Email notification sound is not working in Outlook

If the email notification sound is not working in Outlook on your Windows 11/10 computer, then this post is sure to help you fix it. Whenever a new email arrives in Outlook, it notifies the users about it by playing a sound and also shows a notification for the same. This email notification sound alerts users about the new email messages so that they never miss any important messages.

Why is my email notification sound not working?

There could be many reasons your email notification sound is not working in the Outlook desktop app. We have listed some of these reasons below.

You have disabled the Play a sound option in the Outlook app.
You have restricted your apps to use your speaker from playing sound on Windows.
You have turned on the Focus assist to avoid distractions while working on the computer.
The sound settings on your system are incorrectly configured or disabled for New Mail Notifications.

In this article, we have explained 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, try the following solutions to fix it:

Check if Play a sound setting is enabled in Outlook.
Check Notifications & action settings in Windows 11/10.
Turn off Focus assist (Quiet Hours).
Check your sound settings in Windows 11/10.
Check New Email Notification and Desktop Mail Notification settings in Windows 11/10.
Create an Inbox Rule in Outlook.

Let’s have a look at these solutions in detail.

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

Outlook will not play the notification sound if the Play a sound setting is turned off in Outlook. Check if you have disabled this setting by mistake. We have listed the steps for the same below:

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

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

If despite enabling the Play a sound option in Outlook settings, the problem still persists, check Notifications & sound settings in Windows 11/10. Outlook does not play a sound if you have disabled the app in Windows 11/10 Settings. Below, we have explained the steps to check this for both Windows 11 and Windows 10 operating systems.

Windows 11

Launch the Settings app by pressing the Win + I keys.
Select the System category from the left pane.
Click on the Notifications tab on the right side.
Scroll down the list of apps and locate the Outlook app. Turn on the switch next to the Outlook app.
Now, click on the Outlook app tab to view more settings.
Make sure that the Play a sound when a notification arrives button is turned on. If it is off, turn it on

Windows 10

Press Win + I keys to open the Settings app.
Click on the System category.
Click Notification & actions on the left pane.
Scroll down the Notifications & actions page and turn on the switch next to the Outlook desktop app.
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.

Now, check if the issue is fixed or not.

3] Turn off the Focus assist (Quiet Hours)

Focus assist is a feature in Windows 11/10 that helps users stay focused on their work by muting the notifications. Focus assist was called Quiet Hours in the earlier version of Windows 10. It gets activated automatically when you play a game, use an app in full-screen mode, etc. If you want, you can also enable this feature 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.

Below, we have explained the process to turn off Focus assist for both Windows 11 and Windows 10 users.

Windows 11

Right-click on the Start Menu and select Settings.
Go to “System > Focus assist.”
Click on the Focus assist tab to expand it and select the Off radio button.

Windows 10

Open the Settings app in Windows 10.
Click on the System category.
Select Focus assist from the left side.
Click on the Off radio button.

4] Check your sound settings in Windows 11/10

Check if you have allowed your applications to use your speaker. This setting is available in the Control Panel. Here, the instructions are the same for both Windows 11 and Windows 10 users.

Open Control Panel.
Select Large icons in the View by mode.
Click Sound. The Sound settings window will appear.
Make sure that you are under the Playback tab. Right-click on your speaker and select Properties.
Click on the Advanced tab.
Under the Exclusive Mode section, enable the checkbox that says Allow applications to take exclusive control of this device.

If the issue still persists, try the next solution.

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

In Windows 11 and Windows 10, you can set different sounds for different events, like Calendar Reminder, Critical Battery Alarm, sound to be played at the time you connect a device, New Mail Notification, Desktop Mail Notification, etc. Windows 11/10 lets users disable all these sounds with a single click or for some particular events only. Check if you have disabled this feature by mistake. The instructions are written below:

Open Control Panel.
In the Control Panel Search, type Sound.
Click Sound.
In the Sound settings window, click on the Sounds tab.
Select Windows Default in the Sound Scheme drop-down menu.
Scroll down the list in the Program Events box and select Desktop Mail Notification.
At the bottom, you will see a Sounds drop-down menu. If None is selected in that drop-down menu, you will not hear any sound on receiving a new email. Click on that drop-down menu and select the sound from the list. After selecting a sound, click on the Test button to hear it.
Click Apply.
Now, scroll down the list in the Program Events box and select New Mail Notification.
Repeat steps 7 and 8.
Click OK to save the changes.

6] Create an Inbox Rule in Outlook

If none of the above solutions work, you have to create a new Rule in Outlook to play notification sounds on receiving a new email. Follow the instructions below:

Launch Microsoft Outlook desktop app and go to “File > Manage Rules & Alerts.”

In the Rules and Alerts window, click on the New Rule button. Select Play a sound when I get messages from someone. After that, click Next.

By default, the “from people or public group” checkbox is selected. Deselect it. Now, 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?

To turn on the email notifications in Outlook, open the Outlook desktop app and go to File > Options > Mail. Now, enable the Display a Desktop Alert checkbox under the Message arrival section. Click OK to save the changes. If you want, you can also enable sound on receiving every new email by enabling the Play a sound checkbox.

Hope this helps.