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Configuring notifications in GitHub Desktop

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GitHub Desktop will keep you up-to-date with notifications about events that occur in your pull request branch.

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About notifications in GitHub Desktop

GitHub Desktop will show a system notification for events that occur in the currently selected repository. Notifications will be shown when:

  • Pull request checks have failed.
  • A pull request review is left with a comment, approval, or requested changes.

Clicking the notification will switch application focus to GitHub Desktop and provide more detailed information.

Notifications about pull request check failures

When changes are made to a pull request branch, you will receive a system notification if the checks fail.

Clicking the notification will display a dialog with details about the checks. Once you've reviewed why the checks have failed, you can re-run the checks, or quickly switch to the pull request branch to get started on fixing the errors. For more information, see "Viewing and re-running checks in GitHub Desktop."

Notifications for pull request reviews

GitHub Desktop will surface a system notification when a teammate has approved, commented, or requested changes in your pull request. See "About pull request reviews" for more information on pull request reviews.

Clicking the notification will switch application focus to GitHub Desktop and provide more context for the pull request review comment.

Enabling notifications

If system notifications are disabled for GitHub Desktop you can follow the steps below to enable them.

  1. In the menu bar, select GitHub Desktop, then click Preferences.

    Screenshot of the menu bar on a Mac. Under the open "GitHub Desktop" dropdown menu, the cursor hovers over "Preferences", which is highlighted in blue.

  2. In the "Preferences" window, on the "Notifications" pane, select Enable notifications.

  3. In the "Enable notifications" description field, click the Notification Settings link to open the "Notifications" pane in the macOS "System Settings" window.

  4. In the "Application Notifications" list, select GitHub Desktop.

  5. Click Allow Notifications.

For more information about macOS system notifications, see "Use notifications on your Mac."

  1. Use the File menu, then click Options.

    Screenshot of the "GitHub Desktop" menu bar on Windows. In the expanded "File" dropdown menu, the "Options" item is highlighted with an orange outline.

  2. In the "Options" windows, on the "Notifications" pane, select Enable notifications.

  3. In the "Enable notifications" description field, click the Notification Settings link to open the "Notifications" pane in the Windows "Settings" window.

  4. Under "Notifications", to enable notifications for Windows, click On.

  5. Under "Notifications from apps and other senders", find "GitHub Desktop" in the application list and click On.

For more information about Windows system notifications, see "Change notification settings in Windows."