How to Stay on Top of Your Work with Microsoft Teams Notifications and Activities
Are you struggling or overwhelmed by information and/or communication overload in Microsoft Teams? Take control by getting to know notifications and activity. Microsoft Teams notifications are simply that – notifications that alert you to new information, whether they are @mentions, chat messages, or comments related to your work. To help you stay informed and connected with your team members, meetings, and other apps, you have built-in flexibility to better manage your notifications.
What are the different types of notifications in Teams?
Teams offer three main ways to receive notifications: the activity feed, chat, and desktop (or banner) notifications.
- The activity feed shows you what’s happening across your teams and channels, such as unread messages, @mentions, replies, and reactions. Access the activity feed by clicking on the Activity icon on the left side of Teams. You can also filter the activity feed by type, such as @mentions, replies, or likes.
- Chat shows you your group and one-on-one conversations with a count of unread messages. You can access chat by clicking on the Chat icon on the left side of Teams. You can also pin your favorite chats to the top of the list for easy access.
- Desktop notifications pop up on your screen when you receive a new message or call, and you can choose to show or hide a message preview. You can also reply to a message or answer a call directly from the notification. Desktop notifications are enabled by default, but you can turn them off or change their appearance in your notification settings.
Customize your notification settings
You can access your notification settings by selecting Settings or More (...) in the top right corner of Teams, then Settings > Notifications. Here, you can customize how, when, and where your notifications appear and turn on or off notification sounds.
Some of the options you can choose from are:
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Email notifications: You can choose whether to receive email notifications from Teams for missed activity or chat messages. You can also set the frequency of email notifications, such as every 15 minutes, hourly, or daily.
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Mobile notifications: You can choose whether to send notifications to your phone Always or only When I'm not active on desktop. You can also set quiet hours to mute notifications during a specific time of day or days of the week.
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Channel notifications: You can set notifications per channel, depending on how much activity you want to see from each channel. You can choose from All Activity, Off, or Custom. Custom lets you select specific types of notifications, such as channel @mentions, replies to your messages, or new posts.
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App notifications: You can manage notifications from other apps you have added to Teams, such as Planner, Forms, or Power BI. You can turn on or off app notifications for each app individually.
Conclusion
Are you ready to take control of your notifications and activities in Teams? If so, don't wait any longer, and start customizing your settings today. You will be amazed by how much more productive and focused you will be with the right notifications at the right time.