How To Fix WhatsApp Notifications Not Working

Notifications bring our attention to important messages or alerts on our devices. Missing out on these sometimes-urgent messages can cause unnecessary inconvenience. But what happens when these notifications don’t appear? Should it be a cause for alarm? In this article, we’ll tell you what to do when your WhatsApp notifications stop working regardless of the device you’re using. Let’s get started.

WhatsApp Notifications Not Working on an iPhone

To begin, iOS WhatsApp notifications are broadly classified into three categories, including:

• Sound notification – A tone plays every time you receive a WhatsApp message.
• Badge notification – A number is displayed in the middle of the WhatsApp icon on the home screen. Usually, this number represents the number of chats you haven’t opened yet.
• Alert or CarPlay notification – A banner indicating where the message is coming from pops up at the top of the screen.

If one or more of the above notifications isn’t working on your iPhone, then it’s likely an issue with your notification settings. To resolve the issue, first, verify that your WhatsApp notifications are enabled. To enable WhatsApp notifications on your iPhone settings, follow these steps:

1. Open the “Settings” app.
   
2. Tap on “Notifications.”
   
3. From the listed apps, select “WhatsApp.” If you miss the app listed on the apps list, skip to the next steps.
   
4. Turn on both the “Sounds,” “Badge,” and “CarPlay” and toggle buttons.
   

If you had WhatsApp settings disabled, you should start seeing your WhatsApp notifications coming in.

If you missed “WhatsApp” from the apps listed under “Notifications,” follow these steps instead:

1. Launch the “Settings” app.
   
2. Expand the “General” menu.
   
3. Navigate to “Transfer or Reset iPhone” and tap on “Reset.”
   
4. From the options that come up, choose “Reset Location & Privacy.”
   
5. Enter your phone’s passcode and press “Reset Settings” to continue.
   
6. Go back to the home screen and launch “WhatsApp.”
   
7. A pop-up should appear asking you to allow WhatsApp to access contacts. Go ahead and tap “OK.”
8. On the next screen, allow WhatsApp to push notifications by selecting the “Allow” option.
   

Many users have reported success following the above method. Hopefully, it works for you too.

Check Your Internet Connection

WhatsApp is an internet-based messaging platform. This means that you won’t receive any messages or notifications if you don’t have an active internet connection or allow it to use data. To rule this out, ensure you’re connected to WI-FI or have an active data plan.

If you have an active data bundle and the notifications still won’t come in, the culprit might be your internet service provider (ISP). To verify that there are no issues with your ISP, check that the network bar at the top of the screen is full and that “4G” is displayed. If the network bar is grayed out, then ISP is experiencing signal issues, but this is usually resolved shortly.

Ensure Background Apps Aren’t Restricted

Having background apps restricted means that the apps can’t access the internet even if your cellular data is active. Here’s how to disable the setting on your iPhone:

1. Go to “Settings.”
   
2. Navigate to “Screen Time” and the “Content and Privacy Restrictions.”
   
3. Scroll down to “Background App Activities.”
   
4. Enter your passcode, and on the next screen, press “Allow.”
   As an alternative, you can enable Background App Refresh. Here’s how to go about it:
   
5. Open “Settings.”
   
6. Scroll down and open the “General” menu.
   
7. Tap on “Background App Refresh.”
   
8. Turn on the toggle button against “WhatsApp Messenger” or “WhatsApp” depending on the version you’re using.
   

Restart Your iPhone

If you have your settings right, have an active internet connection, and the background apps aren’t restricted, then your next best shot is to restart your iPhone entirely. But first, it’s best to just power it off and back on again and see if those WhatsApp notifications will start to trickle in again. If the issue persists, force-restart your phone. Here’s how to do it:

1. Press and hold both the “Volume Down” and “Home” buttons simultaneously.
   
2. Wait for 10 or more seconds and release.

This should likely fix the problem, and you should have the WhatsApp notifications start to trickle in.

Uninstall and Reinstall WhatsApp

If you still can’t get WhatsApp notifications to work again, there might be a bug in the version you’re currently using. Just go to Apple Play and update the app to rule this out. Alternatively, you can uninstall and reinstall the app entirely.

WhatsApp Notifications Not Working on an Android Device

If WhatsApp notifications have stopped working on your Android, you can try out the following fixes:

1. Enable WhatsApp Notifications in “Settings.”
2. Launch “Settings.”
   
3. Tap on “Apps & Notifications.”
   
4. From the listed apps, select “WhatsApp” then “Notifications.”
   
5. Turn on all the disabled notification options.
   

Note: Due to high-end customization in Android devices, the above names might be a little different but the steps are pretty much the same.

Restart Your Phone

A quick restart is known to fix most system-level and application-level glitches. Therefore, try restarting your phone and see if your WhatsApp notifications will start showing again. If this doesn’t solve the issue, try the following fixes.

Ensure the Airplane Mode Is Disabled

Having your phone in airplane mode will cut you off from any internet-based services, including WhatsApp. As a result, you won’t be able to receive notifications from WhatsApp and other messaging apps.

Plus, since the icon for switching to airplane mode is right on the swap screen, it’s not surprising you can accidentally turn on the mode. To turn off the airplane mode, follow these steps:

1. Open the “Settings” app.
   
2. Go to “More connections.”
   
3. Switch off the toggle button against the “Airplane mode.”
   

Turn Off the “Do Not Disturb” Settings

Forgetting to turn off the “Do Not Disturb” setting once you’re done with a meeting or special event might also interfere with your notification system.

To turn off the setting, follow these steps:

1. Go to “Settings.”
   
2. Tap on “Sounds.”
   
3. Turn off “Do Not Disturb.”
   

Check That the Low Power Mode Setting Is Turned Off

When your phone is in Low Power Mode, little or no power is used. To maintain low-power performance, apps are restricted from running in the background. This explains why WhatsApp won’t push notifications while the setting is enabled. Here’s how to turn off Low Power Mode if you’re running on an Android:

1. Go to “Settings.”
   
2. Expand the “Battery” menu.
   
3. Turn off the “Low Power Mode” toggle switch.
   

Alternatively, you can just swipe down from the top of the screen and tap the Low Power Mode icon to disable the setting.

Free Up Storage

If your phone has little or no space, you won’t receive WhatsApp messages, let alone notifications. An excellent place to start freeing up your space is the gallery. Open it and delete the old media that you no longer need. You can also uninstall the apps you no longer use.

Clearing your phone’s cache can also do the trick, but that is just a temporary solution. Here’s how to clear cache from your phone:

1. Open “Settings.”
   
2. Expand the “Storage” menu.
   
3. Navigate to “Internal Storage” and then “Cached data.”
   
4. Tap “OK” on the dialogue box asking if you want to clear the cache.
   

Clearing cache won’t delete any account data or media from your phone since the cache is just a virtual memory used to store processes that need to be accessed fast.

WhatsApp Notifications Not Working on a Samsung Phone

If you’re using a Samsung and your WhatsApp Notifications won’t work, here are some fixes you can try:

Turn Off the Battery Saver

To increase your phone’s battery life, the Battery Saver feature closes all the background processes and apps, including WhatsApp. As a result, you might not be able to receive any notifications from your WhatsApp. Here’s how you can disable the feature:

1. Go to “Settings.”
   
2. Scroll down and tap on “Battery.”
   
3. Turn off the toggle switch against the “Battery Saver” option.
   

Ensure Your WhatsApp Notification Settings Are Turned On

1. On the home screen, tap and hold the WhatsApp icon.
   
2. Press on “App info.”
   
3. Open the “Notifications” menu and turn on all the notifications, including those under “Other Notifications.”
   

Some other things you can try to get your notifications working again include:

• Turn off the Airplane mode.
• Check that you have an active internet connection.
• Turn off background apps restriction.
• Ensure your phone isn’t on silent.
• Update or reinstall WhatsApp.
• Restart your phone.
• Turn off the “Do Not Disturb Mode.”

WhatsApp Notifications Not Working on the Apple Watch

If you’re not receiving WhatsApp notifications on your Apple Watch, do the following:

1. Pair your Apple Watch with your iPhone.
2. Launch the “Watch” app.
   
3. Expand the “Notifications” menu.
   
4. Under “Notifications,” scroll down to “WhatsApp” and turn on the toggle button next to it.
   

With the above settings, your Apple Watch should be able to mirror your WhatsApp notifications. If you’re still not getting the notifications, navigate to your iPhone’s “Settings” app and ensure WhatsApp notifications are enabled.

Note that your WhatsApp notifications can only go to one device at a time and not both your phone and watch. So, for example, if your iPhone is unlocked, the notifications will show up on the phone, and vice versa.

Turn Off Do Not Disturb on iPhone and Apple Watch

1. On your iPhone, then open the control center.
2. Turn off the “Do Not Disturb” mode by tapping the moon icon.
   

WhatsApp Notifications Not Working on a Mac

The current version of WhatsApp for Mac holds a bug that causes notifications not to work. For that reason, it might be best to roll back to the previous version of the app, which you can find at this link.

If you’re using WhatsApp for the Web, ensure that the desktop notifications are allowed. You can do this by clicking “Allow” on the prompt that comes up when you link your account to the WhatsApp client. If you miss the alert and you’re already logged in, follow these steps instead:

1. Log in to WhatsApp for Web.
2. Click on the three dots in the top menu of the screen.
   
3. Go to “Settings.”
   
4. Select “Notifications.”
   
5. Checkmark “Sounds” and “Desktop alerts.”
   

Your WhatsApp Notifications Are Now Trickling In

Not receiving push notifications from WhatsApp shouldn’t cause a headache. In fact, most notification problems can be fixed by double-checking that you’re running on the proper settings. A quick system restart is also known to correct most notification anomalies. Whatever your device, we hope that the fixes we’ve discussed in this article will get your WhatsApp notifications working as they should.

Have you ever experienced WhatsApp not pushing notifications? How did you resolve the issue? Please share with us your experience in the comments section below.