Troubleshooting checklist: Web push notification delivery

Notifications allow you to engage users and inform them about updates, promotions, or important events. However, sometimes these notifications do not reach their recipients, affecting your communication effectiveness and user experience.

In this article, we will talk about the main reasons for notification delivery failures and offer solutions.

Check your device settings

Your subscriber might have disabled web push notifications for a specific application or for all applications in their device settings.

Windows 10

Click Start > Settings > Notifications & actions, and turn on the Get notifications from apps and other senders toggle.

Scroll down the page, find your browser, and turn on the toggle.

Windows 11

Click Start > Settings > Notification. Turn on the Notification toggle, and turn off the Do not disturb toggle.

Scroll down the page, find your browser, and turn on the toggle.

macOS

Go to System Settings > Notifications.

Turn on the Allow notifications when mirroring or sharing the display toggle.

Select your browser, and turn on the Allow notifications toggle.

If you use Google Chrome or Opera, you may see two apps with the same name and logo. Make sure both of these toggles are turned on.

Android

Go to Settings > Notification > App notifications. Select your browser, and turn on the Show notifications toggle. In the list of settings below, check if your website’s notifications are enabled.

Check your internet connection

Temporary issues on your internet provider's end may cause delays or delivery failures.

Notifications will not be sent to users who have turned off their devices or do not have a stable connection. They will only be delivered if their internet connection becomes stable again and the push lifetime specified in your campaign settings has not expired.

Check your internet connection, and use your device’s troubleshooting tips and internet connection analysis tools to fix connection problems. You can also contact your provider to clarify your connection status.

Check if your recipients are subscribed

Users who are not subscribed and did not give permission to receive your notifications will not receive them. You can view your subscribers in the Push section > My websites. Select your website, and open the Subscribers tab.

Users agree to receive notifications in their browsers via subscription request window.

Read also: How to enable and disable push notifications in Mozilla Firefox and How to enable and disable push notifications in Google Chrome.

Check recipient segment settings

Users won’t receive your notification if they’re not included in the targeted audience segment of your campaign. Check your audience segment settings.

Read also: How to segment web push notification recipients.

Check if subscribers opened their browsers

Notifications will not appear if users don’t open their browsers. If a user opens their browser before your notification lifetime ends, they will see your notification.

Check if subscribers clear their cache

Clearing your cookies, data, and browser history can limit your notification delivery.

If users’ browser data points have been deleted, they must go to your website and sign up for your notifications again.

Check if your mobile browser is overloaded

Mobile browser applications may have data display and download limits. If these limits have been reached, browsers will not display notifications.

Close the tabs and unread notifications you don't need.

Check your browser version

Your browser may be outdated and not support new features, including web push notifications. Some may not have built-in notification support due to certain limitations.

Ensure that your browser supports website notifications.

Try to fix the issue in your browser settings

This article uses Google Chrome as an example, but you can follow the same steps in other browsers.

Reset your browser settings

Click the settings icon of your website URL field.

In the Notification section, click Reset permission. Afterward, all toggles will be turned off.

In the same modal window, click Cookies and site data > Manage cookies and site data. Next to your website, click the trash can icon > Done to delete the settings.

Refresh the page.

Reactivate your subscription

Once you refresh the page, your website will offer to show notifications. Click Allow.

If you're still not receiving notifications after re-subscribing, go to the next step.

Copy the ID

On your website page, open the console. You can do this by pressing the F12 key or right-clicking > Inspect.

In the opened panel, go to the Application tab. Find the IndexedBD tab on the left, and click the down arrow next to it. Click the arrow next to sendpulse_push_db, and go to SPIDs. In the value section on the right, copy the ID.

Contact customer support

You can contact SendPulse’s customer support team. Enter your copied ID, and briefly describe the issue.

Last Updated: 26.07.2024