important by Gmail.
    • ​Mail notifications off: Gmail will not send email desktop alerts.

    Select the link called Click here to enable desktop notifications for Gmail.

    If prompted to confirm that the browser should accept Gmail notifications, select Allow or Yes.

    Gmail General Settings with the desktop notifications options highlighted

  4. Scroll to the bottom and select Save Changes.

    Gmail settings with the Save Changes button highlighted

  5. In Windows 10, you must enable notifications from Chrome in the Windows Action Center. Type Notifications & action settings into the Windows search bar and select that option from the pop-up menu.

    Mac and Linux users can skip to step 7.

    Windows with Notifications & Actions settings highlighted

  6. Set notifications for your browser to On.

    The Windows notifications settings with the Chrome switch highlighted

  7. Refresh your browser. It may take a little while for the change to take effect.

New message alerts appear in your computer's notifications tab.

It's also possible to set custom sounds for new mail alerts in Gmail.

New message alerts will appear in your computer's notifications tab.

Gmail Desktop Notifications Not Working?

If Gmail desktop notifications aren't working in Chrome:

  1. Select the padlock to the left of the Gmail address bar.

    The Gmail inbox in Chrome with the padlock icon highlighted

  2. Select Site settings from the drop-down menu.

    Chrome with the Site Settings option highlighted

  3. Make sure Notifications is set to Allow.

    Chrome Site Settings with the Notifications options highlighted

You can also adjust notification settings in Opera and Edge by selecting the padlock beside the address bar.

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