Outlook iOS shows app notification badge for unread mail in accounts set to Do Not Disturb. How to fix?

Question

On Outlook for iPhone with multiple accounts configured, the app badge (red notification dot/count) still appears for unread messages in accounts that are set to “Do Not Disturb” inside Outlook.

Goal:

Only receive notifications and app badge indicators for selected accounts, while other accounts are muted using Outlook’s in-app “Do Not Disturb” (bell icon).

Current behavior:

Even when an account is set to Do Not Disturb inside Outlook, marking an email as unread in that account triggers the red badge indicator on the Outlook app icon.

Steps to reproduce:

1. Add multiple accounts to Outlook for iOS.
2. Enable “Do Not Disturb” for one account using the bell icon in Outlook.
3. Leave another account with notifications enabled.
4. In the muted account, mark any message as unread.
5. Observe that the Outlook app icon shows a red badge indicator.

Expected behavior:

Accounts set to Do Not Disturb in Outlook should not contribute to the app icon badge count or red dot indicator.

Notes:

Disabling notifications globally in iOS Settings is not an acceptable workaround, since notifications are still desired for selected accounts.

Is this behaviour intended or a bug? Please suggest a solution that satisfies the goal if this behaviour is intended.

Answer 1

Dear Murad Valiev, 

Thank you for your question and for sharing the details into Microsoft Q&A Forum. 

I understand you want the Outlook iOS app icon badge to reflect only selected accounts, while other accounts are muted using Outlook’s in-app “Do Not Disturb”. Thank you for taking the time to observe this behavior and for providing such detailed reproduction steps, it’s very helpful. 

From the current design, Outlook’s app icon badge is based on unread mail (for example, “All” unread mail or unread mail in the “Focused Inbox”), and it is not exposed as a per-account badge control that follows the in-app Do Not Disturb setting. The “Do Not Disturb” feature in Outlook mobile is described as snoozing/suppressing notifications, but it does not state that it excludes an account from the unread-based badge calculation. 

Please note that this is a user-to-user support forum. Moderators and contributors (including external Microsoft employees) cannot directly intervene in Microsoft product features or access back-end systems. Our role is limited to providing technical guidance on reported issues, requests, or ideas. 

Since your request is a product behavior, the best next step is to submit feedback directly to the Outlook product team from within the app: 

• Open Outlook on your iPhone 
• Open the side menu (Home) 
• Go to Help & Feedback > Send Feedback 
• This in-app route is the quickest way to share suggestions about Outlook mobile with the Outlook product team. 

Your feedback is important, Microsoft reviews user feedback to help improve products and prioritize enhancements, especially when multiple users request the same capability. 

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