Notify.UW Frequently Asked Questions

Last updated: April 30, 2024
Question Answer
What is Notify.UW? Notify.UW is a free tool that sends notifications about course availability. UW NetID holders who subscribe to Notify.UW can choose to be notified via email and/or SMS text message when classes they are interested in become available during quarter registration.
Is the Notify.UW service free? Yes, the Notify.UW service is free to anyone with a UW NetID.
Will I be charged for SMS texts? Standard messaging rates apply. Check with your mobile phone service provider.
How do I subscribe to Notify.UW? Simply go to notify.uw.edu and:

  1. Accept the Terms of Service.
  2. Add at least one point of contact (either your email address or phone number) to your profile.
How do I confirm my telephone number? When you add a new telephone number, Notify.UW will send a text to that number. You must reply with “YES” in order to confirm your phone number. At that point, your phone number is confirmed and Notify.UW will send texts to that number.
How do I subscribe to be notified about specific course sections (SLN) from Notify.UW? Go to notify.uw.edu and for each course section (SLN) you would like to be notified about:

  1. Under the Notifications header, navigate to the appropriate academic quarter.
  2. Enter the course SLN.
  3. Select the boxes of the methods you want to receive notifications (email and/or SMS).
  4. Click Add Notification.
How do I subscribe to be notified about specific course sections (SLN) from the Time Schedule? For each course section (SLN) you would like to be notified for, navigate to the UW Time Schedule’s Current Section Status and:

  1. Click on: Subscribe to seat availability notifications.
  2. On the Notify.UW Add Class Notification screen, select how you want to receive your notification (email and/or SMS).
  3. Click Add Notification.

If you are not already subscribed to Notify.UW, you will also be prompted accept the Terms of Service and add at least one point of contact (email address or phone number).
How can I unsubscribe from notifications? Go to notify.uw.edu and:

  1. Click Remove Notification next to any subscriptions that you no longer wish to receive notifications for.
  2. In the pop-in, click Remove Notification.
How do I stop receiving SMS notifications from my phone? For each course Schedule Line Number (SLN) you are subscribed to you can reply back to any Notify.UW SMS notification message by typing STOP SLN your sln.
What mobile phone carriers are supported for SMS text notification? Most mobile phone service providers (e.g. AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, etc.) are supported. However, SMS service availability is dependent upon your data access plan and network coverage plan. You can find a full list of supported mobile phone carriers here.
Why am I not receiving my notifications? There are several possible reasons why you are not receiving notifications:

Email:

  • The email notification may have gone to your junk mail folder
  • Your email address maybe entered incorrectly. Check Notify.UW to confirm your information.

Phone:

  • Your phone number maybe unconfirmed, please see above “How do I confirm my telephone number?“
  • Your phone number maybe entered incorrectly. Check Notify.UW to confirm your information.
  • You may have typed in a standard SMS keyword that stops all notifications from mobile carriers, such as STOP, END, or UNSUBSCRIBE.
  • Your carrier might not be supported.
  • Your specific cellular plan might not allow for send/receive from Short Code numbers. You should contact your provider to determine if this is the case and discuss with them what your options are.
How do I unblock list my mobile number? You can reply to any Notify.UW SMS text with START. Block listing is when a user asks their mobile phone carrier to block calls or SMS texts from a particular source.
Why is one of my subscriptions missing from my subscription list? There are two reasons why a subscription may drop from your list:

  1. You recently registered for a section that you created a notification subscription for. In other words, you are automatically unsubscribed from receiving notifications for the section you are now registered for.
  2. A section you were subscribed to has recently been dropped from the time schedule.
Why am I getting duplicate messages? Notify.UW will send a course available event for every section you have subscribed to that has re-opened. If you no longer want or need these notifications you can unsubscribe from your section.
Why do I only get one section close notification? Notify.UW sends a notification only the first time a section closes. After that you will receive notifications only for sections that have re-opened.
How do I change my telephone number/email address in the Notify.UW service? Go to notify.uw.edu and:

  1. Navigate to the box labeled Your Contact Methods on the right side of the page.
  2. Below your phone number/email address, click Edit Contact Methods.
  3. Update the text field with your new phone number or email address.
  4. Click Update Contact Methods.
I changed my UW NetID; what do I need to do in the Notify.UW service? via SMS? via email? You will not need to do anything within Notify.UW to change your UW NetID, however you WILL need to resubscribe to any course notifications you had previously activated.
Does the Notify.UW service work with Google Voice? No, Google Voice is not supported with Notify.UW.
What are the Notify.UW Terms of Service ? The Notify.UW Terms of Service can be found here. The Notify.UW Terms of Service may change at any time without notice.
What are SMS keywords? Which standard SMS keywords work with Notify.UW? SMS keywords are standard terms supported by most mobile phone service providers that enable users to perform specific interactions with a mobile service or application. Notify.UW is configured to work with the following SMS keywords:

  • YES.  Confirm your subscription to start receiving SMS text notifications from Notify.UW
  • STOP, HALT, END, QUIT, CANCEL, UNSUBSCRIBE.  Unsubscribe from receiving SMS text notifications. Subscription will be removed if you only have one subscription. An error will be returned if you have 0 or 2+ subscriptions.
  • STOP SLN your sln.  Unsubscribe from receiving SMS text notifications for a specific course section (SLN). Also works for all the keywords above, e.g. HALT SLN your sln, etc.
    Subscription will be removed if the {sln} matches a channel that you are already subscribed to. An error will be returned if the {sln} does not match. An error will be returned if you have no subscriptions.
  • STOPALL.  Stop receiving all SMS text notifications
    All subscriptions will be removed if you have 1+ subscriptions. An error will be returned if you have no subscriptions.
  • START.  Resume receiving SMS text notifications
  • HELP, INFO.  Obtain Help information about Notify.UW

Notify.UW Terms of Service:

In order to use the Notify.UW service, you must read and agree to the following:

  • Your use of the Notify.UW service does not imply eligibility for course enrollment nor guarantee successful registration in courses.
  • The Notify.UW service is an opt-in service. Your use of the service is strictly voluntary and is subject to the University’s Website Terms and Conditions of Use https://www.washington.edu/online/term and Online Privacy Statement ( https://www.washington.edu/online/privacy ).
  • You must not abuse this service, and violations may be subject to disciplinary action according to University policy and the UW Student Conduct Code.
  • The Notify.UW service is subject to change at any time without notice.
  • Unless you opt out of receiving SMS text messages, your use of the Notify.UW service constitutes your consent to share your phone number with a third party provider. The third party provider will use the information solely for the purpose of sending you SMS text messages from the University of Washington (read Twilio’s Privacy Policy). If you do not agree to share your phone number, you can still sign up for email notifications and your information will not be shared with a third party provider. Message frequency will vary. Message and data rates may apply. Contact help@uw.edu or reply HELP for help. Reply STOP to cancel.
  • The third party provider is currently Twilio but may change at any time without notice.