Top 9 Ways to Fix Notifications Not Working on YouTube
YouTube notifications alert you to the latest videos and posts from your favorite YouTube channels. In addition to notifying when someone likes your comment, you also learn when your favorite creator goes live. As useful as they are, there may be times when YouTube doesn’t send you any of these notifications on your Android or iPhone.
While the reason YouTube doesn’t send notifications can vary, resolving the issue is easy with the solutions mentioned below.
1. Make sure you are logged in
To be able to receive notifications from YouTube, you must first make sure that you are signed in to YouTube with your Google account. To check this open the YouTube app and tap on your profile icon in the top right corner. Tap your account name at the top to make sure you’re signed in with your Google account.
2. Check the phone’s notification settings
Next, check the notification settings on your iPhone or Android phone to make sure you haven’t turned off notifications from the YouTube app.
Android
Step 1: Long press the YouTube app icon and tap the App Info icon from the menu that appears.
2nd step: On the app info page, go to Notifications and turn on the switch next to All YouTube notifications. Make sure to turn on the other notification settings as well.
ios
Step 1: Launch the Settings app on your iPhone and scroll down to find YouTube in the list. Then go to Notifications.
2nd step: Turn on the switch next to Allow notifications if you haven’t already. Also, make sure that YouTube is allowed to send notifications on the lock screen and notification center.
3. Check the notification settings in the app
If you are still not receiving notifications from YouTube, then you should inspect the notification settings in the YouTube app. Here’s how.
Step 1: Open the YouTube app on your phone and tap on the profile picture in the top right corner.
2nd step: Now tap on Settings and go to Notifications.
Step 3: You will find all notification preferences for the YouTube app. You can set your notification preference by toggling the corresponding switches next to them.
4. Check the channel notification settings
If you don’t receive notifications from only a few channels, check the notification settings for those channels.
Step 1: Open the YouTube app and tap your profile icon in the top right corner.
2nd step: Next, select the Settings option and tap Notifications on the next screen.
Step 3: Tap Channel settings to find a list of all the channels you’ve subscribed to, along with a notification icon next to them.
Step 3: Tap the notification icon and choose All from the menu that appears.
Personalized notifications differ from user to user. YouTube uses various algorithms based on your viewing history to determine whether or not to send notifications.
5. Deactivate incognito mode
Incognito mode on YouTube is a great way to watch videos without saving any browsing history. When activated, it essentially logs you out of YouTube. Naturally, during this period, YouTube will not receive any notifications from YouTube.
To turn off incognito mode on YouTube, tap the incognito icon in the top right corner.
Choose the Disable private browsing option.
6. Enable background app refresh
Absence or the correct permissions to work in the background may prevent YouTube from fetching notifications. So make sure you have allowed YouTube to run in the background. Here’s how.
Android
Step 1: Long press the YouTube app icon and tap the App Info icon from the menu that appears.
2nd step: Go to Mobile data and Wi-Fi. Make sure the switches next to “Background data” and “Unrestricted data usage” are on.
iPhone
Step 1: Open the Settings app on your iPhone, go to General and tap on Refresh Background App.
2nd step: Scroll down to YouTube and make sure the switch next to it is on.
7. Disable Do not disturb
Do Not Disturb is a handy feature on Android and iPhone that can prevent apps and contacts from sending notifications. So, if you accidentally turned on DND mode on your phone, you might not receive notifications from YouTube.
To turn off Do Not Disturb on Android, open Settings and go to Sound. Tap Do Not Disturb and turn it off from there.
To turn off Focus mode on iPhone, open the Settings app and go to Focus. Tap the Do Not Disturb option and turn it off.
8. Update YouTube
Apps like YouTube regularly receive updates that bring bug fixes and improvements. If you have delayed app updates for YouTube, updating the app to its latest version may help resolve the issue.
9. Reinstall YouTube
Finally, if nothing works, you can try uninstalling YouTube and reinstalling it. This should remove all data associated with the app and eventually resolve the notification issues in the process.
Also on Guiding Tech
Never miss an update
Along with uploads from your favorite creators, YouTube notifications also include recommendations, mentions, and more. The above solutions should end your YouTube notifications issues for now. But if the problem persists, you may want to consider consulting the dedicated Android and iPhone notifications troubleshooting guides.
Last updated on December 20, 2021
The above article may contain affiliate links that help support Guiding Tech. However, this does not affect our editorial integrity. The content remains impartial and authentic.
(function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(d.getElementById(id))return;js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=”http://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.5&appId=1652915528311925″;fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}(document,’script’,’facebook-jssdk’));