MFA-Duo - I am not getting login/push notifications on my smartphone

This document will explain what to do if you are not getting notifications from the Duo Mobile App, as well as what settings to adjust to receive notifications.

There are two main reasons you may not receive push notifications from Duo on your phone:

  1. Notifications are not enabled.
  2. Unstable cellular/data/wifi connection on your phone.

Follow the steps below to resolve this issue:

Duo Push delivery issues are most often resolved by pulling down on the screen to check for notifications in the Duo Mobile app:

Clip of a mobile device in the Duo app with the screen being dragged downward to refresh notifications

When you do this, the Duo Mobile application will reach out to the Duo cloud service directly to check for login requests rather than using the push notification services. This is generally the most reliable way of receiving a login request and should work if the app and account are functioning properly.

If push works by manually pulling to refresh but notifications are not received, it is most likely because you selected not to receive notifications when installing the application.

To check if push notifications are enabled for Duo Mobile, and re-enable them if needed, follow these steps:

  1. On the iPhone, open Settings.

  2. Scroll down and select Duo Mobile.

  3. Select Notifications.

  4. If "Allow Notifications" box is already checked, uncheck and then re-check it. If it was not yet checked, check it. Verify that notifications are configured how you want them.

    iOS Settings with Allow Notifications toggled on

  5. Fully close (double-tap home button and swipe up) Duo Mobile.

  6. Open Duo Mobile again.

Duo Push delivery issues are most often resolved by pulling down on the screen to check for notifications in the Duo Mobile app:

Clip of mobile device in the Duo app with the screen being pulled downward to refresh notifications

When you do this, the Duo Mobile application will reach out to the Duo cloud service directly to check for login requests rather than using the push notification services. This is generally the most reliable way of receiving a login request and should work if the app and account are functioning properly.

If pull to refresh works

If manually checking works, then the issue is related to the Google Cloud Messaging (GCM) push notification service and Duo Mobile registering for pushes correctly. This will often fix itself after you pull-to-refresh. Sometimes there are issues with GCM on the device, like out-of-date play services, that prevent the device from receiving push notifications properly, you should update Google Play Services if possible to alleviate this.

If it's an issue with the long-lived connection to GCM on the device, toggling Wi-Fi off and back on may fix the issue.

Clearing the Duo Mobile application cache can also resolve delivery issues.

  1. Open Settings.

  2. Select Apps and scroll down to select Duo Mobile.

  3. On the App Info page, tap Clear Cache.

If checking for and enabling notifications doesn't resolve your issue, the problem is most likely due to an unstable celluar/data/wifi connection on your phone. In this case, use the Duo Mobile app to generate a passcode: MFA-Duo - Obtaining a Passcode from the Duo Mobile App.

Example error messages you may receive when due to an unstable cellular/data/wifi connection on your phone:

Duo notification that reads Unknown Error

Duo notification that reads Network Timeout

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Keywordsnotify log in push iphone app duo mobile fail failed android mfa push won't work not working unknown error   Doc ID94876
OwnerMST SupportGroupIdentity and Access Management
Created2019-10-08 12:53:22Updated2022-05-25 15:15:04
SitesDoIT Help Desk, Identity and Access Management
Feedback  3   22