Notifications

Notifications control how PrimeTask reminds you about your tasks. There are two completely independent channels:

In-App Notifications - alerts that appear inside PrimeTask's own notification dropdown. They never interrupt your operating system.
Desktop Notifications - native system alerts (the kind macOS or Windows shows in their own notification area). They appear even when PrimeTask isn't the active window.

You can use one, both, or neither. Each channel has its own master toggle and its own set of sub-options, so you can tune PrimeTask to be as quiet or as insistent as you want.

What you can do

In the In-App channel

Turn in-app notifications on or off as a whole
Show overdue tasks - surface everything past its due date
Show tasks due soon - get a heads-up before a task's due time, with a configurable lead time
Show tasks due today and Show tasks due tomorrow - simple day-based reminders
Show tasks from all Spaces, not just the one you're currently in
Show reminder toasts when a Quick Add reminder fires, with a choice of seven accent colours
Set a default snooze duration so "remind me later" uses your preferred interval
Cap how many notifications show at once in the in-app dropdown, so busy workspaces don't flood the list

In the Desktop channel

Turn desktop notifications on or off as a whole
Show tasks due soon with a configurable lead time
Play a notification sound when an alert fires
Notify when tasks become overdue, with a configurable reminder frequency (including once per app session for the quietest setting)
Show a dock badge count on macOS - the number of tasks needing attention appears on the PrimeTask icon in the dock
Send a daily summary at a time you choose - one notification with everything that needs attention for the day

How to open Notifications

Sidebar (default): Open Settings from the sidebar, then expand the Notifications card.
Settings search: Open Settings and type notifications, alerts, or reminders.
Command palette: Press ⌘+K (or Ctrl+K), type notifications, and pick the entry.

Things worth knowing

In-app vs desktop - pick based on how interruptible you want to be

Both channels fire on the same events (overdue, due soon, due today, etc.) but they behave very differently:

In-app is passive. Notifications collect inside PrimeTask's own dropdown, waiting for you to look. They never pop over other windows, never play a system sound on top of whatever you're doing, never pull your attention away.
Desktop is active. The operating system shows a banner/toast even when PrimeTask isn't the active window. This is what you want for "don't let me miss this" alerts.

Use in-app for gentle awareness while you're working inside PrimeTask, and desktop for things you genuinely need to notice when you're in another app.

Use both channels for different layers of awareness

A common pattern is to keep the in-app channel on with every option enabled (so the dropdown is your complete to-do radar), and keep the desktop channel limited to only overdue (so the only thing that breaks your focus is something genuinely late).

Desktop notifications need operating system permission

The first time you turn on Desktop Notifications, your operating system will ask you to grant PrimeTask permission. You need to accept - without permission, the OS won't display any of the alerts even if every other option is on.

Granting permission later

If you declined the prompt and change your mind later, turn permission on manually in System Settings → Notifications → PrimeTask on macOS, or Settings → Notifications → PrimeTask on Windows. Desktop alerts will start working on the next notification without needing to restart PrimeTask.

Cross-Space notifications - only the in-app channel is Space-aware

In-app notifications have a Show from all Spaces toggle. When it's off, you only get in-app reminders for the Space you're currently in. When it's on, you see reminders from every Space you have access to. This is handy if you want personal-Space reminders to surface while you're working in your Work Space.

Desktop notifications don't make a Space distinction - the operating system doesn't know what a Space is, so desktop alerts always cover every Space.

Don't train yourself to ignore notifications

If you turn every option on and end up seeing dozens of alerts a day, you'll start tuning them out - and then real overdue items slip past you. Start with the minimum you actually need (typically overdue + a daily summary) and only add more when you find yourself missing something real.

Reminder toasts make reminders impossible to miss

When you set a reminder (either with the remind: Quick Add syntax or from inside any task), PrimeTask can pop a toast on screen at the moment the reminder fires. The toast stays visible until you take an action, so a reminder you set hours ago will not slip past you while you are working in another app.

Each toast shows the task name, a timing line (for example, "Starting in 5 minutes · Project name" when the task is linked to a project), and four actions:

Dismiss - clear the reminder; it won't fire again
Complete - mark the task done in one click, using your Space's default complete status
Show task - open the task; the reminder is considered addressed and won't fire again
Snooze 15m - hover over the "Now" label at the top of the toast to reveal the Snooze control; clicking snoozes the reminder for 15 minutes and shows you a brief confirmation

Pick an accent colour for the toast from the options under the Reminder toasts toggle. Seven options are available, and clicking any one fires a quick preview so you can audition each before committing.

Turn toasts off for quieter awareness

If a persistent toast is too prominent for your style of work, turn off Reminder toasts and keep the bell dropdown and desktop banner on. Your reminders still fire, just in a less interruptive form.

Show Task doesn't keep nagging you

Once you click Show Task on a reminder, PrimeTask treats it as handled and doesn't pop it again. If you want a follow-up nudge, click Snooze before Show Task, or set a fresh reminder from inside the task. See Task Reminders for the full reminder lifecycle.

The dock badge is a macOS-only feature

The Show dock badge count option puts a red number on the PrimeTask icon in your macOS dock, counting the tasks that need attention. It only works on macOS because it uses Apple's native dock. On Windows the option has no visible effect - leave it off if you're on Windows.

Dock badge is the quietest reminder

If you want a minimal-interruption setup, turn off all the in-app and desktop toggles except the dock badge. You'll see a count on the app icon when work is waiting, without any banners or sounds.

The in-app dropdown has a configurable cap

The in-app notification dropdown shows the most recent matching reminders up to a limit you choose. Defaults to a comfortable size that works for most workspaces; raise it if you run a busy Space with lots of due tasks and want more history in the dropdown, or lower it to keep the list focused on what's most urgent right now.

Raise the cap only if you actually scroll the dropdown often

A higher cap also means more work for PrimeTask to render the dropdown. If the default comfortably covers what you need to see at a glance, leave it alone.

Saving is automatic

Every change you make to the Notifications settings saves immediately - no separate Save button. A short toast confirms that the change was saved. You can experiment freely: if you don't like a setting, flip it back and you're done.

Common questions

"I want to stay quiet while I focus, but still get a banner when something becomes overdue."

1. Open Notifications. 2. Turn the In-App Notifications master toggle off. 3. Turn Desktop Notifications on. 4. In the desktop options, turn off Show tasks due soon (you don't want advance warnings). 5. Turn on Notify when tasks are overdue. 6. Set Remind every to 1 hour (or another interval you're comfortable with). 7. Optionally turn off Play notification sound if you want silent banners.

"I want a morning briefing at 9 AM with everything I need to do today."

1. Turn on Desktop Notifications. 2. Turn on Daily task summary. 3. Set Summary time to 09:00.

"I work across Personal and Work Spaces. How do I see reminders from both at once?"

1. Open Notifications and turn In-App Notifications on. 2. Turn on Show from all Spaces.

"Overdue reminders are firing too often and it's getting noisy."

In the Desktop options, look under Notify when tasks are overdue for the Remind every dropdown. The quietest option is Once (until restart) - you get one notification per overdue task per app launch. Or pick a longer interval (2 hours, 4 hours) to space them out.

"Desktop notifications aren't appearing even though I turned everything on."

Run through this checklist:

"I'm on Windows and the dock badge option does nothing."

That's expected. The dock badge uses macOS's native dock, which Windows doesn't have. On Windows, leave the option off - toggling it changes the stored setting but doesn't show anything on screen.

"How do I change the colour of the reminder toast?"

1. Open Notifications. 2. Make sure Reminder toasts is on. 3. The colour options appear underneath. Click the one you want. 4. A preview toast appears using that colour, and the choice is saved for future reminders.

"The toast keeps popping up and I'd rather just see the bell badge."

Open Notifications and turn off Reminder toasts. Your Quick Add reminders still fire through the bell dropdown and the desktop banner, so you do not lose anything. You just stop getting the persistent on-screen card.

"I want to mute everything during a meeting without disabling all my settings."

Turn off just the two master toggles (In-App Notifications and Desktop Notifications) - all the sub-options stay exactly as you had them. When the meeting's over, turn both master toggles back on and your configuration is intact.

Where to go next

If you want to…	Read this
Set your name and avatar	Profile Settings
Customise the theme and colours	Appearance Settings
Set up a PIN lock and auto-lock	Security Settings
Configure sync between computers	File Sync Settings
Browse all settings cards	Settings Overview