Notifications (23H2)

Windows 11 supports notifications so that the system and apps can alert you about events that are unrelated to what you're currently working on. It also provides a Notifications pane so you can review notifications you've missed.
Get to know notifications
When Windows 11 or an app needs to deliver a notification--perhaps because of a new email arriving, an event reminder, alarm, or similar occurrence--it does so via a pop-up banner, a small interactive window that appears in the lower right corner of the screen.

Like the mobile apps that you use on an Android phone or tablet, iPhone, or iPad, apps don't need to be running to trigger notifications. Instead, they use background processes to display notifications as required.
Notification banners can take many different forms, and it's up to the app maker to decide which features to use. Most are simple, with some text and a few buttons, but they can also include images, quick reply boxes, context menus, progress bars, and other controls.

Internally, notification banners are referred to as toast notifications because the first version of this user interface popped up from the bottom of the screen, similar to toast coming out of a pop-up toaster.
Notification banners appear on-screen for a few seconds before disappearing. If you ignore a miss a notification, Windows 11 will move it into the Notifications pane so that you can review it later.

You can open this pane--and a semi-related Calendar pane by clicking the system tray--it contains a time and date display--on the far right side of the Taskbar.
You can open the Notifications and Calendar panes even more quickly by typing WINKEY + N.
There is no way to open Notifications or Calendar individually.
The system tray also displays a small Notification icon that's shaped like a bell.

When there are no new notifications to review, the Notification icon in the system tray will be empty. But when there is at least one new notification, it will fill in--appear "full"--using the system accent color.

When you open the Notifications pane, the Notification icon in the system tray visually empties, indicating that there are no longer any new notifications.
The Notification icon supports a third visual state: When Do not disturb is enabled, it appears to be "sleeping" with a few little Z's over it.
Where did it go?
The bell-shaped Notification icon in the system tray is new to Windows 11 version 23H2. In previous Windows 11 versions, this icon was circular and it would display a number indicating how many notifications were waiting for review. This notification count feature is no longer available and there is no workaround.
Configure notifications
Depending on how you work and which apps you use, you could find yourself dealing with notifications frequently. So you may wish to spend some time configuring how notifications work.

You do so by opening the Settings app and navigating to System > Notifications.

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