How To: Fix Missing Notifications in Windows 10

If you find you're not receiving notifications for a specific application in Windows 10, the OS may just not know about it.

Rod Trent

September 4, 2015

2 Min Read
How To: Fix Missing Notifications in Windows 10

After working through a problem on Twitter yesterday, I've happened on a fix for missing notifications. Some of you may be experiencing this already, and some of you may not even realize that it's happening. In yesterday's instance a Windows 10 user was not receiving notifications (both toasts and Action Center alerts) for the built-in Mail app. Notifications were turned on in the Mail app itself…

…but after further investigation, the Mail app didn't even exist in the list of apps in Settings – System – Notifications & Actions. So, even though the Windows 10 user had configured the Mail app correctly, the Windows 10 notification system still had no idea that a Mail app existed. The Mail app hadn't registered correctly with Windows 10 when it installed, or the registry key had become corrupted.

The fix comes in the form of a Windows registry import. The import simply resets the registry key values in the following registry path:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USERSOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPushNotifications]

To do it:

  1. Download the AppDB Registry Import from our sister site, myITforum: AppDB Registry Import for Fixing Missing Notifications (49.9k)

  2. The download is delivered in a compressed file. Extract the appdb.reg file from the compressed download.

  3. Locate appdb.reg where you saved it and double-click on it.

  4. You'll be prompted with a warning:

  5. If you choose to do so, answer 'Yes' and allow the registry fix to import.

  6. Reboot the PC.

After the registry import and restarting the PC, missing apps should now show up in the list at Settings – System – Notifications & Actions.

 

This also serves to show that even if you configure notifications for an app correctly, Settings – System – Notifications & Actions still matters. It's the location where you can globally manage notifications and override specific app notification settings.

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