Microsoft Planner account settings — change notifications

If Planner tasks or alerts aren’t appearing as you expect, check three places: your Planner user settings, your Microsoft 365 profile and the app you use to view Planner (Teams or Outlook). Start in the Planner web app to change user-level notification options, then check Teams and Outlook settings if you use those clients. If settings are correct but things still don’t work, a tenant, Teams, or SharePoint admin may have policies that block changes.

What do I need before changing Planner settings

• An active Microsoft 365 work or school account that has access to Planner.
• Know whether you use Planner primarily in the web app, Microsoft Teams, or Outlook; settings can live in more than one place.
• Your role: plan owner, plan member, or neither — plan membership or group membership changes require a plan owner or an admin.
• A supported browser or the Planner mobile app installed on your phone. Mobile apps also require device-level notification permissions.
• If you expect calendar sync, access to the mailbox calendar where Planner publishes events.

The Planner web app and the Teams-integrated Planner use the same underlying plans but show settings in different places. Mobile apps depend on device notification settings as well as app settings.

Where are Planner account and notification settings located

Start in the Planner web app to control user-level Planner behavior, then check Teams and Outlook if those are where you receive alerts.

1. Open Planner web app settings.

Planner (office.com) → top-right profile icon → Settings or the gear icon → Notifications

2. Microsoft 365 profile and account notification settings.

office.com → top-right profile icon → View account → Notifications or My account → Communication preferences

3. Teams notification settings (for channel-linked plans and @mentions).

Teams → profile icon (top-right) → Settings → Notifications

4. Outlook rules and Focused Inbox can intercept Planner emails.

Outlook (web) → Settings (gear) → View all Outlook settings → Mail → Rules or Junk email

5. Mobile apps: device-level settings plus app settings.

iOS: Settings → Notifications → Planner (or Teams)
Android: Settings → Apps → Planner (or Teams) → Notifications

Some tenants hide a separate “Notifications” label inside Planner. If you don’t see it, look for notification checkboxes under your profile or plan settings.

How to turn Planner email notifications on or off and adjust assigned-task alerts

Planner web app: enable or disable assignment and digest emails.

1. Open the Planner web app and sign in.
2. Click your profile icon (top-right) and choose Settings or Notifications.

Planner → profile icon → Settings → Notifications: [Assigned tasks] [Daily digest]

3. Turn on or off the checkboxes for assignment emails and digest emails.

Expected result: Assignment and digest emails will be enabled or disabled for your account according to the checkboxes you set.

Teams: adjust Planner-related notifications and channel mentions.

1. Open Teams and click your profile icon → Settings → Notifications.
2. Under Mentions and Channels, choose how you receive alerts (Banner, Feed, or Off).
3. For a specific channel linked to a plan, open the channel, click the channel name → Channel notifications, and set the level of alerts.

Expected result: Teams will surface Planner activity and @mentions according to your Teams notification choices; Teams notifications are separate from Planner email notifications.

Mobile (Planner and Teams apps): control push notifications.

1. On your device, open Settings → Notifications → Planner or Teams.
2. Allow or block notifications, and set banners/sounds as you prefer.

Expected result: Push notifications appear or stop on the device according to device and app settings.

Changing comment/mention emails and frequency.

1. In the Planner web Settings, check or uncheck options for comments or mentions to enable or disable email notices.
2. Planner web offers limited frequency controls (immediate or digest); Teams channel notifications control frequency for channel activity.

Disabling notification emails in Planner does not stop notifications generated by Teams. To stop all alerts you may need to change both Planner and Teams settings.

Completion: After making changes, use the verification steps in "How to confirm your changes worked" to test assignment emails, mentions, and feed items.

When you can’t change something because of tenant or Teams policies

Some controls are managed by administrators and you won’t be able to change them yourself.

• Tenant (Microsoft 365) admin controls that affect Planner and notifications:
• Group creation policies — who can create Office 365 Groups (affects creating plans).
• External sharing and guest access — whether guests can be added to groups/plans.
• Exchange transport rules and junk mail policies — can block Planner notification emails.
• Teams admin controls that affect Planner behavior:
• Whether connectors and apps (including the Planner app) are allowed in teams.
• Channel and team policies that govern cross-team notifications.
• SharePoint settings that affect plan visibility when a plan is linked to a SharePoint site.

If a policy blocks changes:

1. Collect specific details: plan name, affected user, example timestamps and the action you tried.
2. Contact your IT admin or helpdesk and provide the details so they can check Azure AD group settings, Teams app permission policies, and Exchange transport rules.

Plan name: <name>
Your account: <user@domain>
Example issue: Not receiving assignment emails since <date>

Admins can change policies but may have organizational reasons to keep restrictions in place.

How to fix common permission and visibility problems

Use this checklist to find why you can't see a plan or receive task notifications.

1. Check plan membership.

Open Planner → select the plan → click the three dots (...) → Plan settings → Members

2. If you aren’t listed, ask a plan owner to add you. If the plan belongs to an Office 365 Group, confirm you’re a group member on the group’s page or in Outlook.
3. Confirm the task is assigned to your exact account (not an alias) and that the plan isn’t archived.
4. If the plan is a Teams channel tab, open the tab in Teams and choose to open in Planner to validate the connection.

Teams → Team → Channel → Tabs → Planner tab → Open in Planner

5. Check Exchange mailbox rules and the Junk folder; Planner emails can be redirected or marked as junk.

Outlook → Settings → View all Outlook settings → Mail → Rules

6. Verify device notification permissions and that Focus/Do Not Disturb modes aren’t silencing notifications.
7. If you see “You don’t have access” errors, ask a plan owner to check the Office 365 Group privacy (private vs public) and add you.

If a plan was moved, deleted, or archived by an owner, only an owner or an admin can restore it.

How to confirm your changes worked and quick tests to run

Run these checks after changing settings to confirm notifications and visibility are working.

1. Ask a colleague to assign you a task.
2. Ask the colleague to mention you in a task comment.
3. Check these locations for the notification:

• Planner web: Activity feed and the plan’s notifications.
• Teams: Activity feed and the channel where the plan is linked.
• Outlook: Inbox and Junk folder for Planner emails.

4. Use the Planner filter Assigned to me to show tasks assigned to your account.

Planner → My tasks (left nav) or open plan → Filter → Assigned to: [Your name]

5. If you expected an email, check the message headers and timestamp to confirm delivery and whether your mailbox rules treated it as junk.
6. If you changed mobile notification settings, send a test mention from Teams or Planner to validate push notifications appear on the device.

Completion: You succeeded if you see the assignment in Planner’s Assigned to me filter, receive the expected Teams activity or channel notification, and get the Planner email in your Inbox (or confirm it was routed by a rule). If any of these are missing, collect timestamps and sample messages and escalate to your admin.

Conclusion

If notifications still don’t appear after these checks, collect specific examples (plan, task, timestamps, which client you used) and contact your IT admin so they can inspect tenant policies, Exchange rules, and Teams app controls. Most problems resolve by adjusting Planner notifications, confirming group membership, and checking Teams or Outlook settings.

Frequently Asked Questions

What’s the difference between Planner and To Do notifications?

Planner sends notifications for plan tasks and comments. Microsoft To Do handles personal tasks and flagged emails. Assigned Planner tasks can appear in To Do only if your tenant has enabled the Planner–To Do integration. Each app controls its own notifications separately.

How does calendar sync for Planner work?

Planner can publish a plan’s schedule as an iCalendar link you subscribe to in Outlook. This is a one-way sync: Planner updates the calendar feed, but editing the calendar event does not update the Planner task. Calendar publishing is controlled per-plan and can be limited by tenant policies.

Where are historical Planner notifications stored?

Immediate Planner notifications appear in Teams Activity and your email inbox. Planner itself does not provide a long-term notification archive; if emails were delivered they remain in your mailbox unless deleted or moved by rules. Teams keeps activity history in the Activity feed and channel conversations.