Fix Teams Mentions Do Not Trigger an Alert after Moving to New Teams

After migrating to the new Teams client, you may notice that @mentions in chats and channels no longer show a red badge or play a notification sound. This often happens because the new Teams app resets notification settings or uses a different background process to deliver alerts. Some users also find that the notification policy assigned by their IT team does not apply to the new client. This article explains why the new Teams changes mention behavior and gives you step-by-step fixes for each cause. You will also learn how to check your notification policy and what to do if the alert still does not appear.

Why New Teams Stops Alerting You on Mentions

The new Teams client uses a different notification engine than classic Teams. In classic Teams, the app ran a single process that handled both the UI and notifications. New Teams splits these tasks. The notification logic runs in a separate background process that can be delayed or blocked after a migration. This is why you might see a message appear in the chat list but no red badge or sound.

Another common cause is that the migration resets your personal notification settings. When you switch to new Teams, it creates a fresh profile. Your previous choices for mentions, such as banner and sound, are not carried over. The default for mentions is often set to “Only show in feed,” which does not trigger a pop-up alert or sound.

Finally, your organization’s messaging policy may block mention notifications. The Teams admin can create a policy that disables the “Chat” or “Mentions” settings. If this policy is assigned to you, the new Teams client will ignore your personal settings. This is more common in companies that recently enabled new Teams for a pilot group.

Steps to Fix Mention Alerts in New Teams

Follow these steps in order. Test after each step to see if the alert works. You can test by sending a mention to yourself from a second account or asking a colleague to mention you.

Step 1: Adjust Your Personal Notification Settings

1. Open Teams Settings
   Click your profile picture at the top right of the Teams window. Select “Settings” from the menu.
2. Go to Notifications
   In the Settings window, click “Notifications” in the left sidebar. This shows a list of notification categories.
3. Change Mentions and Chat Alerts
   Find “Mentions” and click the dropdown menu. Choose “Banner and sound” so you get both a pop-up and an audio alert. Do the same for “Chat” if you want alerts for direct messages.
4. Save and Restart Teams
   Click “Save” at the bottom. Close Teams completely and reopen it. The new settings take effect after a restart.

Step 2: Check the Windows Notification Settings

1. Open Windows Settings
   Press the Windows key and type “Notification settings.” Click the first result to open the notification area of Windows Settings.
2. Find Teams in the App List
   Scroll down to “Notifications from apps and other senders.” Look for “Microsoft Teams” or “Teams.”
3. Enable Notifications for Teams
   Make sure the toggle next to Teams is set to “On.” Also check that “Show notification banners” and “Play a sound when a notification arrives” are both enabled.

Step 3: Verify the Messaging Policy in the Teams Admin Center

If your personal settings are correct but mentions still do not alert, the problem may be a policy. This step requires an admin account. If you are not an admin, ask your IT team to perform this check.

1. Open the Teams Admin Center
   Go to admin.teams.microsoft.com and sign in with an admin account.
2. Navigate to Messaging Policies
   In the left menu, expand “Messaging policies” under “Messaging.” Click “Messaging policies.”
3. Check the Mentions Setting
   Select the policy that applies to the affected user. Look for the “Mentions” option. It should be set to “On.” If it is “Off,” change it to “On” and click “Save.”
4. Confirm the Policy Assignment
   Go to “Users” in the admin center, select the affected user, and click “Policies.” Verify that the “Messaging policy” is set to the policy you just edited. If not, assign the correct policy and click “Apply.”

Step 4: Restart or Reinstall the New Teams Client

If none of the above works, the background process may be stuck. A full restart clears the process. Reinstalling fixes corrupted files.

1. Quit Teams Completely
   Right-click the Teams icon in the system tray and select “Quit.” Then open Task Manager with Ctrl+Shift+Escape. End any process named “MsTeams” or “Teams.”
2. Restart Teams
   Open Teams from the Start menu. Test a mention after it loads.
3. Reinstall Teams if Needed
   If the problem persists, uninstall Teams via Settings > Apps. Then download the installer from the Microsoft 365 portal and install it again.

If Teams Still Does Not Alert You on Mentions

Teams Shows a Message But No Sound

This usually means the banner is working but the sound is muted. Check the volume mixer in Windows. Right-click the speaker icon and choose “Open Volume Mixer.” Make sure the Teams volume is not set to zero. Also check the sound option inside Teams under Settings > Notifications. Some users have a separate toggle for “Play sounds” that is different from the mention dropdown.

Only Some Mentions Trigger an Alert

If you get alerts for channel mentions but not for chat mentions, the issue is likely a per-chat setting. Open the chat with the person who mentioned you. Click the “…” menu in the top right of the chat window. Select “Notification settings” and choose “All messages.” This overrides the global setting for that conversation.

Mentions in Channels Do Not Alert

Channel mentions depend on the channel’s notification settings. Go to the channel name, click the “…” menu, and select “Channel notifications.” Choose “Custom” and make sure “Mentions” is set to “Banner and sound.” If you are a team owner, also check the team’s settings to ensure that members can customize their notifications.

New Teams vs Classic Teams: Mention Alert Behavior

Item	New Teams	Classic Teams
Notification engine	Separate background process that can be delayed	Single process handles UI and notifications
Default mention alert	Only show in feed	Banner and sound
Policy enforcement	Applies messaging policy immediately	Policy applies after a restart
Reinstall requirement	Often needed after migration to fix notifications	Rarely needed

Now you can restore mention alerts by checking your personal settings, Windows notification settings, and the messaging policy. Start with the quickest fix, which is changing the mention dropdown to “Banner and sound.” If that fails, verify the policy with your admin. After you fix the alerts, try the “@mention” shortcut in a channel to confirm the sound and badge work. As a final tip, remember that the new Teams client stores notification settings locally, so a clean reinstall often resolves stubborn cases.