In this guide, we will show you the steps to fix the issue of new Mail notifications not working on your Mac. The in-built mail app from the Cupertino giant allows you to create, access, and manage emails from all your accounts under one roof. Likewise, it checkmarks all the important formatting features as well, including the ability to add images, scan documents, create sketches, and attach files.
However, there are still a few rough edges that need to be polished. One of the most common complaints that we have seen with this Mail app is that the users don’t receive any notifications when an email arrives. Likewise, they don’t get any notification banners as well.
At the time of writing, the issue is only with incoming mail, as with outgoing emails, users get the alert sound as well as the banner. Furthermore, the message count on the Mail icon also does go up as well, so it’s just limited to the notifications. With that said, there does exist a nifty workaround that should help you rectify this issue. So without further ado, let’s check it out.
Fix New Mail Notifications Not Working on Mac
As of now, the only workaround that is spelling out success for the users involves deleting that notification sound and then letting it up from scratch from the Mail App. Here’s how it could be done:
- Close the Mail app. Then go to Launchpad > Others > Terminal.
- Now execute the below command in Terminal to reset the sound
defaults delete -app Mail SoundName
- Make sure to replace the SoundName from the above command.
- Once done, launch the Mail app and you now set the desired sound.
These were the steps to fix the issue of new Mail notifications not working on your Mac. If you have any queries concerning the aforementioned steps, do let us know in the comments. We will get back to you with a solution at the earliest.
richard Sampson
I am using Mac Studio M2 with Ventura 13.6.1. I am not getting new mail sound. I have tried this terminal command multiple times with no success.
See terminal log below. What am I doing wrong???
Last login: Thu Oct 26 10:12:56 on console
rich@Mac-Studio-2 ~ % defaults delete =app mail soundnewmail
zsh: app not found
rich@Mac-Studio-2 ~ % defaults delete -app Mail soundnewmail
2023-10-27 05:48:42.673 defaults[67257:832499]
Domain (com.apple.mail) not found.
Defaults have not been changed.
rich@Mac-Studio-2 ~ % defaults delete -app Mail sound
2023-10-27 05:50:01.708 defaults[67331:833341]
Domain (com.apple.mail) not found.
Defaults have not been changed.
rich@Mac-Studio-2 ~ % defaults delete -app Mail new messages Sound
Command line interface to a user’s defaults.
Syntax:
‘defaults’ [-currentHost | -host ] followed by one of the following:
read shows all defaults
read shows defaults for given domain
read shows defaults for given domain, key
read-type shows the type for the given domain, key
write writes domain (overwrites existing)
write writes key for domain
rename renames old_key to new_key
delete deletes domain
delete deletes key in domain
import writes the plist at path to domain
import – writes a plist from stdin to domain
export saves domain as a binary plist to path
export – writes domain as an xml plist to stdout
domains lists all domains
find lists all entries containing word
help print this help
is ( | -app | -globalDomain )
or a path to a file omitting the ‘.plist’ extension
is one of:
-string
-data
-int[eger]
-float
-bool[ean] (true | false | yes | no)
-date
-array …
-array-add …
-dict …
-dict-add …
rich@Mac-Studio-2 ~ % defaults delete -app mail NewMessagesSound
2023-10-27 05:56:06.296 defaults[67643:837587]
Domain (com.apple.mail) not found.
Defaults have not been changed.
rich@Mac-Studio-2 ~ % defaults delete -app mail SoundSubmerge
2023-10-27 06:05:17.436 defaults[68104:843870]
Domain (com.apple.mail) not found.
Defaults have not been changed.
rich@Mac-Studio-2 ~ % defaults delete -app Mail soundName
2023-10-27 06:11:23.578 defaults[68414:848633]
Domain (com.apple.mail) not found.
Defaults have not been changed.
rich@Mac-Studio-2 ~ %