Mail clients are often not as smooth as webmail sites, but their desktop notifications are key to productivity. All computers come with a built-in mail client. Thebest Chromebookshave Gmail, Macs have Apple Mail, and Windows has Mail and Outlook. Webmail sites such as Gmail offer more bells and whistles and are better at sorting through spam than mail clients. Here’s how you can turn on Gmail desktop notifications and have the best of both worlds.

Turn on Gmail desktop notifications

The first thing you’ll do is go to Gmail and let your email know you want it to deliver desktop notifications. you may do this on any browser, as the Gmail layout is the same. Here’s how to turn on Gmail desktop notifications in Gmail.

After setting up Gmail to deliver notifications, it’s time to let your browser deliver these notifications to your desktop.

The Gmail web interface with a red arrow pointing to the settings gear icon

How to turn on Gmail desktop notifications on Chrome

You can turn on Gmail desktop notifications from any Chromium-based browser. This includes Google Chrome,Microsoft Edge, Opera, Vivaldi, Brave, and others. To turn on Gmail desktop notifications on Chrome, follow these steps:

Chrome now sends you notifications on your desktop for your emails.

The web-based Gmail homescreen with a red arrow pointing to the See all settings option

How to turn on Gmail desktop notifications on Firefox

People who love Firefox love it a lot. If you’re one of them and use Gmail on Firefox, this is how to turn on Gmail desktop notifications on Firefox.

Firefox works a little differently from most browsers. It doesn’t pop up a large notification. Instead, you see a little push notification icon in the address bar. You need to click it to see the full notification. This is part of Safari’s commitment to user privacy, and there are currently no workarounds.

The Gmail web all settings menu with a red arrow on the right side of the screen pointing down

How to turn on Gmail desktop notifications on Safari

Mac users who prefer Safari to other browsers can also turn on Gmail desktop notifications. However, unlike most browsers, you’ll go into system settings to turn on this function. Here’s how to turn on Gmail desktop notifications on Safari on Mac.

Make the most of Gmail

Gmail may be the best email service, but it doesn’t have an official desktop client. Even the Gmail app on thecheapest Chromebooksis nothing more than a progressive web app. This means you need to turn on Gmail desktop notifications to get the most out of it. Google makes it easy. These settings also work across Google products, fromGoogle CalendartoGoogle Tasks. The Google suite of apps can become powerful productivity tools once you activate desktop notifications.

The Gmail website settings menu with a red arrow pointing to the desktop notifications setting on the left of the menu

The gmail web site settings menu with a red arrow pointing to the Save Changes button.