Why aren't my notifications showing up?
Not getting Beeper notifications? Notifications have to be allowed in three places: your device's operating system, Beeper's own settings, and each connected chat network. Select the Beeper app you're using below and follow the checklist.
How notifications reach you: for a Beeper notification to show up, three layers must all allow it: (1) your device's operating system, (2) Beeper's own notification settings, and (3) the chat network account (and chat) the message came from. If any one of them is off or muted, the notification won't appear. Pick your app below and work through each check.
Beeper Desktop for Windows, macOS and Linux. Tap each step to expand it.
1Allow Beeper notifications in your operating system
Choose your operating system:
- Open Start → Settings → System → Notifications (on Windows 10: Settings → System → Notifications & actions).
- Make sure Notifications (“Get notifications from apps and other senders”) is turned On.
- Scroll to Notifications from apps and other senders, find Beeper and turn it On. Click it to confirm Show notification banners and Play a sound are enabled.
- Make sure Do not disturb is off and no Focus session is running (also check Turn on do not disturb automatically rules).
Beeper may not always appear as its own entry in the app list. If you can't find it, make sure notifications are enabled system-wide and for apps in general, then send yourself a test message to trigger the entry.
- Open Apple menu → System Settings → Notifications.
- Under Application Notifications, click Beeper.
- Turn on Allow notifications.
- Set the alert style to Banners (or Alerts if you want them to stay on screen) and enable Show on Lock Screen, Show in Notification Center, Badge application icon and Play sound for notifications.
- Check System Settings → Focus and make sure Do Not Disturb or any other active Focus isn't silencing Beeper (or add Beeper to its allowed apps).
Notification settings depend on your desktop environment. The most common ones:
- GNOME (Ubuntu, Fedora…): open Settings → Notifications, make sure Do Not Disturb is off, then click Beeper and enable Notifications and Notification Popups.
- KDE Plasma: open System Settings → Notifications, make sure Do Not Disturb is off, then under Application Settings → Configure… select Beeper and enable Show popups.
- Other environments (Xfce, Cinnamon, tiling window managers…): make sure a notification daemon is running (e.g. xfce4-notifyd, dunst, mako) and that it isn't paused.
If you run Beeper as a Flatpak or Snap, also confirm the sandbox allows notifications (e.g. via Flatseal for Flatpak).
2Check Beeper Desktop → Settings → Notifications
- In Beeper Desktop, open Settings → Notifications.
- Make sure notifications for messages and group messages are enabled.
- Pick a notification sound (and make sure it isn't set to none if you expect audio).
- Review the notification delay setting — a long delay can make notifications feel like they never arrived.
- Check whether notifications are set to show while Beeper is in focus. If this is off, you won't get a notification while you're actively using the app.
- Optionally review alerts for reactions and other activity.
3Check each chat network in Settings → Accounts
- Open Settings → Accounts.
- Click each connected chat network (WhatsApp, Telegram, Instagram, Messenger, Signal, Discord, etc.).
- Make sure notifications are enabled for that account, and optionally check its sound and message previews.
- Repeat for every chat network you use.
Heads up: even if notifications are enabled at the OS level and in Beeper, a muted chat network will not send you notifications. The same applies to individual muted chats — right-click (or long-press) the chat and choose Unmute if needed. In muted chats, only @mentions show a grey dot and won't notify you.
Beeper for iPhone and iPad. Tap each step to expand it.
1Allow Beeper notifications in iOS / iPadOS Settings
- Open the Settings app and tap Notifications.
- Scroll down and tap Beeper.
- Turn on Allow Notifications.
- Open the Settings app and tap Notifications in the sidebar.
- Under Notification Style, tap Beeper.
- Turn on Allow Notifications.
Then apply the recommended settings:
- Notification Delivery: Immediate Delivery (not Scheduled Summary)
- Alerts: Lock Screen, Notification Center and Banners all enabled
- Sounds and Badges: On
- Show Previews: Always or When Unlocked
- Notification Grouping: Automatic
Also check Settings → Focus: if Do Not Disturb or another Focus is active, add Beeper under Allowed Notifications → Apps.
2Check Beeper iOS → Settings → Notifications
- In Beeper, open Settings → Notifications.
- Make sure notifications are enabled for messages and group chats.
- Review your sound and preview options so they match what you expect to see.
3Check each chat network in Settings → Accounts
- In Beeper, open Settings → Accounts.
- Tap each connected chat network and make sure notifications are enabled.
- Repeat for every chat network you use.
Heads up: even if notifications are enabled in iOS and in Beeper, a muted chat network will not send you notifications. Also check individual chats: long-press a chat and choose Unmute if it's muted.
4Allow Mobile Data, Wi-Fi and Background App Refresh
- Open Settings, scroll down and tap Beeper (on iOS 18 and later: Settings → Apps → Beeper).
- Turn on Mobile Data (called Cellular Data in some regions; not shown on Wi-Fi-only iPads).
- If you see a Wireless Data option, set it to WLAN & Mobile Data so Beeper can use Wi-Fi too.
- Turn on Background App Refresh.
- Go to Settings → General → Background App Refresh and make sure it's set to Wi-Fi & Mobile Data.
Low Power Mode pauses Background App Refresh. If notifications are delayed, try turning it off in Settings → Battery.
Beeper for Android phones and tablets. Menu names vary slightly by manufacturer and Android version. Tap each step to expand it.
1Allow Beeper notifications in Android Settings
- Open Settings → Apps → See all apps → Beeper → Notifications (or Settings → Notifications → App notifications → Beeper).
- Turn on All Beeper notifications.
- Open the Messages category and make sure it's set to Default (alerting) with Pop on screen, Sound and Vibration enabled.
- Open Settings → Apps → Beeper → Notifications.
- Turn on Allow notifications and choose Lock screen, Sound and Pop-up.
- Tap Notification categories and make sure the message categories are enabled and set to Alert.
- Open Settings → Apps (or Apps & notifications) and tap Beeper.
- Tap Notifications and enable all Beeper notifications.
Manufacturers like Xiaomi, Huawei, OnePlus and others add extra restrictions (e.g. Autostart, App launch or battery managers). Allow Beeper to autostart and run in the background there as well.
Also check Do Not Disturb and any Modes / Focus in Settings → Notifications so they aren't silencing Beeper.
2Check Beeper Android → Settings → Notifications
- In Beeper, open Settings → Notifications.
- Make sure notifications are enabled for messages and group chats.
- Review your notification sound and preview options.
3Check each chat network in Settings → Accounts
- In Beeper, open Settings → Accounts.
- Tap each connected chat network and make sure notifications are enabled.
- Repeat for every chat network you use.
Heads up: even if notifications are enabled in Android and in Beeper, a muted chat network will not send you notifications. Also check individual chats: long-press a chat and choose Unmute if it's muted (@mentions and replies still notify you in muted chats).
4Allow Mobile Data, Wi-Fi and background activity
- Open Settings → Apps → Beeper.
- Tap Mobile data & Wi-Fi (Samsung: Mobile data) and turn on Background data and Unrestricted data usage. Make sure Disable Wi-Fi / Disable mobile data are off if your phone shows those options.
- Tap App battery usage (Samsung: Battery) and choose Unrestricted, and make sure Allow background usage is on.
- In Beeper's notification settings, keep the Foreground Data Sync notification enabled — it helps Beeper stay connected in the background.
- Samsung only: in Settings → Battery → Background usage limits, make sure Beeper isn't listed under Sleeping or Deep sleeping apps.
Beeper relies on Google Play Services to deliver push notifications on Android. Devices without Google Play Services (or using alternatives such as UnifiedPush) aren't supported for push notifications.
Using Instagram or Facebook Messenger with an On-Device connection?
If you're only missing notifications from Instagram or Facebook Messenger, and those accounts use the Beeper On-Device (Local) connection, this is currently expected: push notifications for Instagram and Facebook On-Device aren't supported yet, so new messages may only appear once you open Beeper. Our team is working on this.
If real-time notifications for Instagram and Facebook are essential for you, reconnect those accounts using Beeper Cloud instead. There's no automatic conversion: remove the On-Device account in Settings → Accounts, then add the chat network again and choose Beeper Cloud.
Still not working?
- Getting double notifications instead? Turn off notifications in the native apps (WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal…) so Beeper is your only notification source.
- Seeing delayed notifications? Make sure your device has a stable connection and isn't in a battery or data saver mode.
- Still stuck? Send us a report from Settings → Report a Problem in Beeper, or email help@beeper.com, and tell us which app, device and chat network are affected.