How to set up
PRTG Desktop Notifications
in 3 steps

 
 

1. Notifications in PRTG
Desktop vs. Web Interface

 
  • The PRTG Desktop App is an alternative interface that you can use to connect to the PRTG core server to configure your setup, view monitoring results, and keep an eye on your network.
  • It is a cross-platform application for fast access to data and monitoring management. This does not mean that you have to constantly open PRTG Desktop to see if there are any new alarms.
  • Besides the notifications you already know from the PRTG web interface, PRTG offers special Desktop Notifications that help to keep you up to date in the case of new alarms, log entries, or tickets.
 

2. Which types of Desktop
Notifications with PRTG Desktop exist?

 

You decide and define what PRTG Desktop
will do if there are new alarms.

Tray icon *

Enable this setting for a tray icon to appear in the Windows tray. Hover over the tray icon to see the most important status information about your monitoring at a glance

Blinking tray icon

The tray icon will blink if there are new items to be alerted for

 

Notification sound

Play an audible notification sound on the computer that is running PRTG Desktop in the case of a new alert

Desktop notification

In addition to the tray icon, PRTG Desktop can show desktop notifications in the event of new alarms. Make sure that you have enabled app notifications in your Windows settings!

 

* Note: The tray icon option is what actually allows you to use
Desktop Notifications at all in PRTG Desktop. If you do not enable it,
you cannot use any of these notifications

 
 

Setting for a tray icon to
appear in the Windows tray

 

Setting for a tray icon to appear in the Windows tray
 

Desktop notifications in
the event of new alarms

 

Desktop notifications in the event of new alarms
 

3. How to set up Desktop
Notifications and what they tell

 

 

 

Open the Desktop Notification settings

From the Windows Menu of PRTG Desktop, choose File | Settings | Notifications to open the Desktop Notification Settings.

 

Desktop Notification Settings
 

 

 

 

Show tray icon

By default, the setting Show the tray icon is disabled. Enable this setting
for a PRTG icon to appear in the Windows tray. The PRTG icon becomes
an alert icon  if there are alarms that trigger a notification.

 
 

Overview of all servers

Click the tray icon  to open an alarms overview where you
see the status of all of your configured servers at a glance.

 

Status of all configured servers
 

Overview of a selected server

Click a server in the list to see the alarms
overview for the selected server only.

 

Overview of a selected server
 

 

 

Open alarms tab

Click an alarm to open the Alarms tab in PRTG Desktop. If a server has no alarms, clicking it opens the Devices tab of PRTG Desktop. Right-clicking the tray icon opens a context menu with more functions.

Open the context menu
 

Automatical start

The setting Automatically start the tray at system startup
is only available if you enable the tray icon option above.

 

 

 

Show notifications

The settings Show notifications for down status/warning status are only available if you enable the tray icon option above. Enable these settings to receive alerts for sensors in a Down, a Down (Partial), or a Warning status.

  • Minimum priority: Select a number of stars to define a minimum priority that sensors must have for notifications to be shown



  • This setting refers to the defined priority of a sensor, which is shown next to a sensor’s name




  • Notification Sound: Play an audible notification sound. The default is No sound. PRTG Desktop already comes with a small set of sounds you can choose from. If you want to use a customized sound, select Choose a custom file… and upload your own WAV file from your hard disk drive
 

Play sound

Play a sound when there are no more sensors
in a down or warning status

 

Summary
 

  • Step 1: Open the Desktop Notification settings
  • Step 2: Show the tray icon to enable Desktop Notifications. Optionally, you can choose if you want the tray icon to blink when there are new notifications or choose to automatically start the tray at system startup
  • Step 3: Select the states that you want to receive notifications for and also the minimum priority a sensor needs to trigger an alert
  • Step 4: Select a notification sound if you want to be alerted by a sound as well
  • Step 5: Test your notification settings
  • Step 6: Review your work – If you get too many notifications, you might need to change for example the minimum priority that triggers an alert