Gmail can notify you about only a subset of delivered messages. Important-mail, high-priority, inbox-category, and Android label settings are related but not identical filters.
Read the selected notification level
In desktop Gmail, review Desktop notifications in Settings. Important mail notifications is narrower than new-mail notifications. With inbox categories enabled, Google’s new-mail notification guidance limits alerts to Primary messages.
In the mobile app, inspect Email notifications for the correct account. High priority only does not mean every unread message, every starred message, or every message from a person you know. Check what Gmail actually offered on that device.
Check Android label settings separately
On Android, open Settings, choose the account, and use Manage labels to review the affected label. Label notifications require that label’s messages to synchronize. Set the sync scope and then inspect the available notification choices.
Google explicitly says that high-priority notifications override other notification settings for particular labels. Enabling a label alert while leaving a restrictive high-priority setting in place may therefore not produce the result you expected.
Test a message inside and outside the scope
Use two harmless new messages with known categories or labels and compare their delivery with the configured alerts. Keep the account, device, and system notification permission constant. Do not move real messages between categories merely to create a test unless you intend that change.
Then inspect the operating system for a silent channel, Focus, or summary that changes presentation. An alert generated but hidden by the system is different from a message excluded by Gmail’s level. Avoid marking all mail important as a workaround: that changes organization and can make useful prioritization less meaningful. Choose the smallest alert scope that matches what you actually need to hear about.
Browse Gmail & Google Account help
References
Reviewed against the linked product guidance, standards, and identified vendor or public-authority guidance on October 29, 2026. Available options and screen labels can vary by account, device, region, and organization policy.