FAQs about Notifications

No. Plain text was supported in earlier versions of Azure DevOps, but all emails are now HTML formatted.

Because of custom subscriptions, there's no way to completely avoid receiving any notifications. However, you can do the following actions to minimize the amount you receive:

• Unsubscribe from all default and admin-created team and group subscriptions
• Disable or remove all custom subscriptions

A default or team or group subscription can have multiple recipients, depending on how it was configured. When all users have permission to the resource related to the event, they get combined in one email.

Previously, each recipient received an individually addressed email, which could result in the same user getting multiple emails because of their membership in multiple groups.

Yes. For more information, see Use @ mentions in work items and pull requests.

Subscriptions made at one level are independent of each other. There's no interaction. If you turn off something at the project level but not at the user level, then you get the notification.

No. You can't customize the language of notification messages via Azure DevOps. Consider integrating with a custom application or service to achieve your desired results.

If you encounter issues with @mentions being denied due to permissions, follow these steps:

• Check user permissions:
  • Ensure that the user you're trying to mention has the necessary permissions to access the work item or pull request.
  • Users must have at least Basic access level to be mentioned in work items and pull requests.
• Check project membership:
  • Verify that the user is a member of the project. Only project members can be mentioned using the @mention control.
  • To add a user to the project, go to Project settings > Permissions > Members and add the user.
• Check group membership:
  • Ensure that the group you're trying to mention has the necessary permissions to access the work item or pull request.
  • Groups must have at least Basic access level to be mentioned in work items and pull requests.
• Check group settings:
  • Verify that the group is correctly configured in Microsoft Entra ID.
  • Ensure that the group is added to the project. To add a group to the project, go to Project Settings > Permissions > Groups and add the group.
• Limit identity search and selection:
  • If your organization manages users and groups using Microsoft Entra ID, you can limit the set of users and groups to project members and groups.
  • For more information, see Limit identity search and selection.
• Contact support:
  • If you verified permissions and project membership but still encounter issues, contact your Azure DevOps administrator or support team for further assistance.

You can't cc someone on a work item discussion. But, you can mention them in the discussion by using the @mention control. To clarify that you just want them to be aware of the work item, include a brief message in your comment.

Related articles

• About notifications
• Manage personal notifications
• Unsubscribe from a notification