Windows 11/10 provides a great way to get important alerts i.e Notifications. These apps are nothing but Windows system apps or third-party apps like Facebook, Z (Twitter), and your email. What if you miss out on reading some notifications? You have enabled apps to show error and update notifications but, they slide off the screen once you click them. Would you then like to review old notifications to know what you may have missed?
How to view Old Notifications in Windows 11/10
Well, here’s the bad news. Microsoft has not provided any real way to view the old notifications in Windows 11 or Windows 10.
Once an interaction takes place, the notification is no longer displayed. Windows does not maintain the history of these notifications, and they cannot be retrieved.
However, there are a few things you could try if you want to see the old notifications.
- Try looking into the System logs where messages about system events are stored.
- Open and check the Event Viewer. Expand Applications and Services Logs. Navigate to the app or service you are interested in, and see the logs there. Eg. For Windows Defender, go to Microsoft > Windows > Windows Defender > Operational log.
- In Windows 11/10, the notifications are stored in
C\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Notifications\wpndatabase.dbas an SQLite database. You can use the DB Browser for SQLite, and see if you can see anything there under the Notification table. The Payload column contains the notification texts. However, this is not a sure-shot method. - EZ Notification Forwarder is a Microsoft Store app that lets you save all incoming notifications to your personal downloads folder. It can forward all messages from the Windows Message Center (“Toasts”) to any configurable HTTP server.
- Use the Notification Logger app which has been described next below.
Notification Logger app lets you view old Notifications in Windows 11/10
Notification Logger is a Microsoft Store app that captures and stores notifications from various Windows apps, including browsers like Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, and Firefox, as well as apps like Office, Teams, Skype, RingCentral, WhatsApp, Avast, OneDrive, Dropbox, Cortana, Zoom, Slack, Telegram, Instagram, TikTok, Spotify, Outlook, Gmail, Defender, etc.
Using this app, you can view, search, filter, and export your notification history to CSV files, as well as search Notifications by app, date, and text at any time to stay organized and on top of your tasks. You can save notifications to favorites, stay organized and productive, and never lose your notifications.
Read: How to increase Notification display time in Windows
How to view Notifications in Windows 11
To be able to view Notifications in Windows 11, do the following:
- From the WinX Menu, open Settings
- Click on System > Notifications
- Here ensure that Get notifications from apps and other senders is turned on
- Scroll down and look at the list of apps to select the ones for which you want notifications.
View Notification History in Windows 10
Do the following to view the Notifications History in Windows 10:
- Press Win + A on the keyboard.
- The old notifications are gathered in the open window.
- These notifications can be viewed until you view and clear them.
- If you select a notification, it responds to your action.
- If you dismiss the same, it will clear the action and, you will no longer view it.
Now you can manage notifications by clicking on Manage notifications or you can go to Notifications and Action Settings from Settings > System > Notifications and Actions.
Ensure that Get notifications from apps and other senders are turned on.
You can scroll down and look at the list of apps to select the ones for which you want notifications.
How do I view notification history in Windows 11?
To view your notification history in Windows 11, press the Windows logo key + N, which opens the Notification Center. Here, you can see a log of recent notifications. Alternatively, click on the date and time displayed in the taskbar to access past notifications quickly. This feature keeps you updated with missed alerts.
Hoping that the above-mentioned suggestions assist you in viewing old notifications.
