Manage notifications
Control how ALLO reaches you about mentions, invites, reminders, access requests, Inbox updates, email, push, and quiet periods.
Notifications help you notice work without living in every canvas
ALLO can notify you about work that needs attention:
- mentions and replies
- invitations and access requests
- reminders, assignments, due dates, and project status updates
- OKR Check-ins
- export results
- workspace invite decisions
Inbox is the in-product list. Email, desktop notifications, mobile push, badges, and quiet-time settings control how loudly ALLO reaches you outside the drawer.
The goal is not to turn everything on. The goal is to keep important collaboration visible without creating noise you will ignore.
For the Inbox workflow, read Use Inbox. For comment and mention behavior, read Comments and mentions and Mention people and canvas collaborators.
Availability and permissions
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Available on | All workspaces where notifications are enabled. |
| Available for | Web app, desktop app, and supported mobile flows. |
| Who can manage personal notification settings | Each signed-in user. |
| Who can change workspace-wide notification behavior | Workspace admins where workspace-level settings exist. |
| What settings affect | Delivery method and interruption level. They do not grant access to private work. |
Where to find notification settings
To review notification settings:
- Open your profile or account settings.
- Go to Notifications.
- If a workspace links to notification settings from Inbox, you can start there instead.
- For desktop or mobile delivery issues, also check the browser, desktop app, operating system, or mobile app permission screen.
Desktop notifications and mobile operating systems can block alerts even when ALLO notification settings are correct.
Billing and workspace admin settings are separate. Notification settings are about how you receive updates, not who can access the work.
Places notifications can appear
| Place | What it is for | What to check if missing |
|---|---|---|
| Inbox | The full in-product ALLO notification list. | Active workspace, access to original work, and whether the item was marked done. |
| Home preview | A compact starting point for recent attention items. | Open full Inbox if the preview looks incomplete. |
| Badge count | A quick signal that something may need attention. | Counts can update live and may change after repairs or completed actions. |
| Desktop notification | Interruptive alert from browser or desktop app. | ALLO setting, browser permission, operating system permission, and Do Not Disturb. |
| Mobile push | Phone or tablet notification where supported. | ALLO setting, mobile app permission, device focus mode, and network state. |
| Outside-app notification for supported update types. | Email toggles, spam, quarantine, mail filters, and correct account email. |
Notification types worth protecting
Be careful before disabling mention, invite, access request, and reminder notifications. Those often represent work someone expects you to see.
| Notification type | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Mentions and replies | Someone is asking you to review, decide, or answer in context. |
| Access requests | Someone is blocked from opening work you may control. |
| Workspace invitations | A person may be waiting to join the workspace. |
| Reminders and due dates | Time-sensitive work can slip if hidden. |
| OKR Check-ins | Progress changed and may need review. |
| Export results | A PDF or file export may be ready to download or may have failed. |
Adjust email and push without losing Inbox
Turning off email or push does not remove Inbox items. Inbox is the in-product source. Email and push are delivery channels.
If you want fewer interruptions, reduce email and push first while keeping Inbox available. If you disable too much, teammates may still mention you, but you will need to open ALLO to see it.
Some notification defaults are enabled when no personal preference was set yet. If a setting surprises you, open Notifications and save the preference explicitly.
Mentions, replies, and timing
Mentions and replies are related, but ALLO does not treat them as identical. An explicit @ mention is a mention recipient event and appears in mention-focused Inbox or Home experiences. A plain reply in a thread can still create Inbox activity for participants, but it is not the same as being directly mentioned.
External delivery is allowed to lag behind Inbox. Use this timing model when troubleshooting:
| What you see | What it usually means | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Inbox item exists, but email did not arrive. | The in-product event worked, but external email delivery lagged, was disabled, or was filtered. | Email notification settings, spam, quarantine, mail filters, and account email. |
| Inbox item exists, but push or desktop alert did not arrive. | The in-product event worked, but the device channel did not interrupt you. | ALLO settings, device permissions, sign-in state, quiet-time settings, and notification grouping. |
| Inbox item does not exist. | The notification may not have been created for you. | Whether you were selected from the mention picker, whether you had access to the original work, and whether the thread or object still exists. |
ALLO schedules mention email about one minute after the Inbox event. The in-product item or badge appears sooner.
Quiet time and device settings
If your workspace or account supports Do Not Disturb or quiet periods, use them to pause interruptive notifications during focus time. Quiet time is not deletion. Open Inbox later to review what arrived.
| Channel | Depends on | If it is silent |
|---|---|---|
| Desktop notifications | Browser or desktop app permission, operating system notification settings, sign-in state, and focus modes. | Compare ALLO settings with OS and browser permissions. |
| Mobile push | Mobile app permission, phone or tablet notification settings, sign-in state, focus modes, and network state. | Check the mobile app and device settings first. |
If one device is silent but another works, compare device permissions before changing workspace settings. For mobile-specific delivery problems, use Troubleshoot the mobile app.
Examples
| Situation | What to do |
|---|---|
| You miss a mention. | Open Inbox first. If the item is there, the issue is probably email, push, badge, or device delivery. If the item is not there, check whether you were mentioned correctly and whether you still have access to the work. |
| A teammate says they requested access, but you never saw it. | Open Inbox and check New and Completed. Then open the item’s Share dialog if you have access. They may have requested access from a different email or an old link. |
| Mobile push is missing, but Inbox works. | Check the mobile app notification permission, device focus mode, and whether you are signed in to the same account. |
| Email invitations do not arrive. | Check spam and company quarantine. Use When an invite does not arrive for the email checklist. |
Common mistakes
- Do not use notification settings to solve permission problems. If someone cannot access work, fix sharing, workspace membership, or deactivation state.
- Do not assume email is the source of truth. Inbox is the in-product list. Email can be delayed, filtered, or disabled.
- Do not mark all Inbox items done just to remove badges if you still need to respond to access requests or mentions.
- Do not expect a disabled email setting to stop collaborators from mentioning you. It only changes delivery.
Recover when notifications feel wrong
If you receive too many notifications, review email and push channels first, then use Inbox to mark stale items done. Keep mentions and access requests visible unless you have a strong reason to mute them.
If you receive too few notifications, check Inbox, then profile notification settings, then browser, desktop, or mobile permissions.
If a specific notification does not open, check whether the original work was deleted, moved, unshared, or belongs to another workspace. See When you cannot access work.
If notifications arrive for work you should not see, ask the owner or workspace admin to review permissions. Notification cleanup should follow access cleanup.
If you contact support, include the notification type, workspace name, affected email, device or app, approximate time, and whether the item appeared in Inbox, email, push, or none of them.
Related articles
- Give feedback with comments and mentions
- Mention people and canvas collaborators
- Use Inbox
- Change profile settings
- Use notifications and badges
- Use comments on mobile
- When an invite does not arrive