Top 9 Ways to Fix WhatsApp Notifications Not Working

With over 2 billion users worldwide, WhatsApp remains an essential part of people's lives. Real-time push notifications are an integral part of any instant messaging experience. Sometimes, you may not receive new notifications until you open WhatsApp. If you're experiencing the same issue, here are ways to fix WhatsApp notifications not working unless you open the app.

You may miss important messages or group chats when push notifications fail to work on WhatsApp. Also, you wouldn't want to open WhatsApp just to check for new notifications. It's a tedious, time-consuming, and not a practical solution. Let's follow the steps above and fix the notification issue on WhatsApp.

1. Check if you have ignored a contact or group on WhatsApp

You may have muted multiple contacts or groups on WhatsApp. If so, you'll still receive messages, but WhatsApp won't notify you. Here's how to identify and unmute muted conversations on WhatsApp.

Step 1: Open WhatsApp app on your phone.

Step 2: Verify Mute icon (crossed out speaker) Besides the conversation.

Step 3: Open Conversation The related posts you want to unmute.

Step 4: Click on Contact Name above.

Step 5: Click on mute and select Unmute the sound.

Find all relevant muted conversations (check for the mute icon) and unmute them.

2. Check archived chats

Over time, you can archive multiple WhatsApp contacts or groups. Since you don't want to participate in such conversations, WhatsApp won't notify you of new messages from archived chats. You can revisit your archived chat list and unarchive relevant chats.

Step 1: Open WhatsApp app on your phone.

Step 2: Click on Archived list.

Step 3: Long press on any Conversation (swipe left on iPhone) and select Unarchive option.

The conversation will appear on your WhatsApp home page, and you'll now receive new notifications for unarchived chats.

3. Check WHATSAPP notification settings (IPHONE)

iOS allows you to customize app notifications. If youDisable WhatsApp notifications On the lock screen or notification center, chat alerts will not appear on your phone.

Step 1: Open Settings on the iPhone.

Step 2: Scroll to Notices and open WhatsApp.

Step 3: Click on radio button Down screen's lock Notification and Banners Center.

4. Enable Background App Refresh (IPHONE)

When you disable background app refresh for WhatsApp, the app can't fetch new data in the background. You must open WhatsApp to receive new notifications. Here's how to enable background app refresh for WhatsApp.

Step 1: Open Settings and go to WhatsApp.

Step 2: Enable Toggle background app refresh from the following list.

5. Lock WhatsApp in multitasking menu (Android)

Most Android smartphone manufacturers implement aggressive battery-saving settings and completely kill apps running in the background. If you haven't opened WhatsApp for a long time, the system may disable all background app functions to save battery power. Alternatively, you have the option to lock essential apps like WhatsApp, Gmail, and more in the background.

Step 1: Open multitasking list on your Android phone.

Step 2: Long press WhatsApp app icon and select a lock.

The system will not kill any WhatsApp process in the background from now on.

6. Disable battery optimization for WhatsApp (Android)

This is another trick Android phone makers use to save phone battery life. You can grant WhatsApp unrestricted access to allow it to use the battery in the background without restrictions. WhatsApp's current "optimized" setting may prevent you from receiving push notifications unless you open the app.

Step 1: Long press WhatsApp app icon and open Application information list.

Step 2: Locate Battery list.

Step 3: Click on radio button Next to Unrestricted.

7. Remove WhatsApp from Scheduled Summary

Scheduled Digest is a neat iOS feature that lets you delay notifications from selected apps to a convenient time. If you add WhatsApp to Scheduled Digest, you won't receive real-time WhatsApp notifications.

Step 1: turn on iPhone Settings app.

Step 2: Scroll to Notices .

Step 3: Open Scheduled Summary.

Step 4: Scroll down and remove WhatsApp from the list.

8. Leave the WhatsApp beta program

Are you part of the WhatsApp beta program? While beta versions allow you to try out new features before they're released to the public, they often have bugs. You can opt out of the WhatsApp beta and revert to the stable version of the app.

Open Google Play Store , and search for WhatsApp and open Application pageFrom the WhatsApp app info menu, find Option to leave the pilot program.

After a few minutes, WhatsApp will remove you from the beta program and prompt you to download the stable version. iPhone users can leave the beta program from TestFlight app.

9. Update WhatsApp

An outdated WhatsApp app on your iPhone or Android can cause notification issues. Open the App Store or Google Play Store and update WhatsApp to the latest version.

WhatsApp for iPhone

WhatsApp for Android

Get real-time WhatsApp notifications

Issues with WhatsApp's real-time notifications defeat the purpose of using instant messaging apps in the first place. You can always ditch WhatsApp in favor of Telegram or Signal However, you may not find all your contacts in other messaging apps. Instead, you can use the tricks above to fix the WhatsApp notifications that only work when you open the app.