Stay on top of tasks and plans with email and notifications

Difference between email notifications and mobile app notifications

Group emails

Group email notifications are email messages sent to an individual member or to all members. Emails can be sent from Microsoft Planner to you or your team members’ inboxes, for those who are following the plan's group.

Note: In some versions of Planner, those who are following the plan's group will not receive group email notifications in their inbox. Users will still be able to see these notifications in the group mailbox.

The following two images show group email messages. In the first one, a plan member is the first person to comment on a task asking for the status.

Screen capture: Showing an example of a group email message you may receive.

In the second image, a plan member has replied to the task.

Screen capture: Showing a group email where a coworker is replying to the first comment.

Planner mobile app notifications

The other type of notifications that you can receive are push notifications on the Planner mobile app. Planner mobile app notifications display just like any other notifications on your phone or device. When you tap on the Planner mobile app notification, it will open the Planner app.

Screen capture: Showing the planner push notification that is sent on mobile phones and devices.

For more information or for a link to download the mobile apps, check out the following topics:

The following table describes the types of notifications you'll receive, the activities that triggers them, and where you can change the setting.

Activities	Who receives?	Email notifications	Planner mobile app notifications	Change settings?
A task is assigned to someone	All plan members who are following the group in their inbox	Yes	No	Yes. Plan members: manage group emails for your Planner plans
A task is marked as Completed	All plan members who are following the group in their inbox	Yes	No	Yes Group owners: turn group emails about task activity on or off for a plan
You create a plan	All plan members	Yes	No	No. You can't turn this off.
You are added to a plan	You	Yes	No	No. You can't turn this off. All plan members receive a welcome email from Microsoft letting them know they've been added to the plan, tips and tricks on using plans, and a link to the plan.
Any plan member comments after your comment	You	Yes	No	No. You can't turn this off.
Someone assigns a task to you	You	Yes	Yes	Yes. This is on by default. Plan members: manage group emails for your Planner plans
Someone comments on a plan	All plan members who are following the group in their inbox	Yes	No	No. You can't turn this off.
You have tasks that are near or past their due dates	You	Yes	No	Yes. This is on by default. Plan members: manage group emails for your Planner plans

When are notifications sent?

Notifications are sent every day of the week, including weekends.

Someone assigns a task to you

One email and one mobile app notification will be sent for each task that is assigned to you. The email will contain a link to the task in Planner. And the mobile app notification displays just like your other notifications on your phone. When you tap on the Planner mobile app notification, it will open the task in the Planner app.

You have tasks that are near or past their due date

You will receive email notifications once a day if you have at least one task assigned to you that meets the following:

7 days late
Due yesterday
Due today
Due tomorrow
Due in 7 days

You won't get email notifications for the following types of tasks:

Completed tasks
Tasks that are more than 7 days overdue
Tasks that are due more than 7 days in the future

Too many email messages?

When you create a plan in Planner, an Office 365 group is created. It’s through the Office 365 group that you can post comments and have conversations around tasks. So sometimes you’ll receive email from both Planner and Groups about the same activity. To reduce the number of messages you receive, check out this topic:Plan members: manage group emails for your Planner plans.

Not getting email from Planner?

If your organization’s product licenses include Exchange Online, you can receive email reminders. If you are using on-premises Exchange Server, there may be issues. For more information talk to your administrator or see How do I make sure all my people can get emails for Planner?.