Apple Mail lets you decide exactly which new messages are worth interrupting you and which should arrive silently. This guide covers both places the settings live: Mail’s own preferences (which mailboxes trigger an alert, and the new-message sound) and macOS System Settings (the alert style, banner vs. alert, the red Dock badge, and previews on the lock screen). Steps are current for macOS Sequoia and macOS Tahoe.
Choose which mailboxes trigger a notification
By default your Mac alerts you for every new message in your Inbox. To narrow that down:
- Open Mail.
- In the menu bar, choose Mail > Settings (older macOS calls it Preferences).
- Click General.
- Click the New message notifications pop-up menu and pick one:
- Inbox Only — the default; alerts for new mail in your inbox.
- VIPs — only your VIP senders. Quietest option for a busy inbox.
- Contacts — anyone in your Contacts app.
- All Mailboxes — every folder, including ones rules sort into.
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Set the new-message sound
In the same Mail > Settings > General pane, use the New message sound pop-up menu to choose a chime, pick None for silent mail, or add your own. This sound plays whenever a message matching your notification choice above arrives.
Control the alert style, previews, and Dock badge
How the notification actually looks and behaves is set in macOS, not in Mail:
- Choose Apple menu > System Settings.
- Click Notifications in the sidebar.
- Under Application Notifications, click Mail.
- Adjust:
- Allow notifications — the master on/off switch for Mail.
- Alert style — None, Banners (auto-dismiss), or Alerts (stay until you dismiss them).
- Show in Notification Center and Badge app icon — the red unread count on the Dock icon.
- Show previews — always, only when unlocked, or never (good for privacy on the lock screen).
- Play sound for notifications — a second sound toggle at the system level.
What the Dock badge counts
The red number on Mail’s Dock icon is the count of unread messages in your Inbox. If it seems too high, it is unread mail piling up — not a bug. Turning off Badge app icon hides the number without touching your alerts.
Get a special alert only for VIP email
Setting New message notifications to VIPs silences everything else, which is usually not what people want. To get an extra alert for VIPs while still being notified for normal mail, use a rule instead:
- Open Mail > Settings > Rules and click Add Rule.
- Set the condition to Sender is VIP.
- Under actions choose Play Sound (a distinct chime) or Bounce Icon in Dock.
- Click OK.
Now VIP mail gets its own signal on top of your normal notifications. To manage who is a VIP, see our guide on rules and smart mailboxes in Mail.
Let Mail alerts through a Focus
If a Focus (or Do Not Disturb) is on, Mail alerts are hidden unless you allow them. In System Settings > Focus, pick your Focus and add Mail to the allowed apps. For the reverse — quieting a noisy Mac completely — see how to turn off notifications on Mac.
FAQ
Why am I not getting any Mail notifications?
Check three things in order: Allow notifications for Mail is on in System Settings > Notifications; a Focus is not silencing Mail; and New message notifications in Mail > Settings > General is not set to VIPs when you have no VIPs.
How do I stop the red number on the Mail icon?
Turn off Badge app icon in System Settings > Notifications > Mail. Your banners and sounds stay; only the unread count disappears.
Can I get notified only for one email account?
Mail’s pop-up applies to all accounts, but you can create a rule (Account is X) that plays a sound or moves the message, giving you per-account behavior.
My Mac is too slow to keep Mail open all day.
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