Tips to use notifications in chats & spaces

On this page

• Turn chat notifications on or off
• Customize notifications for a single 1:1 conversation
• Customize notifications for a space
• Temporarily mute all notifications
• Get notifications about Drive activity

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Turn chat notifications on or off

Google Chat automatically notifies you with a message on your desktop, when you create or respond to a chat message or if you’re @mentioned. But if you prefer not to see these notifications, you can turn them off.

Tip: Turn chat notifications on or off as described here. Then customize them for a specific conversation or space, as described in tips below.

Learn how

Customize your chat notifications from either the Chat app or from Gmail, depending on which app you use for messaging.

Turn on notifications in Chat

1. On your computer, go to Google Chat.  
2. At the top right, click Settings .
3. To turn on notifications for Google Chat messages, under "Desktop notifications," check the box next to "Allow chat notifications."

Tip: To turn email notifications for unread messages on or off, under "Email notifications," select Only @mentions & direct messages or Off.

Check if notifications are on in Chat

1. On your computer, go to Google Chat.  
2. At the top right, click Settings . 
3. Under "Desktop notifications," click Show an example.
4. If an example notification doesn’t appear:
   • Your notifications may be muted because of your availability status. 
   • Turn on notifications for the device and browser you use with Google Chat.

 Turn off notifications in Chat

1. On your computer, go to Google Chat.
2. At the top right, click Settings .
3. To turn off notifications for Google Chat messages, under "Desktop notifications," uncheck the box next to "Allow chat notifications."

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Turn on Chat notifications in Gmail

1. On your computer, open Gmail.
2. At the top right, click Settings See all settings.
3. At the top, click the Chat and Meet tab.
4. Under "Chat notifications settings," click Manage chat settings.
5. To turn on notifications for Google Chat messages, under "Desktop notifications," check the box next to "Allow chat notifications."

Check if notifications are on in Gmail

1. On your computer, open Gmail.
2. At the top right, click Settings   See all settings.
3. At the top, click the Chat and Meet tab.
4. Next to "Chat notifications settings," click Manage chat settings.
5. Under "Desktop notifications," click Show an example.
6. If an example notification doesn’t appear:
   • Your notifications may be muted because of your availability status. 
   • Turn on notifications for the device and browser you use with Gmail.

Turn off Chat notifications in Gmail

1. On your computer, open Gmail.
2. At the top right, click Settings   See all settings.
3. At the top, click the Chat and Meet tab.
4. Next to "Chat notifications settings," click Manage chat settings.
5. To turn off notifications for Google Chat messages, under "Desktop notifications," uncheck the box next to "Allow chat notifications."

Learn more at the Google Chat Help Center

 

 

Customize notifications for a single 1:1 conversation

You can turn off chat notifications in general but still be notified for an important 1:1 conversation, such as with your manager or a preferred client. Or conversely, maybe you want to receive chat notifications, but not from one conversation in particular. Just find the 1:1 conversation, and customize its notification setting.

Learn how

This applies only for a conversation with one person:

1. On your computer, open Google Chat.
2. Next to the direct message, click More options    Notification settings.
3. Click Turn off notifications or Turn on notifications.
4. Optional: To prevent the conversation from being bolded and moved to the top of your conversation list, select the box next to "Mute conversation."

Learn more at the Google Chat Help Center

 

 

Customize notifications for a space

If you belong to a space, you can adjust how and when you're notified of new messages in that particular space. You have these options for getting notifications:

• For new messages and replies to threads that you follow (the default)
• Only for replies and threads you follow, plus @mentions
• No notifications, just a dot if you're @mentioned

Learn how

1. By the name of the space, click the Down arrow .
2. Select notifications .
3. Select an option for notifications:
   • All: Notifications for new messages and replies to threads you follow. 
     • Tip: This is the default setting.
   • Following: Notifications for replies and threads you follow and @mentions. 
   • None: No notifications, just a dot if you’re @mentioned.

Tip: When you follow a thread in a space, you’re notified with a red dot whenever there’s activity in that thread. You can view the number of unread messages next to each thread in a space.

Learn more at the Google Chat Help Center

 

 

Temporarily mute chat notifications

If you need to focus on something important, you can temporarily stop desktop notifications in Chat or Gmail. You might also want to mute notifications while giving a live presentation in a video meeting. Just set your Chat or Gmail status to Do not disturb  . So you don't forget to turn notifications back on, set a time or duration for Chat to turn them back on for you.

Learn how

Change chat status to Do not disturb

1. On your computer,  open Google Chat or Gmail.
2. At the top, click your status.
3. Select Do not disturb.  
4. To set your preferred duration, select a duration from the list or click "Until a specific time."  
5. Click Set.

Tip: Notifications automatically turn back on after the mute duration expires. To end mute sooner, click your status  Do not disturb  Turn off Do not disturb.

Learn more at the Google Chat Help Center

 

 

Get notifications about Drive activity

Available only if your organization allows adding apps to Chat. 

To quickly find out when someone shares a Drive file with you or mentions you in a comment, you can have Drive send you a notification in Chat. Just add the Drive app to Chat, then ask Drive to start sending you notifications.

Get notifications from Drive about events such as...

• A new file or folder that’s shared with you
• A new comment or action item that mentions you or is assigned to you
• Access request to a file you own
• Alerts for storage space

Learn how

Step 1: Add the Drive app to chat

Available only if your organization allows adding apps to Chat.  

Follow these steps to add the Drive app:

1. ​​​​Go to Google Chat or your Gmail account.
2. Next to “Chat,” click Start a new chat   Find apps.
   • For Chat in Gmail, click New chat   Find apps.
3. Search or browse for an app.
4. Click the app card.
5. Choose an option:
   • To install the app, click Install.
   • To add the app to a space:
     1. Click Add to space
     2. Select the space.
     3. Click Add.

Step 2: Turn on Drive notifications in Chat or Gmail

1. On your computer,  open Google Chat or Gmail.
2. Send any direct message (such as "hello") to the Google Drive app.
3. In the response, click Turn On Notifications.

Turn off Drive notifications in Chat or Gmail

1. On your computer,  open Google Chat or Gmail.
2. Send any direct message (such as "hello") to the Google Drive app.
3. In the response, click Turn Off Notifications.

To turn notifications back on, send another direct message to the Google Drive app.

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