I want email notifications to be sent to my outlook when someone shares, tags me in a comment, replies to my comments in Sharepoint and OneDrive

Anonymous
2026-04-08T14:47:30.2733333+00:00

How do I ensure that when someone @mentions me in a OneDrive or SharePoint document comment, I receive an email notification rather than just an in-app alert?

We use Microsoft 365 for document storage and Google Workspace (Gmail) for email. When a colleague comments on a shared OneDrive/SharePoint file and @mentions me, I want the notification to arrive in my Gmail inbox rather than only appearing as a sidebar alert in the Office app.

Specifically I'd like to know:

  1. Where in Microsoft 365 settings can I configure @mention notifications to send via email instead of (or in addition to) in-app alerts?
  2. Does this work consistently across Word, Excel and PowerPoint Online?
  3. Is there an official way to route these notifications to a non-Microsoft email address like Gmail, or is forwarding from Outlook the only option?

Any guidance on the recommended setup would be appreciated.

Microsoft 365 and Office | SharePoint | For business | MacOS
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  1. Ian-Ng 14,145 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-04-08T16:18:49.0133333+00:00

    Hi @Matthew Dodds, 

    Good day, and I appreciate the clear explanation of your concern. 

    Based on your description, you would like to ensure that all @mentions, tags, and comment replies originating in SharePoint and OneDrive are delivered directly to your Gmail inbox. It is essential that these notifications function consistently across Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, ensuring that you do not miss updates that may currently only be visible as in-app alerts. 

    You can manage your document comment alerts through the OneDrive settings menu. 

    To ensure you receive email notifications for files stored in both OneDrive and SharePoint libraries, you should first verify your settings within the OneDrive web interface. By accessing the Settings gear, selecting OneDrive settings, and navigating to Notification settings, you can confirm that the options for replies to your comments and mentions on your documents are enabled. This configuration is designed to send an email with a direct link back to the comment thread whenever collaboration occurs in Word, Excel, or PowerPoint.

    User's image

    Separate configurations are required for SharePoint pages and news posts. 

    If your work involves SharePoint-specific content such as news posts or site pages, these notifications are handled independently from document comments. To activate these, please navigate to your SharePoint start page, open the Settings menu, and select Email notification settings. From this menu, you can enable the specific toggles for mentions and comment-related emails that you wish to receive. 

    User's image

    Regarding create a rule in Outlook to automate the forwarding process. 

    You can use an Outlook on the web rule to route these notifications to Gmail automatically. Many SharePoint-generated notification emails are sent from ******@sharepointonline.com, so using that sender address as your rule condition is a good starting point. 

    To set it up, sign in to Outlook on the web, select Settings, then select Mail, then select Rules, and choose Add new rule.  Give the rule a name, then add a condition such as From contains ******@sharepointonline.com.  For the action, choose Forward to and enter your Gmail address, then select Save. If you prefer the message to keep the original sender when it arrives in Gmail, use the Redirect to action instead of Forward to. 

    Important note: 

    • If the notifications do not arrive, please contact your IT administrator. They must ensure the "Automatic forwarding" toggle is enabled within the organization's outbound anti-spam policy to allow these alerts to leave the Microsoft ecosystem. 
    • You should verify that Gmail is not filtering these alerts. Create a filter in Gmail for the SharePoint sender address and select Never send it to Spam to ensure these notifications are prioritized in your primary inbox. 

    I hope this information assists you in receiving your notifications exactly where you need them. 

    Should you have any further questions, please feel free to reach out.

    If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".

    Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

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  2. AI answer

    2026-04-08T14:47:51.42+00:00
    1. Configuration location for @mention email notifications

    For SharePoint pages and news posts, email notifications (including @mentions) are controlled by each user’s SharePoint email notification preferences:

    1. Go to the SharePoint start page.
    2. Select Settings (gear icon) at the top right.
    3. Select Email notification settings.
    4. Turn on the toggles for the notifications to receive (for example, when someone likes or comments on a page or news post created, or mentions using @).

    When enabled, SharePoint sends email notifications automatically. These are standard email messages and will be delivered to whatever primary email address is associated with the Microsoft 365 account (which can be a non-Microsoft address if configured that way by the organization).

    For OneDrive/SharePoint file comments (Word, Excel, PowerPoint stored in OneDrive/SharePoint):

    • When someone @mentions a user in a comment, an email notification is sent that includes a link to the comment and a preview of the text and thread, and the user can respond directly from the email using Outlook for Windows, Outlook on the web, or Outlook Mobile.
    • There is no separate end-user toggle in the provided context to switch between “in-app only” and “email + in-app”; email notifications are part of the built-in behavior for @mentions.

    Admins can globally control some related behaviors:

    • OneDrive/SharePoint file activity notifications (including @mentions) can be allowed or blocked tenant-wide:
      1. In the SharePoint admin center, go to Settings.
      2. Select the Notifications setting for OneDrive.
      3. Select or clear Allow notifications.
      4. Alternatively, use PowerShell: Set-SPOTenant -NotificationsInOneDriveForBusinessEnabled.

    If this setting is disabled, users will not receive these notifications.

    1. Consistency across Word, Excel, and PowerPoint Online

    For documents stored in OneDrive or SharePoint:

    • In Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, when someone mentions a user in a comment, an email notification is sent with:
      • A link to the comment in the file.
      • A preview of the text and comment thread.
      • The ability to reply directly from the email (when using Outlook for Windows, Outlook on the web, or Outlook Mobile).

    This behavior is described generically for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint and applies consistently across these apps when used with OneDrive/SharePoint storage.

    1. Routing notifications to non-Microsoft email (e.g., Gmail)

    The context does not describe a special routing feature specifically for sending @mention notifications to an arbitrary external mailbox. Instead:

    • Notifications are sent to the email address associated with the Microsoft 365 account.
    • If the organization has configured user identities so that the sign-in/primary email for the Microsoft 365 account is a non-Microsoft address (such as a corporate Gmail address), notifications will go there automatically.
    • The context does not document a separate, official per-user setting to specify a different destination mailbox for @mention notifications beyond the account’s primary email.

    If the Microsoft 365 account’s primary email is an Outlook/Microsoft mailbox and the goal is to deliver notifications to Gmail, the context does not provide an alternative mechanism other than what the tenant or mail admin might configure (for example, forwarding rules in the mailbox). No additional official routing mechanism for @mention notifications is described in the provided documentation.

    References:

    AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.

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