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exclude-self-from-email.md

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title Prevent notification emails to yourself from events
titleSuffix Azure DevOps
description Learn how to exclude the initiator of an event in Azure DevOps Services from receiving notification emails
ms.subservice azure-devops-notifications
ai-usage ai-assisted
ms.reviewer wismythe
ms.author chcomley
author chcomley
ms.topic how-to
ms.date 09/19/2025
monikerRange <= azure-devops

Exclude yourself from notification emails of events you started

[!INCLUDE version-lt-eq-azure-devops]

This article shows how to prevent the initiator of an event from receiving notification emails when that event triggers a team or role-based subscription. The feature is useful when people don't want emails for actions they themselves perform (for example, creating a pull request).

Prerequisites

[!INCLUDE prerequisites-project-member-only]

Skip initiator

When you create a team role-based notification subscription, select the Skip initiator option to prevent the user who triggered the event from receiving the notification.

For example, if your team has a subscription for a pull request created event and the Skip initiator option is checked, the user who creates the pull request doesn't receive that notification; other members of the team still receive it.

To opt out of receiving notifications that you trigger:

  1. Sign in to your project (https://dev.azure.com/{Your_Organization}/{Your_Project}).
  2. Select Project settings > Notifications.
  3. Create a new subscription or edit an existing one.
  4. Select the notification event and check the Skip initiator box.
  5. Save the subscription.

[!div class="mx-imgBorder"] Screenshot showing the New subscription dialog with Skip initiator option.

[!INCLUDE note-smtp-server]

You don't receive notifications for events you trigger when Skip initiator is enabled for that subscription.

Troubleshoot: I don't see the Skip initiator option

If the Skip initiator checkbox isn't visible, try these checks:

  • Are you editing a team/role subscription or a personal subscription?
    Skip initiator is a property of team/role (project or group) subscriptions. If you're editing a personal subscription under "Manage personal notifications" you don't have that option. Create or edit a team subscription under Project settings > Notifications.

  • Are you editing a built-in or non-editable subscription?
    Some built-in system subscriptions are read-only. If a built-in subscription doesn't allow editing, create a new custom subscription (you can copy/clone the built-in settings) and enable Skip initiator on the new subscription.

  • Do you have the required permissions to create or edit project-level subscriptions?
    Typically project administrators or users with notification-management rights can create and edit team subscriptions. If you lack permissions, ask a project administrator to create/enable the subscription or grant you the right to manage project notifications.

If these steps don't resolve the issue:

  • Create a new custom team subscription that matches the desired event and enable Skip initiator.
  • If you still can't enable the option and you believe it should be present, ask your project collection administrator to review permissions and server version, or open a support case.

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