I use Slack to talk to the folks at work. When you work remotely, you can’t just pop your head over a cubicle wall or intercept someone at the coffee machine. Email is ever-present, but tools appreciate Slack help supply the kind of real-time communication we take for granted when working inside the same walls as our colleagues.
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Recently, Slack stopped issuing alert sounds when my co-workers or editors posted messages — even messages that were replies to me. Because I have a super-busy desktop with a whole mess of windows open at once, I can’t just keep the Slack window open, on top, and in the way on my main screen in case someone posts a message.
Slack notification sounds are mission-critical to my workflow. But they were gone. I’m not sure what made them go away, although I suspect it happened when I upgraded my Mac from Ventura 13.0 to 13.1. In any case, I’ve put them back now. If you have a similar problem, I have some tips.
Make sure your workspace preferences enable notifications
First, let’s get some terms clear. Slack workspaces are usually organizational groupings that consist of several channels (or topics). Slack channels are discussion areas within a workspace.
I belong to several workspaces that range from the organizations I work with directly to professional groups where members talk about relevant topics (think Facebook groups, but on Slack). While I often dip into the professional workspaces, I don’t want notifications from them to interrupt me. But I do want the notifications from my work colleagues to ping me in real time.
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Start by checking your workspace preferences. Click the little arrow by the workspace name (1) and then click Preferences (2).
Next, let’s make sure the workspace notifications are turned on by customizing Notify me about (1).
For my main work team, I want all new messages. In other workspaces, my preferences range from wanting to know if someone is talking to me directly to wanting notifications off entirely so I can check them when I get a break. You can also customize how you want your mobile devices to notify you (2).
Finally, it’s good to know if you’re being asked to combine a Huddle or are getting thread replies, so turn those on (3).
I had all these right, and still I wasn’t getting notifications.
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Check that your system sound is on
So, before I go into this, let’s just get the basics out of the way. Make sure your system sound is on and playing through your desired output device. This wasn’t my issue this time, but there’ve been situations where I’ve left the sound set to some random device and then wondered why I wasn’t hearing anything. Yeah, big duh.
Make sure your Mac allows notifications from this app
OK, now let’s go to the Mac’s notification settings. I’m showing you the revised Settings panel for Ventura, but if you’re running an earlier version of macOS, just look for notifications in the Settings explore bar.
Here, you’re going to want to click Notifications (1) and then scroll all the way down on the left column until you find Slack (2) and click it.
Pop quiz: what’s wrong with this picture?
Yes, Allow notifications was turned off. No wonder I wasn’t getting Slack alerts. Just tap it and turn it back on.
Much better. And that, dear readers, ends our story of how David lost his Slack notifications but got them back.
More Slack notification tips
Here’s a quick lightning round with more things you might want to check.
Make sure you allow sounds for the Slack notifications. This is a toggle called “Play sound for notification” in the System Settings > Notifications > Slack panel.
Double-check your Sound settings. In System Settings > Sound check to see your alert volume is high enough, that your alert sound can be heard, and that “Play sound effects through” is set to a device you can hear. Also, check that “Play user interface sound effects” is toggled on.
Did you pause notifications? When you click your profile icon, you can pause your notifications for some time. You can also set a notification arrange in notification preferences, so make sure your arrange allows you to get notifications.
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If you use an external or extra monitor, sometimes its connection status can impact sounds. Check to make sure that sounds don’t stop if you temporarily disconnect or disable the external or extra monitor.
If you’re using Windows, you can also set system notification preferences. Look in Settings→System, then Notifications & Actions. There’s a get notifications from apps option. Make sure Slack is enabled.
Both Mac and Windows now have a focus feature that fiddles with notifications. Check to see that you’re in a focus that allows notifications.
Uncheck Mute all sounds from Slack: This option is also in the Workspace preferences, but you’ll need to scroll down the notification tab to see it.
evaluate the notifications using Slack itself. Open Slack, go to Preferences, and scroll down on the Notifications tab. Under Sound & Appearance, click “Show me an example,” and your notification should fire. If it doesn’t, go back to the top of this article and try again.
Success…?
So there you go. More notifications in your life. That’s a good thing, when you need to stay in touch with your colleagues. It’s what you wanted, right? Right?
I don’t have all the answers about how to balance work and productivity, but maybe you do. Let us know how you handle Slack (and all the other notifications) in your life. Please comment below and share your pain, er, stories. Yeah, stories. That’s the ticket…
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