Mac Calendar alerts not working?
The common causes, how to fix them, and a full-screen alert you can't miss.
Calendar on your Mac shows alerts as a notification banner, and several settings in macOS and in Calendar itself decide whether that banner appears at all. Check the list below first. If alerts work but you still miss meetings, the last section is for you.
Why Calendar alerts don't show up on Mac
- Calendar can't notify. In System Settings, Notifications, select Calendar and turn on Allow notifications.
- The banner disappears. In the same place, set the style to Persistent (Alerts on older macOS). A Temporary banner is gone after a few seconds, often before you look.
- A Focus is on. Do Not Disturb, Work or a scheduled Focus silences Calendar unless it is allowed in that Focus.
- The event has no alert. Open the event and check its Alert field. Default alerts are set per account in Calendar, Settings, Alerts, and invitations from other people may arrive without one.
- The account stopped syncing. If an event is missing or out of date, the alert can't fire. Use View, Refresh Calendars, and check the account in System Settings, Internet Accounts.
- The alert is on another screen. With several displays, the banner shows on one of them, which may not be the one you are looking at.
Using Google Calendar or Outlook? See Google Calendar notifications on Mac and Outlook for Mac reminders not popping up.
Make it impossible to miss
Even with every setting right, a Calendar alert is a small banner in the corner of one screen. If you are deep in another app, sharing your screen or looking at a second display, it is easy to miss. Slapss reads the same calendars and puts a full-screen alert over every display when the meeting starts, with a Join button for Zoom, Teams, Google Meet and Webex.
1
Install Slapss from the Mac App Store and allow calendar access when it asks.
2
Pick which calendars should alert you in Slapss Settings, Calendars.
3
Choose when the alert appears: at the start, or up to 15 minutes before.
Slapss reads your calendar on your Mac and sends it nowhere. There is no account to create, no analytics and no server of ours involved. The source code is on GitHub if you want to check.
Get Slapss free on the Mac App Store
Questions
Why are my Calendar alerts not showing on Mac?
The usual causes are Calendar notifications turned off in System Settings, Notifications, a Focus mode, an event with no alert, a calendar account that has stopped syncing, or a Temporary banner style that disappears after a few seconds.
How do I make Calendar alerts stay on screen on Mac?
In System Settings, Notifications, Calendar, set the style to Persistent (Alerts on older macOS). The alert then stays until you close it. It is still a small banner in the corner of one display.
Does Slapss work with the calendars in Apple Calendar?
Yes. Slapss reads every account you have in Calendar on your Mac, including iCloud, Google and Exchange, and you pick which calendars should alert you.
Is it free?
Yes. No subscription, no in-app purchase, no limit. Slapss is open source under the Apache 2.0 license.