---
title: "Which notifications you receive"
description: "Talkspirit notifies you through two channels, the notification bell and email, for events in Structure, Goals, Projects and Meetings. Everything is on by default, and the classic apps signal activity separately."
category: communication
section: notifications
tags: [notifications]
type: Reference
lastUpdated: 2026-09-29
locale: en
canonical: https://support.talkspirit.com/en/communication/receive-notifications-for-new-activities-on-the-platform
---

# Which notifications you receive


## Which notifications you receive

Talkspirit notifies you through two channels: the **notification bell** in the top bar, and **email**. Both cover the same four modules, Structure, Goals, Projects and Meetings, and everything is switched on when you arrive. The classic apps, Newsfeed, Chat, Calendar, Library, Drive and Groups, signal activity separately and are not part of the bell.

## The two channels

| Channel | Where it shows | Setting that controls it |
|---|---|---|
| **Desktop** | The bell in the top bar, plus a pop-up from your operating system if your browser allows it | **Enable desktop notifications**, per module |
| **Email** | Your mailbox | **Enable email notifications**, per module |

"Desktop" covers both the bell and the operating-system pop-up: they are one setting, not two. If you switch **Enable desktop notifications** off for a module, that module stops appearing in the bell at all.

Your browser tab also carries the unread count in front of the page title, as `(3) Cockpit | Talkspirit`, so you can see activity without switching back to Talkspirit.

![The notification bell panel open in the top bar, listing three unread meeting notifications with the time each one arrived.](/images/communication/receive-notifications-for-new-activities-on-the-platform/01-notification-bell-panel.png)

## What triggers a notification

The bell merges four sources into one list, newest first. You only see a source you have permission to read, so a member without access to Projects never receives a Projects notification on either channel.

| Module | You are notified when | Channels |
|---|---|---|
| **Structure** | You are assigned to or removed from a role or a circle, a role's purpose or accountabilities change, someone applies to a role you are hiring for, you are mentioned in a comment on a proposal, a document or a checklist, someone comments on your proposal, a proposal is opened, adopted or reverted, a document is published or assigned to you, or your time allocation needs updating | Bell and email |
| **Goals** | A goal is assigned to you, its progress is updated, or it is completed | Bell and email |
| **Projects** | A task is assigned to or unassigned from you, you are mentioned in a comment, a task or sub-task you are assigned to is completed, or a task or project you have access to is archived | Bell and email |
| **Projects, metrics** | A metric is assigned to you, or a metric value you are responsible for is due | Bell only |
| **Meetings** | A meeting is scheduled, a meeting is approaching, a meeting is overdue, or its report is published | Bell and email |

Two further meeting events, **meeting updated** and **meeting cancelled**, fire when a meeting's date, time or place changes and when a meeting is cancelled. They reach both the bell and your mailbox, but they have no row of their own on the settings screen: the only way to stop them is to turn off the whole Meetings channel. A change to a meeting's description or agenda alone does not notify anyone.

## What is on by default

**Everything.** Every event in the table above sends on both channels until you turn it off, and the two global switches per module start on as well.

You are never notified about an action you performed yourself. The settings screen states this under the event table.

![The Projects tab of the notification settings, showing the global email and desktop switches above a table of events with one switch per channel.](/images/communication/receive-notifications-for-new-activities-on-the-platform/02-notification-preferences-projects.png)

The exception is metrics: **Metric Assignment** and **Metric Value Due** reach the bell only. Their email column shows a dash, because email is not a channel Talkspirit can deliver them on.

## The classic apps notify you separately

Newsfeed, Chat, Calendar, Library, Drive and Groups still run on the classic Talkspirit interface, which has its own notification panel and its own settings. Nothing from those apps appears in the bell described above, and turning a module off in **Account** does not affect them.

What they show instead:

- **A red dot on a group** in the Newsfeed sidebar when the group has activity you have not seen. Select **Unfollow** in the group's menu to stop following it without leaving it.
- **A badge on the browser's favicon** whenever you have unread chat messages, notifications or events. Do Not Disturb suppresses it.
- **The tab title**, which prefixes the number of unread chats while chat messages are waiting.
- **Mute room** in a chat room's menu, to silence one conversation.

## Good to know

Every notification email ends with a **Manage your email notifications.** link that opens the right tab of your notification settings, so you can turn off the exact event that reached you.

An administrator can switch off notification emails for the whole organisation. That setting stops governance, meeting and project emails for everyone; it does not stop the bell, and it does not stop sign-in emails such as password resets and invitations.

A circle or a project can also post its notifications to a Slack channel, which a circle administrator sets up from the circle's settings: see [Connect a circle or a project to Slack](/integrations/connect-a-circle-or-a-project-to-slack). Your personal notification settings do not apply to that channel.

## What's Next?

- [How do I configure my notification settings?](/getting-started/how-to-configure-my-notification-settings)
- [How do I disable email notifications for my organisation?](/administration-security/disable-email-notifications-for-your-organization)
- [How do I customise my news feed?](/communication/using-the-newsfeed)