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I'm not getting sounds or notifications. What do I do?
I'm not getting sounds or notifications. What do I do?

If you aren't seeing a visual pop-up or hearing a tone, try out the steps below

David Augustus Lopes avatar
Written by David Augustus Lopes
Updated over a week ago

Important: if your sound permissions are set to "Automatic (Default)", your browser may still block sounds occasionally if you haven't interacted with the page directly since refreshing it. It needs to be set to "Allow". Read on for details.

For Google Chrome

Make sure Chrome allows Focusmate to send notifications and play sounds. Click the lock icon next to the website name, then go to Site settings.

Once you're on the site settings page, set Notifications and Sound to "Allow".

(By the way, if you're having camera or microphone issues, this is a good time to make sure those permissions are set to "Allow" as well!)

For Safari

Make sure Safari allows Focusmate to send notifications and play sounds.

Go to Safari > Preferences > Websites. Select Auto-Play from the list, and make sure it is set to "Allow All Auto-Play" for focusmate.com.

For visual notifications, find Notifications in the list and make sure it is set to "Allow" for focusmate.com.

For Firefox

Make sure Firefox allows Focusmate to send notifications and play sounds.

In the URL bar at the top, you should see a dialogue icon next to the lock icon.

If instead you see the icon below, Firefox has blocked Focusmate from sending notifications. Click on the icon and click the X next to "Blocked" to remove the block. Then reload the page and you should see the dialogue icon shown above.

If all else fails, go to Firefox > Preferences > Privacy & Security, and scroll down to Permissions. You can manage your Notifications and Autoplay permissions directly there.

Still aren't getting notifications?

Focusmate's session reminders feature uses your computer's built-in notification system. If your browser allows Focusmate to display notifications but you still aren't seeing them, it's likely that your operating system is blocking your browser from showing notification banners.

For MacOS

Go to System Preferences > Notifications & Focus, find your browser in the list, and make sure the "Allow notifications" toggle is turned on. Note that Google Chrome has two entries in the list - you'll want to check both.

You'll also want to check the Focus tab and make sure "Do not disturb" mode is off.

For Windows

Go to Start > Settings, select System, and find Notifications & actions in the list. Make sure the toggle for "Get notifications from apps and other senders" is on.

If you still aren't getting notifications, you may need to enable your browser settings individually. Scroll down within Notifications & actions to find Get notifications from these senders, and make sure your browser is listed and toggled on.

You may also want to make sure that Focus assist is turned off.

For iOS:

iOS unfortunately does not have an option to automatically unblock all sounds from being played. Every time the page is refreshed, Focusmate is not able to play sounds until you have interacted with some part of the page (normally pushing a button does the trick).

Still not working?

Send us a cry for help at support@focusmate.com!

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