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# Ubuntu 26.04 Stopped Notifying Users About Updates, But That Was Intentional
- URL: https://itsfoss.com/news/ubuntu-26-04-update-notifier-fix/
- Published: 2026-07-24T17:41:58.000Z
- Updated: 2026-07-24T17:41:58.000Z
- Description: Luckily, a fix is already out, shipped as a security update.
- Author: Sourav Rudra
- Tags: News

If update notifications have stopped showing up on your Ubuntu 26.04 LTS install, that isn't some random glitch. OMG Ubuntu's [Joey Sneddon](https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2026/07/ubuntu-26-04-update-notifications-disabled?ref=itsfoss.com) has traced it back to [a Launchpad bug report](https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/update-notifier/+bug/2159587?ref=itsfoss.com) and [a Discourse thread](https://discourse.ubuntu.com/t/update-manager-never-popping-up/85064?ref=itsfoss.com) that both point to the same root cause.

The issue is that *update-notifier* only sends a desktop notification when its tray icon is visible, and that icon was switched off in [Ubuntu 26.04](https://itsfoss.com/news/ubuntu-26-04-lts/), with nothing in the *Settings* menu to switch it back on.

[Guillaume Michaud](https://discourse.ubuntu.com/u/gfmichaud?ref=itsfoss.com), who filed the bug on July 5, **found 10 pending non-security updates sitting on his machine without a single prompt to install them**. He tested it manually. With the tray icon forced on, update-notifier fired a notification, and with it switched off, nothing happened at all.

Canonical's Marco Trevisan had flagged a [related problem](https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/update-notifier/+bug/2148611?ref=itsfoss.com) himself back in April, when the update indicator wasn't obeying its own settings and couldn't be switched on even manually.

That got fixed within a day, but the icon stayed off by default. Commenting on the bug again [in June](https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/update-notifier/+bug/2148611/comments/3?ref=itsfoss.com), Marco called the setup a design choice and said anyone who wants the icon back can enable it through *gsettings*.

***However, this sounds worse than it actually is.*** 😅

Ubuntu still runs [unattended-upgrades](https://ubuntu.com/server/docs/how-to/software/automatic-updates/?ref=itsfoss.com) in the background by default, so security patches keep installing themselves whether a notification ever appears. The actual gap was in non-security updates, the kind you'd normally want to review yourself, going completely unflagged.

## The fix

Alessandro Astone has already shipped [update-notifier 3.207.2](https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/update-notifier/3.207.2?ref=itsfoss.com) as a security update cleared for Ubuntu 26.04.1\. It removes the tray icon dependency entirely. Now, an [App Center](https://snapcraft.io/install/snap-store/ubuntu?ref=itsfoss.com) install, an unattended-upgrades run, or a manual check all trigger the same notification.

And because it went out as a security update, the fix reaches most systems automatically thanks to unattended-upgrades.

**If you'd rather have the tray icon back**, open a terminal and run:

```
gsettings set com.ubuntu.update-notifier show-updates-status-icon true 
```

Or just check your update status directly through App Center's "*Manage*" tab, the Software Updater, or simply run:

```
apt list --upgradable
```

---

**Suggested Read 📖:** [*GNOME's Security Might Be in Peril as Lone Tracker Goes Off*](https://itsfoss.com/news/gnome-security-tracking-limbo/)

[GNOME’s Security Might Be in Peril as Lone Tracker Goes OffMichael Catanzaro has single-handedly run GNOME security tracking since 2020, but he is leaving in December.![](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/icon/android-chrome-512x512-3fabecde-f444-4502-b385-bafdfc2d72f0.png)It's FOSSSourav Rudra![](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/thumbnail/gnome-security-reports-banner-f8bac5fa-9bb4-40a1-a41e-b214a20c7d60.png)](https://itsfoss.com/news/gnome-security-tracking-limbo/)