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I would like to receive an email when someone sends me a message on Facebook. This used to happen by default.

Is it still possible to set it up somehow?

Update (Dec/12): Mehper C. Palavuzlar's solution stopped working for me (and apparently for at least some other users) AND I have stopped receiving email notifications AGAIN.

Are email notifications still available?

The screen now looks this way: enter image description here

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  • I am missing the Messages option also.
    – studgeek
    Mar 9, 2013 at 18:07
  • I'm wondering if it has something to do with installing the Facebook and/or Facebook messenger app on my phone - perhaps Facebook then routes all messages through them?
    – studgeek
    Mar 9, 2013 at 18:08
  • yeah my guess is that this feature was outmoded some time ago
    – Tyson Navarre
    Feb 13, 2020 at 17:51
  • In notifications settings, I can see an option called "Facebook App Messaging" but even if enabled, I don't receive email notifications for new messages. However I got an email notification instantly when someone replied to a comment I made in a group. Previously, I was able to receive email notifications for new messages from 2013 (my registration date) to 2020.
    – baptx
    Aug 18, 2022 at 18:08
  • Seems that in 2023 you can be notified by email about comments, tags, reminders, updates, friend requests, people you may know, birthdays, etc etc, some 19 things in all. Yet the combined brainpower at "Meta" is unable to realise that users might need an email notification when there are new chat messages waiting. Checked extensively through settings on both facebook.com and messenger.com
    – Ed Randall
    Jan 24 at 9:11

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
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Go to your Account Settings and select Notifications from the left pane. Now you can see the Notification Settings page: https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=notifications&section=Facebook&view

Select "You'll receive: All notifications, except the ones you unsubscribe from" and click "Turn On" next to "Messages" under "You've unsubscribed from emails about:". That's all.

enter image description here

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  • 6
    This is now wrong. The drop down boxes "You've unsubscribed from emails about:" is missing for everyone.
    – user30238
    Dec 11, 2012 at 15:55
  • 2
    Maybe not wrong, but partial. It doesn't look like this for me anymore, AND I have stopped receiving email notifications AGAIN.
    – daphshez
    Dec 14, 2012 at 15:12
  • 1
    I can confirm that this is also not an option with my account. "Messages" is nowhere to be found in the "You've unsubscribed from emails about" list. Related note: Your image shows four items in the list, with a "See all 69" link. Mine shows four items, with a "See all 67" link. Clearly Facebook is preventing some users from changing this Messages setting (and one other setting too apparently). Bizarre.
    – Michael
    Dec 14, 2012 at 19:40
  • 12
    @NathanArthur I do not have "Messages" in the unsubscribe list. I only have 6 unsubscribed options. I can't get email notifications of Facebook messages.
    – XP1
    Jan 10, 2013 at 5:13
  • 2
    The Messages option isn't present.
    – Shimmy Weitzhandler
    Jul 16, 2020 at 2:24
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I have started receiving notifications again! Like others, I did not have any options in notification settings that related to emailing messages.

It looks like Facebook integrated chat with messaging. I discovered that when logging into Facebook, missed messages would appear as chat windows. After turning off Chat (chat window > bottom right > settings cog) through the web, turning off chat and notifications on my phone, and turning off chat on my messenger clients, I'm starting to get emails again of messages.

Not sure if this kicks in immediately, because I got my first notification 2 days after I changed this. Note that the message was sent, and email arrive 30 mins later.

I also submitted a report about this, and you can too if you like: https://www.facebook.com/help/issues/notifications ... I didn't receive notification ... File a report

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  • Did not solve my problem, but this does most accurately describe what I did to cause this (downloaded Facebook Messenger and started missing emails). Yesterday, I deleted Messenger from my phone. Today, based on this post, I disabled Chat. Time will tell. Anyone wants an update, tag me in an update request.
    – jp2code
    Jan 10, 2017 at 19:20
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    @jp2code I forgot about this answer -- years later I still haven't figured it out. I got something working for a bit by enabling messenger on my phone and disabling all notifications on it. That only seemed to work for a few days, then nothing.
    – Josh Hibschman
    Jan 10, 2017 at 21:55

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