I am only receiving group sound notifications during Teams meetings

Question

I am receiving individual chat sound notifications all the time, however, I am only receiving group sound notifications while I am in teams meetings. All sounds are checked. Volume is up.

Answer 1

Dear @Shaw, Christina,

Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Q&A Forum.

I understand how challenging and disruptive this specific sound issue can be to your workflow. It’s annoying when individual chat sounds work fine, but group chat notifications remain silent until you join a meeting. This kind of selective failure is quite unique, but we’ll work through it together.

The fact that individual chat sounds are working suggests your main volume and many global settings are correct. However, this unusual behavior points to a specific configuration impacting group messages or your presence status.

I attempted to replicate this on my end and my sound functions as expected across both individual and group chats, which confirms this is likely an issue specific to your setup.

Here are a few steps you can try to troubleshoot this:

1.Check the Core Sound Section

1. In Teams, click the three dots next to your profile picture > Settings > Notifications and activity.
2. Under the General section, look for a primary toggle or checkbox labeled:
   • Play sound with notifications
   • Play sound with incoming calls, requests to join, and meeting start notifications (Newer versions)
   • Play sound when I'm busy or in a meeting
3. Ensure the necessary boxes are checked.
   

2.Check the Specific Group Chat Mute Status

It is possible that the specific group chats are individually muted, which overrides the global settings when you are outside a meeting. The chat notifications inside a meeting often behave differently, which is why you hear them then.

1. Go to the Chat tab.
2. Find the group chat in question (or any group chat where you are missing sounds).
3. Right-click on the chat name.
4. Check the Mute status. If the chat is muted, an icon will be visible, and you need to select "Unmute" to restore sound notifications.

3. Check Focus Assist (Windows Only)

Windows Focus Assist can block notifications system-wide based on rules, and it is frequently enabled automatically during presentations or when a Teams app is running full-screen.

1. On your Windows taskbar, click the Time and Calendar (usually in the bottom right corner).
2. Look for Focus
3. Ensure it is set to Off or that your Automatic rules (like during certain hours or when duplicating a display) are not running.

4. Clear the Teams Desktop Cache

If all settings appear correct, the application's cache may be corrupted, causing it to incorrectly manage notification states for group chats.

Method 1: Reset the App

1. Type settings in the search box, and then select the Settings app from the results.
2. Select Apps > Installed apps, and then type Microsoft Teams in the search box.
3. Locate the New Microsoft Teams app, select the More options button (...) on the right, and then select Advanced options.
4. In the Reset section, select Reset.
5. Restart Teams. (Note: This action deletes app data, including personalization settings.)

Method 2: Delete the Files

1. If Teams is still running, right-click the Teams icon on the taskbar, and then select Quit.
2. Open the Run dialog box by pressing the Windows logo key + R.
3. In the Run dialog box, enter the following path, and then select OK: %userprofile%\appdata\local\Packages\MSTeams_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalCache\Microsoft\MSTeams
4. Delete all files and folders in the directory.
5. Restart Teams.

For reference: Clear the Teams client cache - Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Learn

 

If none of the above solutions work, let me know for further investigation. Please note that our initial response does not always resolve the issue immediately. However, with your help and more detailed information, we can work together to find a solution. Thank you for your patience and understanding. I'm looking forward to your reply. 

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