Facebook Marketplace notifications not working on iPhone

On an iPhone, Facebook Marketplace notifications fail for iPhone-specific reasons before they fail for Facebook reasons: Scheduled Summary holding them for a batch, a Focus mode silencing Facebook, or Allow Notifications off for the app. Check those three first, then Facebook's own switches, then the saved-searches category inside Marketplace. If everything is on and the alerts still arrive after the listing sold, that is Facebook's saved-search notifications behaving normally, and the last section covers what to do about it.

1. iPhone settings for the Facebook app

1. Settings → Facebook → Notifications. Allow Notifications on. Lock Screen, Notification Center and Banners on. Sounds on if you want to hear it.
2. Settings → Notifications → Scheduled Summary. If Scheduled Summary is on and Facebook is in the summary, every Facebook notification is held and delivered at the summary times. Remove Facebook from the summary, or turn the summary off. This one catches a lot of people who swear notifications "stopped" after an iOS update.
3. Settings → Focus. Each Focus (Do Not Disturb, Sleep, Work, Driving, any you made) silences every app not on its allowed list while it is on. Check which Focus is active (the icon on the Lock Screen), and either add Facebook under Allowed Notifications → Apps or turn it off. Sleep Focus with a bedtime schedule is the one people forget.
4. Settings → Notifications → Facebook → Time Sensitive Notifications. Leave it on; it lets Facebook break through a Focus for what Facebook decides is urgent.
5. Low Power Mode does not block notifications, but it delays background refresh. If alerts seem late by minutes rather than hours, that can be part of it.

Sources: Apple Support, "Change notification settings on iPhone", "Use Focus on iPhone", "Use Scheduled Summary". Checked October 26, 2026.

2. Facebook's own notification settings

In the Facebook app, tap Menu (bottom right) → Settings & privacy → Settings → Notifications → Marketplace, and use the toggle beside each notification type. Make sure push is on, not just email.

Source: Facebook Help Center, "Turn your Marketplace notifications on or off". Checked October 26, 2026.

3. The saved-searches category inside Marketplace

Open Marketplace → your Marketplace profile → Settings → Notifications, and turn on the Saved searches category. Then make sure the search is actually saved: run it and tap the bell or Notify me next to the search bar. Unsaved searches get no alerts.

4. If it is messages you are missing, not listings

Marketplace chat notifications come through Messenger, not Facebook. Repeat step 1 for the Messenger app (Settings → Messenger → Notifications, plus Scheduled Summary and Focus), then check Messenger's own notification settings inside the app.

5. Update, then sign out and in

Update Facebook in the App Store. If notifications still do not arrive, sign out of Facebook, restart the iPhone, and sign back in; this re-registers the app for push.

Everything is on and the alerts still come late

This is the normal case. Facebook does not publish how often it re-checks a saved search. In our use the notification lands hours after the listing and sometimes a day or more, after the good ones have sold. The filtering is loose, so one saved search buzzes for every lookalike. And saved searches turn themselves off with no warning; re-saving sometimes restarts them for a while. No iPhone setting changes any of that.

Deal Scanner is an iPhone app that watches Facebook Marketplace, OfferUp and Craigslist for a search you set, on our servers, around the clock, and buzzes your phone when a listing is posted. Every alert shows when we found it. A low price limit and a relevance filter keep the junk out; a Deal Score on each find says how far under the typical price near you it sits. No Facebook login. $3.99 a month for three searches, cancel anytime. It respects Focus and Scheduled Summary like any app, so put it on the allowed list once and it is done.

FAQ

Why are my Facebook Marketplace notifications not showing on my iPhone?

Check Settings → Facebook → Notifications (Allow Notifications on), Settings → Notifications → Scheduled Summary (Facebook not in the summary), and Settings → Focus (Facebook allowed, or no Focus on). Then Facebook's own Marketplace notification toggles and the saved-searches category inside Marketplace.

Do iPhone Focus modes block Facebook Marketplace notifications?

Yes. Any active Focus silences apps that are not on its allowed list. Sleep Focus on a schedule is the common one. Add Facebook under the Focus's Allowed Notifications, or turn the Focus off.

Why did my Marketplace notifications stop after an iOS update?

Usually Scheduled Summary or a Focus schedule got turned on during setup, or the app needs updating and a sign-out and sign-in to re-register for push.

Everything is on and the alerts are still hours late. Why?

Because that is how Facebook's saved-search notifications behave. Facebook does not publish how often it re-checks, and in our use the notification arrives hours to days after the listing. Deal Scanner watches for you and buzzes you when the listing is posted.

Sources checked

Apple Support pages on notification settings, Focus and Scheduled Summary; Facebook Help Center, "Turn your Marketplace notifications on or off". Checked October 26, 2026.