Guide

Craigslist alerts not working? How to fix them (2026)

By the Pouncify team · Published Oct 16, 2026 · Updated Oct 25, 2026

Craigslist alerts that never arrive almost always come down to one of five things: the alert box for the saved search is not ticked, the emails land in spam, you clicked unsubscribe in an earlier alert, the search has an ampersand in it, or the search had nothing new. The checklist below covers those and four more, each taken from Craigslist's own help pages.

How do Craigslist alerts work?

A Craigslist search alert is an email sent when a saved search has new results, and email is its only form. Per Craigslist's help page on search alerts, you turn one on by logging in, opening the searches tab of your account and ticking the box in the alert column; Craigslist sends a welcome email when the alert is on. How often it checks depends on how many results the last alert had (fewer results, more frequent checks), each email shows at most 20 results, newest first, and renewed, reposted and edited posts count when they match. A saved search cannot be edited: you create a new one and delete the old one (Craigslist help: saved searches).

What should I check first?

1. The alert box is not ticked. Saving a search does not turn its alert on. Log in, open the searches tab on your account page and tick the box in the alert column next to the search.
2. The emails are being filtered. Look in spam, junk and promotions folders for mail from craigslist.org. Mark it as not spam and add the sender to your contacts.
3. You unsubscribed. The “Unsubscribe from this alert” link at the end of every alert email turns that search's alert off. Tick the alert box again on the searches tab.
4. The search has an ampersand in it. Craigslist only searches the text before an “&”, so “rod & reel” is searched as “rod”. Reword the search and save it again.
5. You are logged in to a different account. Saved searches and their alerts belong to the account that made them. If you have a second Craigslist login, look there.
6. You changed the search. A saved search cannot be changed. Run the search the new way, save it, tick its alert box, then delete the old one.
7. The search is too narrow. Run it by hand on Craigslist. If nothing new shows up there either, use the words a seller would write (“couch” as well as “sofa”), widen the price range, or set a distance from your ZIP code.
8. A busy search overflows the 20-post cap. Each email shows at most 20 results, newest first, so older posts beyond that are left out. Split the search by category, price band or neighborhood and turn the alert on for each.
9. The welcome email never came. Craigslist sends one the moment an alert is turned on. If you never saw it, go back to steps 1 and 2; turning the box off and on again sends a fresh one.

How often does Craigslist send alert emails?

There is no fixed interval. Craigslist's help page says how often it checks a saved search depends on how many results the last alert had: fewer results, more frequent checks. A busy search is checked less often, so a “missing” alert there is often just not due yet. Observed: a digest two to three times a day, so postings are hours old when it arrives, 20 at most.

Can I edit a saved search on Craigslist?

No. Craigslist's saved-searches help page says saved searches cannot be edited; you create a new one and delete the old one. You can rename a saved search from the searches tab, and the new search needs its alert box ticked separately.

How do I stop a Craigslist search alert?

Three ways, all from Craigslist's alerts help page. Click Unsubscribe from this alert at the bottom of any alert email. Or log in, open the searches tab and untick the box in the alert column; the search stays saved. Or delete the saved search. For fewer emails rather than none, narrow the search so it has fewer results.

Every new Craigslist post on your phone, within minutes — with Pouncify

Pouncify is a free Windows and macOS app that watches your Craigslist search from your own computer and sends each new post to your phone within minutes of it going live, with the photo, the price and where it is.

• One alert per post, as it appears — Pouncify picks a post up on its next check after it goes live.
• Exact posting times — Craigslist publishes the time of every post, and each alert shows it.
• On your phone — the free Pouncify app for iPhone and Android, or Telegram, email or Discord.
• No Craigslist account — Craigslist posts are public, so Pouncify watches them without a login.
• Searches you can edit — change the words, price or radius in place and the next check uses the new version.
• One search, every marketplace — Craigslist together with Facebook Marketplace, OfferUp in the United States and Kijiji in Canada.

Pouncify pairs with your phone by scanning a QR code and is free to start: the free plan watches one search per marketplace. Which city site it watches and how it measures distance are on the Craigslist alerts guide.

Download Pouncify free

Questions about Craigslist alerts not working

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Other guides: Craigslist alerts · Facebook Marketplace alerts · OfferUp alerts · Kijiji alerts · All guides.