Desktop notifications

Gmail desktop notifications let you know when you have a new email. You'll see a pop-up when a new message arrives so you can keep track of your mail even when you’re not looking at Gmail. These notifications are available for Google Chrome, Firefox, and Safari.

Desktop notification

Turn desktop notifications on or off

  1. Open Gmail.
  2. Click the gear in the top right.
  3. Select Settings.
  4. Scroll down to the Desktop Notifications section (stay in the "General" tab).
  5. Choose one of the options:
    • New mail notifications on: If you use inbox categories, you’ll only be notified about messages in Primary.
    • Important mail notifications on: You’ll be notified about every incoming messages marked as important. Learn more about importance ranking.
    • Mail notifications off
  6. Click Save Changes at the bottom of the page.

Open Gmail settings

Important

  • You need to be signed in to Gmail and have Gmail open in your browser in order to see desktop notifications.
  • If you previously disabled all notifications for your browser, change your settings to allow notifications for mail.google.com. Here's how you can change your notification settings in Chrome.