How to Set Up and Use Notifications in Business Central

Business Central has two types of notifications: in-app notifications that appear in the bell icon in the top navigation, and email notifications triggered by approval workflows. Both types are configurable per user, and administrators can control the defaults and templates.

This guide covers how to configure both.

Part 1: In-App Notifications

In-app notifications appear in the notification bell in the top-right corner of Business Central. They alert users to events relevant to their work, such as an approval request waiting for their action, a workflow step completed, or a record they need to review.

Step 1: Open My Notifications

Each user configures their own notification preferences through the My Notifications page.

Select the bell icon in the top-right corner, or search for My Notifications using Alt + Q.
The page lists all available notification types with a toggle for each.

Step 2: Enable or Disable Notification Types

For each notification in the list, use the Enabled toggle to turn it on or off.
Some notifications have additional settings, for example, a threshold amount below which you do not want to be notified about overdue amounts.

Common notification types you will see:

Notification	When it triggers
Approval Request Created	When a document or record enters an approval workflow
Approval Request Approved	When your approval request is approved
Approval Request Rejected	When your approval request is rejected
Approval Request Delegated	When a request is delegated to another approver
Overdue Approval Requests	Reminder when an approval has not been acted on

Step 3: Manage Notifications for Other Users (Admin)

Administrators can view and edit notification settings for other users.

Search for User Setup using Alt + Q.
Open the relevant user’s record.
Select User Notifications from the action bar.
Adjust the notification toggles on behalf of that user.

This is useful during onboarding, when new users may not yet have configured their preferences.

Part 2: Workflow-Based Notifications

Approval workflows send email notifications when documents move through the approval process. These notifications are separate from in-app alerts and require email to be configured first.

Step 4: Check Workflow Notification Setup

Search for Workflow Notifications using Alt + Q, or open an existing workflow and look at the notification steps within it.
Each approval workflow includes notification steps, these define when an email is sent and to whom.

In a standard purchase order approval workflow, notifications are sent:

When the request is submitted (to the approver)
When the request is approved or rejected (to the requester)
When the request is delegated (to the new approver)

Step 5: Configure Notification Templates

Notification templates control the content of the emails sent by workflows. Business Central includes default templates, but you can edit them.

Search for Notification Templates using Alt + Q.
You will see templates for different notification types, Approval, New Record, Overdue.
Select a template and choose Edit.
The template includes a Subject and Body field. The body can include placeholders that Business Central fills in at send time, such as the document number or the approver’s name.
Save your changes.

Step 6: Set Up Notification Schedules

Instead of sending every notification immediately, you can schedule them to be batched and sent at a specific time. This reduces interruptions for approvers who handle many requests.

Search for Notification Schedule using Alt + Q.
Select New or edit an existing schedule.
Set the Recurrence, Instantly, Daily, or Weekly.
If using Daily, set the time of day for delivery.
Assign the schedule to a user in the User Setup page by setting the Notification Schedule Code.

Using a daily schedule batches all pending notifications into a single email per day, rather than one email per event.

Step 7: Test Notifications

To confirm that email notifications are working:

Create or submit a document that should trigger an approval notification (for example, a purchase order above the approval threshold).
Check that the approver receives the email.
Check the Email Outbox (search using Alt + Q) if the email was not received, it may be queued or failed.

For in-app notifications, trigger the same event and check the bell icon for the recipient user (if you can sign in as that user, or ask them to confirm).

Troubleshooting Common Issues

Issue	Where to check
Approval email not received	Email Outbox, email account configuration
Notification not appearing in bell icon	My Notifications, toggle may be disabled
Wrong email content	Notification Templates
Notifications not batching	Notification Schedule assigned in User Setup
Workflow not sending any notifications	Check workflow steps include a notification action

To configure the approval workflows that drive most workflow notifications, see How to Set Up Approval Workflows in Business Central.