No notification sound when Teams isn't minimized

Question

When the Teams window is open and in focus, no alert sounds or banners are displayed. Is this an intended function of the application? We have had users submit complaints that they are not receiving Teams notifications. They may be working on paperwork on their desk, and receive no alert of a message. Or they may have the Teams window up and in focus on a second monitor, but are reading or watching something on another monitor, and are missing messages because of the lack of notifications. Thank you!

Answer 1

In Microsoft Teams, notifications are designed to alert users about messages and events. However, there can be instances where notifications do not behave as expected. If the Teams window is open and in focus, it may not display alert sounds or banners, which could lead to missed messages. This behavior can be frustrating for users who are multitasking or working on other tasks while Teams is open.

One common reason for notifications not appearing is that the "Quiet Hours" feature (also known as focus assist) may be enabled, which silences notifications during designated periods. Users experiencing this issue should check their notification settings and ensure that Quiet Hours is disabled.

Additionally, if users have configured specific notification sounds, they may need to verify that these settings are correctly applied, as issues can arise where the notification sound reverts to the default macOS sound on certain devices.

If users continue to face problems, it may be beneficial to provide feedback to Microsoft or consult further troubleshooting resources to ensure that notifications are functioning as intended.

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References:

• Teams-specific notification sound reverts to macOS notification sound
• Notifications don't show in the action or notification center

Answer 2

Hi @Kevin Hulett, 

Thank you for posting your question in the Microsoft Q&A forum.   

Based on your description, when the Teams window is open and in focus, users don’t hear notification sounds or see banners, which leads to missed messages while they’re away from the keyboard or watching another screen. I truly understand and appreciate the time you’ve put into reporting this. 

Teams does play sounds and show desktop (banner) notifications when configured to do so; the behavior you’re seeing usually occurs when notifications are set to Only show in feed (no banner/no sound) or when the operating system’s Focus/quiet modes suppress alerts. Ensuring Banner and feed with sound in Teams and allowing notifications at the OS level restores the expected alerts, even when the app is open. 

Below are a few practical solutions that could best fit your current needs:  

1/ Set Teams to show banners and play sounds 

• In Teams: Settings and more > Settings > Notifications and activity. Under Chats and @mentions, choose Banner and feed.  
• Turn Play sound for incoming calls and notifications ON.  
• First things to know about notifications in Microsoft Teams - Microsoft Support 

2/ Turn Do Not Disturb off: 

• Teams > Settings & more > Settings > Notifications and activity > Open Windows Do not disturb settings > toggle Do not disturb OFF (and disable Automatic rules if needed) 

3/ Disable OS quieting features and allow Teams alerts 

• Windows: Settings > System > Focus assist > turn Off or edit Automatic rules (especially “When using full screen apps” and “When duplicating my display”).  
• Then go to Settings > Notifications and confirm Microsoft Teams is Allowed. 

4/ Customize Priority Access in Teams  

In Teams:  

• Go to Settings > Privacy.  
• Under Do Not Disturb > Manage priority access, you can set priority contacts who can still reach you. 

• This doesn’t mute the icon badge but prevents pop-ups from non-priority contacts. 

5/ If changes don’t apply, refresh the client 

• Quit Teams, clear the Teams cache, then relaunch and sign in again.  
• On Microsoft: Press Windows + R, then type: %userprofile%\appdata\local\Packages\MSTeams_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalCache\Microsoft\MSTeams 
• On Mac: Press Command + Q, type:

rm -rf ~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.com.microsoft.teams  

rm -rf ~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.teams2  

6/ Submit feedback to Microsoft   

Visit: https://feedbackportal.microsoft.com/  

• Select Teams > click “+ Send feedback”.  
• Describe the issue  
• Submit your feedback.  

As community moderators, we appreciate your understanding that our access to internal development details is limited. Our primary role is to guide users toward the appropriate resources and support channels. While we may not have visibility into deeper backend analysis, we’ll continue doing our best to support you within the scope of our responsibilities.    

I hope this information is helpful. Please follow these steps and let me know if it works for you. If you have any updates regarding the issue, please feel free to share them with me.      

Thank you for your patience and your understanding. If you have any questions or need further assistance, please feel free to share them in the comments on this post so I can continue to support you.     

I look forward to continuing the conversation. Best wishes to you and your family for a wonderful and prosperous New Year.

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