Outlook 365 notification issues

Hi there,

My boss just switched over to this version at the office, and since I’ve never actually used it before, I’m running into two specific headaches while trying to get things set up my way.

1 - Sound and pop-up alerts. I found the settings and toggled them on in Outlook, and I even tried messing with the Windows sound schemes, but nothing. No sound when an email hits the inbox, and no pop-ups either. Just silence.

2 - This might be a lost cause given how these web interfaces work, but the distinction between read and unread emails is pretty poorly designed. The subject line just shifts from blue to black, which is barely noticeable in practice. I really wish there was a classic bold option or even just some higher color contrast to make it obvious. As far as I can tell, there aren't any settings to fix this...

thanks 👋

bluemason3 said:Hi there,

My boss just switched over to this version at the office, and since I’ve never actually used it before, I’m running into two specific headaches while trying to get things set up my way.

1 - Sound and pop-up alerts. I found the settings and toggled them on in Outlook, and I even tried messing with the Windows sound schemes, but nothing. No sound when an email hits the inbox, and no pop-ups either. Just silence.

2 - This might be a lost cause given how these web interfaces work, but the distinction between read and unread emails is pretty poorly designed. The subject line just shifts from blue to black, which is barely noticeable in practice. I really wish there was a classic bold option or even just some higher color contrast to make it obvious. As far as I can tell, there aren't any settings to fix this...

thanks 👋

Do you know which license she's on—is it E1 or E3? And are you trying to tweak these settings via Outlook on the web? Which browsers have you tested this in? Also, do you have the Office extension installed in your browser?

I've been using Office 365 (specifically the E3 tier) for about a year now and haven't run into these issues. Honestly, she should just open a support ticket with her company's IT department; there's no need for you to stress yourself out over it.

I haven't a clue 😁 (and I'm not even at my desk right now)...
Yeah, she's online, just using IE, which is what it opens with by default. I didn't check if there are any other browsers installed, and I don't have the permissions to install anything else on my end.

What kind of issues are you running into? Honestly, I think this first thing is just a technical glitch, whereas the second part seems like a standard setting that simply can't be changed. 🤔

Of course she could sort it out with the company, but it’s easier for her to just ask me since I'm already downtown... besides, she's getting up there in years (retired, actually, though she still does some freelance work) and this kind of tech back-and-forth really wears her down. Unfortunately, I was off the clock, so I couldn't reach out to IT directly.