Naven
Answers
Why are my Google Chat notifications not working?
Usually because notifications are switched off in one of four places: Google Chat's own notification settings, a space or conversation that has been muted or set to notify less, the browser's permission for chat.google.com or mail.google.com, or the phone's own settings (Do Not Disturb, Focus or battery optimisation). Check them in that order.
Start inside Google Chat. In the web app, open Settings (the gear icon) and look at Chat notifications: they can be switched off entirely, set to direct messages only, or limited to mentions. Then open the conversation or space that is silent and check its own notification setting; spaces can be set to notify only when you are mentioned, and a muted conversation does not notify at all.
Check your status. If your status is set to Do not disturb in Google Chat, notifications are held until it ends. It is easy to set it for an hour and forget.
Check the browser. If you use Chat on a computer, the browser needs permission to show notifications from chat.google.com, and from mail.google.com if you use Chat inside Gmail. In Chrome that is the padlock or site-settings icon beside the address; set Notifications to Allow. If you use both Gmail and the Chat app, only one of them may be set to notify, and Google Chat suggests choosing one to avoid duplicates.
Check the phone. On Android, battery optimisation can stop the Chat app running in the background; set it to unrestricted. On an iPhone, check Settings > Notifications > Google Chat, and whether a Focus mode is filtering it. If you are signed into several Google accounts, make sure notifications are on for the account the messages go to.
If Chat is slow or will not load at all, sign out and back in, clear the site's data for chat.google.com, update the app, and check the Google Workspace Status Dashboard in case the problem is on Google's side.
If you are looking for something simpler: Naven's notifications are a single switch in Settings, and they work from a browser tab or from the Home Screen on a phone. Naven also emails you if a message has waited a while, so a missed notification does not mean a missed message.