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How to get desktop notifications for Gmail on your computer, so you won't miss important messages

Gmail Google laptop
It's easy to enable desktop notifications on Gmail. Alexey Boldin/Shutterstock
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Whether it's an important work message or just a daily newsletter, you can enable Gmail desktop notifications so you don't miss a single email.

Turning on this feature ensures that you'll get a pop-up on your screen notifying you of a new message, even if you aren't actively at the browser tab open. The pop-up will include the sender and the email subject and usually appears in the upper right hand corner of your screen.

To find the notifications feature, you'll have to open your Gmail settings which you can access from any page. In the General menu, you'll find the desktop notifications section where you can change the settings for all mail or just the important ones. 

Here's how to do it. 

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How to get desktop notifications for Gmail

1. Open Gmail on your desktop browser.

2. Tap the gear icon in the upper right hand corner. This option will appear regardless of what page or inbox you are on.

image1_gmail_notifications
Tap the gear icon.  Marissa Perino/Business Insider

3. Tap "Settings" from the dropdown menu.

4.  The Settings menu should automatically open to the "General" tab. Scroll down until you see the "Desktop notifications" section.

image2 gmail notifications
Change your desktop notifications settings.  Marissa Perino/Business Insider

5. Click to switch the "Mail notifications" off selection to the top option: "New mail notifications on." This will notify you when any new message arrives. You can also opt for the "Important mail notifications on" if you wish to only be notified for your most important emails.

6. Scroll down to the very bottom of the page and click "Save Changes" to confirm the switch.

 

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Marissa Perino is a former editorial intern covering executive lifestyle. She previously worked at Cold Lips in London and Creative Nonfiction in Pittsburgh. She studied journalism and communications at the University of Pittsburgh, along with creative writing. Find her on Twitter: @mlperino.