ServiceNow Troubleshooting · LessonBy Neelima, ServiceNow Architect · Published · ServiceNow · all levels
Notification problems
Work out why an email did not arrive: conditions, recipients, weight, sending state and the email log.
Quick answer
Work out why an email did not arrive: conditions, recipients, weight, sending state and the email log.
Key takeaways
- Follow the order: triggered, recipients, sent, delivered
- Zero recipients is the most common cause
- Weight silently suppresses lower priority notifications
- The email log answers most questions in a minute
Check in order
Was the notification triggered, did it produce a recipient list, was it sent, and did the recipient receive it. Each question has a different answer location, and skipping the order wastes time.
Recipient problems
Notifications commonly produce zero recipients.
- The user has no email address or has notifications disabled in their profile
- Send to event creator is off and the event user is the only recipient
- The group has no members with addresses
- Subscription based notifications need the user to subscribe first
Suppression and weight
Weight suppresses lower weight notifications when several fire for the same record, which surprises people who never set it. Also check exclusion lists and whether the notification is marked as active with a valid condition.
Practice challenge
+0 XPStreak ×0
Question 1 of 2
Where do you confirm the platform generated a message?
Frequently asked questions
Why do some users get it and others do not?
Check individual notification preferences and whether the missing users have valid addresses and the required role.
What is notification weight for?
When several notifications fire for one record, only the highest weight is sent. It stops users receiving four emails about one update.