How to turn on notifications for specific Twitter accounts on desktop and mobile, to make sure that you never miss a tweet
- If you want to make sure you never miss anything on Twitter, you can turn on Twitter notifications to receive a notice whenever an account tweets.
- To turn on these account-specific Twitter notifications, you'll need to select which accounts you want to see notifications from - let's take the official Business Insider and Insider accounts, for example.
- To stay fully up-to-date on an account, you may also want to configure your Twitter push notification settings appropriately.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Twitter is great for keeping you up-to-date on everything happening in your social circle, and in the world around you. But if you follow lots of people, it can be easy to lose track of what any one person is tweeting about. This is where it's handy to turn on Twitter notifications.
Twitter notifications are turned on by default when you make your account, and will alert you whenever you receive a reply, mention, or when any of your tweets are retweeted or liked. And by default, the only time you'll see notifications is when you open the website or app.
But with just a few clicks (or taps, if you're using the iPhone Twitter app), you can make it so you receive a push notification whenever a specific account tweets.
This is a great tool if you want to follow many accounts, but also want to prioritize tweets from certain people.
Here's how to set it up.
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How to turn on Twitter notifications for a specific account
The process for this is the same on both desktop and mobile. We'll use the Business Insider and Insider as examples.
1. Find the account that you want to receive notifications for. You can do this by clicking their username on your timeline, or finding them in search.
2. To the right of that account's name and icon, you'll see the word "Follow." Click it.
3. Once you click Follow, an icon of a bell will appear next to it. Click that as well, and if you're on mobile, select "All Tweets" in the menu that appears.
You're now following and, in theory, receiving notifications for that account. But before you can really receive notifications, you'll need to make sure to turn on push notifications.
How to turn on push notifications on Twitter
On desktop
Note that to receive push notifications in your browser, you'll need to use a browser that supports them, like Chrome, Safari, or Firefox.
1. From anywhere on Twitter, click the circle with three dots in it on the left side of your screen. It'll be between your profile icon, and the compose tweet icon.
2. In the menu that appears, click "Settings and privacy."
3. This will bring you to your Settings menu. Here, click "Notifications."
4. Underneath the "Preferences" heading, click "Push notifications." If this option doesn't appear, your browser doesn't support push notifications.
5. You'll see a gray switch, and a description of what push notifications are. Click the switch to turn it blue.
6. Once you do this, your browser will likely ask you if you want to allow notifications from Twitter. Click "Allow."
William Antonelli/Business InsiderFlip the switch to enable push notifications, and press "Allow" when it pops up in your browser.
7. In the menu below labeled "Related to you and your Tweets," make sure that the box in the first section, "Tweets," is checked. This will make sure that you receive account notifications.
William Antonelli/Business InsiderCheck the box next to "Tweets."
Feel free to configure your other push notification settings as you like.
On mobile
Push notifications should be turned on by default when you download the Twitter app, but in case they aren't, here's how to turn them on.
Turning on push notifications on an iPhone is done outside of the app.
1. From your iPhone's home screen, find and open your Settings app.
2. Scroll down to near the very bottom of your Settings app, and tap the tab labeled "Twitter."
3. Tap "Notifications."
4. Make sure the "Allow Notifications" switch is toggled on, and is colored green.
5. In the "Alerts" section, check all three notification types: "Lock Screen," "Notification Center," and "Banners."
6. In the "Options" section, tap "Show Previews" and make sure that "Always (Default)" is selected.
And that's it. With these settings, you'll receive Twitter account notifications in your browser and on your phone.
Related coverage from How To Do Everything: Tech:
How to unfollow a Twitter account on desktop or mobile
How to remove followers on Twitter by blocking accounts - or by quickly blocking and unblocking them
How to mute keywords and phrases on Twitter (and avoid spoilers)
How to deactivate your Twitter account on an iPhone, and delete the app