# Messages and notifications

> How BeamDisk tells you what happened and when: the latest message and its history in the window, times on every problem, alerts, and the notifications it sends when a server stops responding or a disk comes back.

Everything BeamDisk reports says when it happened, so a server reset 30 seconds ago reads differently from one six days ago.

## The latest message

The window's sidebar shows BeamDisk's latest message at the bottom, above **This Mac**: what it just did or couldn't do, such as **Projects attached.** or **Disconnected.**, and how long ago (**5 min ago**). Hover over the time for the full date and time. A small spinner beside it means BeamDisk is busy.

## Recent messages

Click the clock button beside the latest message for **Recent messages**: the last 50, newest first, each with its time and how long ago (**9:12:07 PM · 5 min ago**; older ones read **Yesterday 9:12:07 PM** or **Oct 20, 9:12:07 PM**). They're kept when BeamDisk quits. The text can be selected and copied, which helps when you [ask for help](https://beamdisk.app/docs/troubleshooting/get-help/).

## Times on problems

A disk in trouble says since when, wherever its state is shown at length: **Since 9:12 PM · 25 min** in the Overview's alerts and at the top of its page. In the quick menu, its row gives the length alone (**Can't connect · 26 min**). Other times you'll see:

- **Session** on a disk's page: how long it has been logged in.
- **Last event** on a disk's page: when the server last reported something.
- **Free space on the server**: when space was last given back.
- **Test Speed**: when the test finished.
- **Settings → Connection**: when a server refused a new setting.
- **Settings → Time Machine**: since when BeamDisk has been waiting for you to approve its profile.

## Alerts

When something you asked for fails in a way that needs you, BeamDisk also shows an alert, for example **Couldn't disconnect**, with what's in the way and what to do. See [A disk won't eject or disconnect](https://beamdisk.app/docs/troubleshooting/cant-eject/).

## Notifications

With **Notify when a disk disconnects or reconnects** on in Settings → General (it's on to begin with, and also in the quick menu as **Notify When a Disk Disconnects**), BeamDisk sends a notification when:

| Notification | What it means |
|---|---|
| **Projects: the server stopped responding** | Writes are held while it reconnects. |
| **Apps see errors on Projects** | The server has been unreachable longer than the hold time. BeamDisk is still reconnecting. |
| **Another computer took Projects** | Reads and writes to it fail on this Mac until you take it back or eject it. |
| **Projects reconnected** | The server is responding again. |

macOS asks once whether BeamDisk may send notifications, the first time there's something to say. If they're turned off for BeamDisk in System Settings, Settings → General says so and offers **Open Notification Settings**.

## Related

- [When the server stops responding](https://beamdisk.app/docs/disks/outages/)
- [One Mac per disk](https://beamdisk.app/docs/disks/exclusive-access/)