Outlook Notifications Not Working on Mac | Get the Fixes Now

Missing critical emails, calendar or reminder alerts because an error “Outlook notification not working Mac” occurred. It is a major disruption to productivity. It is one of the most common issues with Outlook.

The failure of notification can occur from a variety of sources, such as a setting in macOS or the Outlook application itself. It could go more advanced, like an issue with the Outlook rules or cluttering of Outlook cache files. To restore the workflow and to ensure to not miss any important messages or meetings again, we have structured the different approaches to fix the issue. The guide will give all the steps to permanently resolve the problem.

How to Fix “Outlook Notifications Not Working on Mac”?

As we said before, there are multiple methods with which we can fix this issue. Here, we have divided the solutions into two different sections to simplify the process of troubleshooting. Try the common or the standard steps first and check if the notifications are working or not. Move to the advanced steps.

Standard Troubleshooting Steps

To begin fixing the “Outlook Notifications Not Working on Mac” issue required a straightforward step-by-step process. Let’s start with the basic resolving techniques that rely on the Mac’s settings and Outlook.

Step 1: Verify macOS Notifications Settings

Like any operating system, Mac also has app notifications. Therefore, it is primary to check the Mac’s System settings. If it is disabled, Outlook will not display notifications.

1. Open System Preferences. Click on Apple Mail and select System settings.
2. Navigate to Notifications.
3. In the App list and select Microsoft Outlook.
4. Check if the Allow Notification is toggled ON.
5. Set the Alert style to ‘Banner’ or ‘Alerts’.
6. Ensure the following toggles are ON.
   • Show notification on lock screen.
   • Show in Notification Centre
   • Badge App Icon.

Step 2: Check Outlook’s Notifications Preferences

If the above method is not working and still shows “Outlook notification on working on Mac”, then check the settings within the Outlook application. Outlook must be configured to send the notification before it can utilise the macOS notification system.

1. Start the Outlook Application.
2. Click on the Outlook menu and select Preferences.
3. Select Notifications & Sounds.
4. Under the Message arrival section, ensure to check the following:
   • Display an alert on the desktop.
   • Change the badge count in the Dock
   • Customise or Confirm preferred Sound set.

Step 3: Disable Do Not Disturb Modes to Fix “Outlook Notifications Not Working on Mac”

Focus mode(for older macOS versions – Do Not Disturb) is an advanced feature in macOS designed to help you concentrate on work by filtering notifications. The Focus Modes can override all the app notification settings. Therefore, in this step, we will check the Focus mode.

Check Mac Focus Mode:

1. Open System Settings > Focus
2. Ensure all the Focus Modes are OFF.
3. Else, check that Microsoft Outlook is specifically added as an allowed app under Allows Notification.

Check Outlook’s Do Not Disturb

1. In the Outlook app, find the notification bell icon.
2. Click it to ensure the Do Not Disturb is disabled.

Advanced Solution to Fix Outlook Notifications Not Working on Mac

The above give the standard or common reasons why Outlook is not showing the notifications. If none of the above worked, perform the following troubleshooting steps

Clear Outlook’s Cache and Preferences

Accumulated cache files and corrupted preferences are a frequent cause of Outlook application malfunctions. Therefore, if you clear Outlook cache on Mac, it will force Outlook to rebuild the data.

1. Close Outlook completely.
2. Go to Finder.
3. Click Go in the top menu bar and select Go to Folder….
4. Enter the following path: ~/Library/Caches
5. Locate the Outlook folder and delete/ remove from the folder com.microsoft.Outlook.
6. Optional: Reset preference: Go to Go to folder and type: ~/Library/Preferences. Look for files like com.microsoft.Outlook.plist.
7. Now, restart Outlook. It will then recreate the necessary files.

Check if Outlook is Running

For Outlook for Mac, it needs to be actively running to check for new mail or trigger the notification, unlike the mobile app. Thus, check whether Outlook is running properly if “Outlook Notifications Not Working on Mac”.

Check Login Items:

1. Go to System Settings > General > Login Items.
2. Under Open at Login, click on the + button and add Microsoft Outlook.

Update Outlook and macOS

As always, outdated software often contains known or unknown bugs related to OS compatibility.

• Updated Outlook Application: Open Outlook, go to Help and select Check for updates. Install any available updates.
• Update macOS: Click the Apple Menu > System Settings > General > Software Update.

Check the Outlook Rules

1. Go to Tools > Rules.
2. Review the rules you have created.

Rules like automatically moving the email messages to a subfolder will prevent any notification. Outlook only sends notifications for mail arriving in the primary Inbox.

For more details, check out the article here: Why is my Outlook Rule Not Working Properly?

Final Notes

In the end, the repairing of the “Outlook notifications not working on Mac” issue should go through a logical process that encompasses conducting basic verifications, such as checking the notification settings in macOS, ensuring compatibility between Outlook notification preferences and settings and verifying that no Focus modes are interrupting the settings. If the standard method is not effective, then there is the advanced one. Although the absence of notifications does not cause the issue of mail data being at risk, it is still very important to keep the application stable; hence, for data management, transfer, the use of OLM Converter for local Outlook data is recommended.