Troubleshoot push notifications

If you're having trouble with push notifications, you're in the right place. Before diving in, make sure you've enabled push notifications on your browser & device by following these instructions.

Configure push notifications

Web & desktop app

1. Go to Settings > Notifications
2. Under People, select “All senders” to receive notifications from other human senders, or “Just ones I choose” to manually enable push on a sender-by-sender basis
3. Toggle on any built-in labels you’d like to be notified of
4. Add any custom labels you'd like to be notified of by clicking + Add under Custom labels

Android

1. Tap your avatar in the bottom left
2. Hit ⚙️ Settings > Notifications
3. Follow the “Web & desktop” steps above

iOS

Push notifications are supported on iOS, but default notification settings must be configured via our web app using the instructions above. This can be done from a web browser on your iOS device or a desktop device.

Why am I getting unexpected notifications?

This is most likely due to overlapping settings.

There are several conditions that result in a message sending a push notification: senders, labels, matching keywords. If any of these conditions are true, a push notification will be sent. For example, if you have disabled notifications for a label but a sender within that label has notifications enabled, you will still receive a notification.

Why am I not getting push notifications?

Notifications are disabled for your browser / device

Confirm notifications are enabled on your device. Follow the instructions here.

Notifications are not enabled for any senders

Check Settings > Notifications in a browser or on Android to confirm push is on for an expected sender. In most cases, adjusting your settings under the People section to “All senders” will help ensure you never miss an important email from another human. Also be sure to confirm the sender you expect notifications has not been added to your block list in Settings > Blocked senders.

Notifications are not enabled for any labels

Push notifications can be configured to send if a thread has a specific label. To manage which built-in and custom labels send push notifications, see Settings > Notifications and follow the steps at the top of this article.

Permissions revoked

Occasionally, push notification permissions can be automatically revoked. Signing out of Shortwave, completely quitting the app, then signing back into Shortwave will fix this and resume push notifications.

Available hours enabled

Available hours allow you to configure times during the day to mute push notifications. Check the bottom of Settings > Notifications to see if you have available hours enabled. Ensure you have days of the week selected and 24hr formatted time that does not conflict.