6 Best Ways to Fix Delayed Notifications in Slack for Android

by James · November 30, 2022

Slack is one of the popular messaging and file sharing apps to help employees communicate effectively over messages and voice calls. People often use the Slack app on Android phones to stay updated with important notifications. All the collaboration and messaging can be compromised due to the delayed notifications for Slack on Android.

There are several reasons why Slack notifications can be delayed. This includes issues with the Internet, your phone’s notification preferences, battery saving features, etc., and troubleshooting each of them can be a hassle-free experience. With that in mind, we’ve put together this guide with a few workarounds to help you quickly fix delayed notifications in Slack for Android.

Table of Contents

1. Make sure Slack notifications are enabled

Android classifies each app’s notifications into different categories, and you need to enable all these categories to ensure you get all the notifications on time without opening the app. Therefore, one of the first things you need to do is make sure all Slack notifications are enabled on your Android phone, as shown in the steps below.

Step 1: Unlock your Android phone and find Slack on it using the search bar in the app drawer.

Step 2: Long press the Slack icon and tap the ‘i’ App info button to open the app info page.

Step 3: On the app info page, tap the option that says Notifications.

Step 4: Check if the All “Slack” notifications switch is turned on.

Apart from the All “Slack” Notifications toggle, it is recommended that all the other Slack notification toggles are enabled as well.

2. Use Slack’s built-in debugger for notification

The other solution you can use if you have all Slack notifications enabled but are still experiencing delayed notifications involves using Slack’s built-in notification debugger. With it, you can scan your phone for anomalies that might interfere with Slack notifications.

Step 1: Unlock your Android phone and find Slack on it using the search bar in the app drawer.

Step 2: When Slack opens, tap the You tab in the lower right corner.

Step 3: Under the You tab, tap the Notifications option.

Step 4: Tap on the option that says Troubleshoot notifications.

Step 5: Wait for the debugger to run a scan and send you a test alert.

If everything returns green and no errors appear, you’re good to go. However, if any problems appear, move on to the next solution.

3. Make sure background usage for slack is enabled

Another reason why Slack notifications may be delayed on your Android phone could be because background data usage is disabled for the app. Here’s how you can quickly ensure that the Background use switcher for Slack is enabled on your phone.

Step 1: Unlock your Android phone and find Slack on it using the search bar in the app drawer.

Step 2: Long press the Slack icon and tap the ‘i’ App info button to open the app info page.

Step 3: When the app info page appears, tap on the “Mobile Data & Wi-Fi” option.

Step 4: On the Cellular Data & Wi-Fi page, make sure the Slack Background Data option is enabled.

While you’re at it, it’s also recommended that you enable Unlimited Data Usage under the Background Data option. If you enable the switch for unlimited data usage, Slack gets access to the full network bandwidth even if you have enabled the data saver on your Android phone.

4. Make sure battery optimization for slack is disabled

Almost all Android phones allow users to control the power consumption of apps on a per-app basis using a battery optimization feature. However, enabling such battery optimization features can often cause some apps to misbehave, making it important that you disable them.

Here’s how to make sure battery optimization for Slack is disabled on your Android phone.

Step 1: Unlock your Android phone and find Slack on it using the search bar in the app drawer.

Step 2: Long press the Slack icon and tap the ‘i’ App info button to open the app info page.

Step 3: On the app info page, tap the Advanced option.

Step 4: When more options appear, tap the one that says Battery.

Step 5: On the Battery Optimization page, select the option that says Do not optimize.

5. Turn off adaptive notifications

Many Android phones come enabled with an adaptive notification feature that runs a background service that sorts and prioritizes the notifications you receive based on their importance. As useful as this feature may sound, having it enabled can sometimes cause delays in notifications, making it necessary to disable this feature.

Here’s how to disable adaptive notifications on Android.

Step 1: Swipe down from the top of your Android phone’s screen to access the quick settings panel. Then tap the little gear icon to open the Settings app.

Step 2: When the Settings app opens, scroll down and at the top of the option that says Apps and notification.

Step 3: On the Apps & Notifications page, tap the Special app access option.

Step 4: Now tap on the option that says Adaptive Notifications.

Step 5: When two options app on the screen, tap the second one that says None.

6. Clear Slack’s data and cache

If none of the solutions work, your last hope would be to clear Slack’s cache and see if that fixes the issues for you. If that doesn’t help, clear your storage and sign in to Slack again.

Here’s how to clear Slack’s cache and date to fix issues that may be disrupting it.

Step 1: Unlock your Android phone and find Slack on it using the search bar in the app drawer.

Step 2: Long press the Slack icon and tap the ‘i’ App info button to open the app info page.

Step 3: On the app info page, tap the option that says Storage and cache.

Step 4: Press the button that says Clear cache. Then check if there is still a delay when you receive a Slack notification.

If clearing the cache helped you solve the problem, you’re good to go. If this does not help you resolve the issue, continue to the next step.

Step 5: Press the buttons that say Clear storage.

Note: Clearing the storage will delete all user data in Slack, including your login details. You’ll need to sign in to Slack again to start using it again.

Curb the delay and be the responsive employee you are

The solutions mentioned above will help you quickly fix the delayed notifications in Slack. After that, you will not miss any important messages from your workplace and you will be more responsive.