Get an Outlook Notification When Your Manager Emails You

You turn off Outlook notifications to focus, but you don't want to miss an email from your manager or an important customer. Luckily it doesn't have to be all or nothing. With the Outlook app, Power Automate or a rule in Outlook, you only get notified when that one person emails you. Below are the three ways, with the pros and cons of each.

Which method should you pick?

• Outlook app on your phone: the simplest choice. No flow, no extra app, set per account.
• Power Automate: flexible. You can filter on sender, subject or importance, and it works even if you don't use the Outlook app.
• Rule in classic Outlook: an eye-catching alert on your computer, but only while Outlook is open.

With the Outlook app: favorite people only

1. Add the person to your favorites in the Outlook app, for example from their contact card (the star or Add to Favorites; the exact spot differs by version).
2. Open the app's Settings and tap Notifications.
3. Under Mail, select the account you want to change.
4. Choose Favorite People Only.

From now on the app only notifies you about mail from your favorites for that account. Haven't set up the app yet? Start with set up your work email in the Outlook app. Also check that notifications for the Outlook app are allowed in your iOS or Android settings.

With Power Automate

New to Power Automate? It's the automation tool included in most Microsoft 365 plans, and there's a ready-made template for exactly this.

1. Go to make.powerautomate.com and search Templates for push notification or email from your boss. The template is called Get a push notification when you receive an email from your boss.
2. Choose the template, check the connections to Office 365 Outlook and Notifications, and select Continue.
3. In the When a new email arrives trigger, fill in your manager's email address under From. Separate multiple addresses with a semicolon.
4. In the Send me a mobile notification action, adjust the text if you like, for example by adding the email subject.
5. Save the flow and send yourself a test email from that address, or ask your manager nicely.
6. Install the Power Automate app on your phone and sign in with your work account. That's where the notifications arrive.

Prefer to see those emails in a Teams channel instead? A flow can do that too, as shown in forward emails automatically to a Teams channel.

With a rule in classic Outlook

1. Right-click an email from that person and choose Rules > Create Rule.
2. Tick From and select Advanced Options.
3. Under the actions, choose Display a Desktop Alert, Play a sound or a specific message in the New Item Alert window.
4. Finish the wizard and turn the rule on.

This only works while Outlook is open on your computer. In the new Outlook and Outlook on the web, rules don't offer these actions. There, use a rule to set a category or flag, and turn on desktop notifications in Outlook on the web.

No notification?

• The email lands in Other: in the Outlook app, notifications can depend on Focused Inbox. Move that person's mail to Focused or read turn off Focused Inbox.
• Notifications are off on your phone: check your device settings for the Outlook or Power Automate app, and look at Do Not Disturb or any focus mode.
• The flow doesn't run: check the run history in Power Automate. Fix an expired connection under Connections. Flows that haven't run for a long time can be turned off automatically; you usually get an email about it.
• The notification arrives a bit late: the trigger checks periodically, so a few minutes of delay is normal.

FAQ

Does this work for a shared mailbox?

With Power Automate, yes: use the trigger for a shared mailbox instead of your own inbox.

Can my manager see that I set this up?

No, it's a setting or flow in your own account.

Nederlandstalige versie: In Outlook een melding krijgen bij e-mail van je manager

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