Check an app's notification and permission settings
Work through the settings that can silence one app: its notification switch and categories, the permissions it needs, Do Not Disturb and modes, and — only if notifications are still late — battery optimisation, which can delay alerts for apps you rarely open.
Reviewed 9 Nov 2026
Who it suits
- Notifications from one app have stopped, or only arrive when you open the app
- The app's own settings look right but nothing arrives
- You can receive a test notification at the end, from a friend or from the app itself
Who it doesn’t suit
- No apps at all can notify and the phone also never rings — that points beyond one app's settings
- The app has been uninstalled or you are signed out of it; phone settings cannot fix an app-side outage
Start guided mode or read all 6 steps below — guided mode is never mandatory.
Before you start
Preparation
- Know which app has the problem, and keep it to that one app — changing settings for every app is unnecessary.
- Arrange a way to test at the end: a message from someone else, or a reminder you set inside the app itself.
▲ Caution — possible effects
- Changing a notification category affects only that kind of alert from that app; other apps are untouched.
- Turning off battery optimisation for an app lets it run more in the background and can use more battery — Google notes this trade-off.
⬢ Stop if…
- Stop if the app itself says you are signed out, or reports its own service problem — phone settings cannot fix that; sign in, or wait and test again later.
- Do not turn off battery optimisation for every app. Only change it for the one app with the problem.
Original sources
- Control notifications on Android — Android Help (Official documentation — accessed 9 Nov 2026)
- Limit interruptions with modes and Do Not Disturb on Android — Android Help (Official documentation — accessed 9 Nov 2026)
- Keep Adaptive Battery & battery optimization on — Pixel Phone Help (Official documentation — accessed 9 Nov 2026)
Steps
Open the app's notification settings
Open Settings → Notifications → App notifications, find the app (choose 'All apps' in the drop-down if it is not listed under recent apps), and make sure its notifications are turned on. You can also reach the same switch through Settings → Apps → the app → Notifications.
Check the app's notification categories
On the app's notification screen, look at its categories if it has them — these are the types of alerts the app sends, such as messages or calls. The kind you are missing may be switched off while the rest are on; turn on the ones you want.
Check the permissions the app needs
Go to Settings → Apps → the app → Permissions. Some apps need a permission to do the job you are waiting to hear about — for example a calling app needing the microphone. Allow only permissions that make sense for what the app does.
Check Do Not Disturb and modes
Swipe down from the top of the screen and check Do Not Disturb is off, or open Settings → Notifications and review Do Not Disturb and any modes such as Bedtime. A scheduled mode can silence apps even when their own settings are on, and its filters decide which apps may break through.
Send yourself a test
Trigger a real notification now — a message from someone else, or a reminder set inside the app — and watch whether it appears without you opening the app.
Only if notifications are still late: check battery optimisation
Open Settings → Apps → the app → App battery usage. If it is set to Restricted, change it to Optimised and test again. Google notes that battery optimisation may delay notifications; setting the app to Unrestricted removes the delay but can use more battery, so treat that as the last step, for this one app only.
How to check success
Finishing the steps is not the same as fixing the problem. You are done if these practical checks pass:
- Check: Does a test notification from the app now appear without opening the app?
- Check: Does it arrive promptly, rather than only when you open the app?
- Check: Are the app's other notifications behaving as before (nothing else changed)?
If it fails
- If every setting here is correct and notifications still do not arrive, update the app from the Play Store, restart the phone, and then check the app maker's own help. The problem may be in the app or its service rather than in your phone's settings.
Evidence, review and results
- Source
- Official documentation
- Testing
- Not team-tested
- Reports
- No reviewed results yet — be the first to record yours.
An official source means the maker documents this procedure — it does not mean our team has run it, and one person’s success is not a guarantee for everyone. Public counts appear only when reviewed reports exist; none are published yet.
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About this method
Change note: First published version. Where one team did the writing, reviewing and (when done) testing, the same name appears in each role — we say so rather than invent separate people.