Email notification sound is not working in Outlook

Email notification sound is not working in Outlook on your Windows 11/10 computer, this post will help you fix it. Whenever a new email arrives in Outlook, it should notify users about it by playing a sound and also show a notification. This email notification sound alerts users about new email messages so they never miss any important messages.

Why is my email notification sound not working?

There may be several reasons why your email notification sound is not working in the Outlook desktop app. Some of these reasons are listed below.

• The Play a sound option in the Outlook app is disabled.
• You have restricted your apps to use your speaker from playing sound on Windows.
• The Focus Assist feature has been turned on to help you avoid distractions while working on your computer.
• New Mail Notifications will not work correctly unless the sound settings on your system are properly configured and enabled.

In this article, we explain some methods that may help you get rid of this problem.

Email notification sound is not working in Outlook

If the email notification sound is not working in Outlook on your computer, you can try the following solutions to fix it:

• Play a sound when a new message arrives in Outlook.
• Check the notification and action settings in Windows 10.
• To disable Focus Assist (Quiet Hours), follow these steps:
• Check your sound settings in Windows 11/10.
• Windows 11/10: Check your New Email and Desktop Mail Notification settings
• Create a rule in Outlook to manage your incoming email.

1] Check if Play a sound setting is enabled in Outlook

If the “Play a sound” setting is turned off in Outlook, notification sounds will not play. Check to see if this setting has been disabled by mistake. The steps to do this are listed below.

• Launch the Microsoft Outlook desktop app.
• Click on the File menu and select Options.
• In the Outlook Options window, select the Mail option from the left pane.
• On the right side, under Message arrival, enable the Play a sound checkbox.
• Click OK to save the changes.

2] Check Notifications & action settings in Windows 11/10

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If the Play a sound option is enabled in Outlook but the problem still persists, check the Notifications & sound settings in Windows 11/10. Outlook will not play a sound if you have disabled the app in Windows 11/10 Settings. To check this, follow the steps below for both Windows 11 and Windows 10 operating systems.

Windows 11

• Open the Settings app by pressing the Win + I keys.
• Select System from the left pane.
• Click on the Notifications tab on the right side.
• Scroll to find Outlook in the list of apps. Turn on the switch next to its name to enable it.
• Click the Outlook app tab to view more settings.
• Turn on the “Play a sound when a notification arrives” button.

Windows 10

• To open the Settings app, press Win + I keys.
• Click on the System category.
• Click on the “Notifications & actions” option in the left pane.
• Scroll down the Notifications & actions page, turn on the switch next to the Outlook desktop app.
• Now, click on the Outlook desktop app on the same page.Now, click on the Outlook desktop app on the same page and check if the “Play a sound when a notification arrives” button is turned on. If not, turn it on.

3] Turn off the Focus assist (Quiet Hours)

To stay focused on your work, you can enable Focus assist in Windows 11/10. This feature was called Quiet Hours in the earlier version of Windows 10. Focus assist will automatically activate when you play a game or use an app in full-screen mode. If you want, you can also enable Focus assist manually from Windows 11/10 Settings. Outlook notifications will not work if you have enabled this feature manually. You can check it in Settings. If it is enabled, consider disabling it.

The process to turn off Focus assist for Windows 11 and Windows 10 users is explained below.

Windows 11

• Click the Start Menu, then click Settings.
• To enable Focus Assist, go to System > Focus Assist.
• To turn off Focus assist, click the tab to expand it and select the Off radio button.

Windows 10

• Open Settings in Windows 10.
• The System category is where you can find all the options for your game.
• Select “Focus assist” from the left side.
• Click the Off radio button.

4] Check your sound settings in Windows 11/10

Check if your applications are allowed to use your speaker in the Control Panel. The instructions are the same for Windows 10 and Windows 11 users.

• Open Control Panel.
• The View by mode can be changed to display Large icons.
• Click the sound icon. The sound settings window will appear.
• Right-click on your speaker under the Playback tab and select Properties.
• Click on the Advanced tab.
• Enable the checkbox labeled “Allow applications to take exclusive control of this device” under the “Exclusive Mode” section.

5] Check New Mail Notification and Desktop Mail Notification settings in Windows 11/10

If you have Windows 11 or Windows 10, you can set different sounds for different events. For example, you can set a sound for Calendar Reminders, a Critical Battery Alarm, or a sound to be played when you connect a device. You can also set a sound for New Mail Notifications, Desktop Mail Notifications, and more. If you accidentally disabled this feature, you can follow the instructions below to enable it again.

• Open Control Panel.
• In the Control Panel, search for “Sound.”
• Click Sound.
• Click on the “Sound” tab in the “Settings” window.
• Select Default Windows in the Sound Scheme drop-down menu.
• Choose the “Desktop Mail Notification” option from the list in the “Program Events” box.
• If “None” is selected in the “Sounds” drop-down menu, you will not hear any sound when you receive a new email. To select a sound, click the drop-down menu and choose from the list. After selecting a sound, click “Test” to hear it.
• Click Apply.
• Now, in the Program Events box, scroll down to select New Mail Notification.
• Repeat steps 7 and 8.
• Click OK to save the changes.

6] Create an Inbox Rule in Outlook

have been using the Microsoft Outlook desktop app for a while now, and I have never had any problems with it until recently. I don’t know what happened, but all of a sudden, it stopped playing notification sounds when I received new emails. I checked all the settings, and everything seems to be in order, but still no sound. Does anyone know how to fix this?Launch Microsoft Outlook desktop app and go to “File > Manage Rules & Alerts.”

In the Rules and Alerts window, click on the “New Rule” button. In the “Select conditions” drop-down menu, choose “People or public group.” In the “Select action(s)” drop-down menu, choose “Play a sound.” After that, click “Next.”

The checkbox to select the “from people or public group” is selected by default, deselect it. Then, scroll down the list and select the “on this computer only” checkbox. In the Step 2 box, click on the “play a sound” link to select the sound that you want Outlook to play at the time of receiving new emails. Click Next until you reach the Finish rule setup screen. Here, you can activate the rule for all email accounts on Outlook (this option is helpful if you have added more than one email account on Outlook). For this, enable the checkbox that says “Create this rule on all accounts.” Now, click on the “Finish” button.

How do I turn on email notifications in Outlook?

Open Outlook and go to “File > Options > Mail.” Enable the “Display a Desktop Alert” checkbox under the “Message arrival” section. Click “OK” to save the changes. You can also enable sound on receiving every new email by enabling the “Play a sound” checkbox.