Galaxy S9 sound notifications for email not working, Outlook app no notification sound for priority senders

This troubleshooting tries to address some issues related to email and their sound notifications. Both cases have been reported by #GalaxyS9 users so there’s a chance that it may be a unique bug for this device only. We’ll continue to gather more information about these issues and will also monitor other third party Android forums. If we find any pattern, rest assured that we’ll update this post to give the most effective solutions.

Problem 1: Galaxy S9 sound notifications for email not working

Morning – at wits end. I cannot get notification sounds (only vibrations) when a text or email is received. It was working a few days ago. My phone ringer works just as it should. The only apps I have loaded are trackr, isearching (both are Bluetooth tracking devices), formula 1 and Go Battery Pro. I did a reset of all notifications and that didn’t help. Please help me out. I hear only good things so I want to be one of those people boasting about you too. Thanks a million, and will await a very easy fix. — Robert

Solution: Hi Robert. If the only thing that you did differently before noticing the problem was to install these two apps, then you should try to remove any or both of them to see if they’re problematic. If you’ve already tried that, then try the other solution options below.

Clear the cache partition

Having a corrupted system cache can lead to all sorts of problems. To check if your S9’s sound notifications stopped working due to a system cache bug, you should clear the cache partition.

This procedure won’t delete personal data such as photos, videos, documents, among others so you can do it without worrying for them.

To clear your S9’s cache partition:

1. Turn off the device.
2. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Bixby key, then press and hold the Power key.
3. When the Android logo displays, release all three keys.
4. An ‘Installing system update’ message will show for 30 – 60 seconds before the Android system recovery menu options appear.
5. Press the Volume down key several times to highlight wipe cache partition.
6. Press Power key to select.
7. Press the Volume down key to highlight yes, them and press the Power key to select.
8. When the wipe cache partition is complete, Reboot system now is highlighted.
9. Press the Power key to restart the device.

Verify if a third party app is behind the trouble

Apps can sometimes make Android behave erratically. Poorly coded apps or those that had become incompatible after installing a new operating system version may interfere with how Android works resulting to issues that can seem to come out of nowhere. To check if one of your apps is the cause, you can restart your S9 to safe mode. Here’s how to do that:

1. Turn the device off.
2. Press and hold the Power key past the model name screen appearing on the screen.
3. When SAMSUNG appears on the screen, release the Power key.
4. Immediately after releasing the Power key, press and hold the Volume down key.
5. Continue to hold the Volume down key until the device finishes restarting.
6. When Safe mode appears in the bottom left corner of the screen, release the Volume down key.

Let the phone run in safe mode for some time and check for the issue. If sound notifications for emails are still not working, then proceed to the next solution. However, if the sound notifications work as expected but the issue returns after you’ve booted back to normal mode, you should identify the source of the problem by uninstalling apps. Here’s how to do that exactly:

1. Uninstall a third party app.
2. Restart the phone to go back to normal mode.
3. Check for the issue.
4. If the issue is still there, repeat steps 1-3.

Reset all settings

Sometimes, resetting the software to its default configuration without actually wiping the phone works is a good idea. The solution we’re talking is resetting the settings of your S9. To do that, follow the steps below:

1. Tap Settings app.
2. Tap General management.
3. Tap Reset.
4. Tap Reset settings.
5. Tap RESET SETTINGS button.

Do a full Factory Reset

Should our suggestions above won’t help at all, you want to wipe the phone clean and reset everything to defaults. Factory reset almost always fixes software-related problems so hopefully, your issue will be addressed by it. To factory reset your S9:

1. Turn off the device.
2. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Bixby key, then press and hold the Power key.
3. When the green Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
4. Press the Volume down key several times to highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset’.
5. Press Power button to select.
6. Press the Volume down key until ‘Yes — delete all user data’ is highlighted.
7. Press Power button to select and start the master reset.
8. When the master reset is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
9. Press the Power key to restart the device.

IMPORTANT: Factory reset will erase your personal data — photos, videos, documents, etc. Make sure that you back them up before proceeding.

Problem #2: Galaxy S9 Outlook app has missing feature, not making notification sound for priority senders

I have a Samsung Galaxy S9. I use my company email in the form of MS Outlook. When I received an email from a person I wanted to add as a priority sender, I was able to open the email, click MORE in top right and then ADD TO PRIORITY SENDERS. For some reason this no longer works. I cannot add them.

In addition, when I go to the PRIORITY SENDERS folder on the home screen, there’s no ADD button there either.

Finally, I’ve changed my notification settings so I should be getting an audible notification when I receive an email from a priority sender but that’s not working either (it’s not set to silent). Please help. Thank you so very much!! — Lanell

Solution: Hi Lanell. Android apps, like Android itself, evolves. Developers may add or remove features from time to time. If an app seems to have lost a feature, that doesn’t always necessarily mean that it’s a bug. There’s a fair chance the app may have simply been modified by its developer. In your particular case, Microsoft must have removed the feature you’re missing since we can’t also find that option on our own Outlook app. We don’t work for Microsoft though and we can’t give you a 100% assurance that this is the case. If you want to know about how to go about the issue, we suggest that you contact the app’s developer team. To do that:

1. Open Outlook app.
2. Tap the Menu icon at the top left.
3. Tap the gear icon at the bottom.
4. Tap Help & feedback.
5. Tap Contact support.

For your app’s notification settings issue, make sure Outlook is allowed to show notifications under Settings > Notifications. If the app is already permitted to show notifications but nothing happens when you received an email, try to do these possible solutions:

Ensure you have the latest Outlook app version

All you need to do is to open Play Store app and update Outlook app from there. This is an important step to resolve app-specific problems like the ones you’re experiencing.

Clear data of Outlook app

The next good thing that you can do is to clear the data of Outlook app. Here’s how:

1. Open Settings app.
2. Tap Apps.
3. Tap More settings (three-dot icon) at the upper-right.
4. Tap Show system apps.
5. Find the Phone app and tap it.
6. Tap Storage.
7. Tap Clear Data button.
8. Restart your S8.
9. Check if the problem still exists.

Reset app preferences

All apps don’t work by themselves. In almost all cases, every app works with other apps and services in order to perform a task. Sometimes, a user may disable a service or system app by mistake and this may affect other apps. To ensure that all system and default apps are set properly, you can reset all preferences. Here’s how:

1. Open Settings app.
2. Tap Apps.
3. Tap More settings (three-dot) icon at the upper right.
4. Tap Reset app preferences.

 

---