Platform access level: This guide is for learners taking an Arist course inside Microsoft Teams. You do not need an Arist login or any platform role to follow it.

When lesson alerts stop in Microsoft Teams, the most common reason is that the Arist Comms bot has been blocked. Clearing that takes a few clicks on whichever Teams app you use. Your course and every lesson you have already received are untouched the whole time.

Alerts also stop when Arist Comms has been hidden from your chat list rather than blocked, and they can stay stopped after a block is cleared. Section 2 matches what you see in Teams to the section that fixes it. Unblocking is covered for a computer and for the iOS app.

1. Knowing which Arist app has gone quiet

Arist installs as two separate apps in Teams, and telling them apart is most of the diagnosis:

Arist is the course app, and it is the only one you can reply to: Your lessons arrive here and you send your answers here. If this app opens and your lessons are readable, your course is healthy.
Arist Comms is the alert app, and it is one-way: Its only job is to tell you something is ready and carry a button into the lesson. Lessons never arrive here, and you cannot reply to it.

When Arist Comms is working, every alert arrives as its own card with a Start lesson button into the lesson:

the Arist Comms conversation in the Microsoft Teams app on iOS: the header reads Arist Comms with a green Available check, the tail of an earlier card shows 3 questions and a Start lesson button, and below a Thursday 2:31 PM timestamp a full card reads Next lesson ready with the course name Understanding the Arist for Microsoft Teams Integration, an illustration, a preview of the lesson text, 5 questions and its own Start lesson button. The greyed message box at the bottom is truncated to Conversation with this...

Arist Comms is one-way, so Teams greys out the message box below the conversation. On the desktop app that box reads You cannot send messages to this bot. It looks the same whether the bot is blocked or working. Judge the bot by whether alerts arrive.

Important: A blocked bot never affects your course content. Every lesson you have already received is still in the Arist app, and you can keep completing the course as normal while you sort the alerts out.

If your organization renamed and rebranded Arist, both apps appear under a different name and logo, and everything below works the same way. If neither app is anywhere in Teams, that is a different problem, and Why isn't Arist responding in Microsoft Teams? covers it along with the other reasons Arist can go quiet.

2. Matching what you see in Teams to the fix

Arist Comms goes quiet in three different ways, and each one has its own fix. Find the row that matches what you see in Teams.

What you see in Teams	What has happened	Where to go
Arist Comms is nowhere in your chat list	The chat is hidden. A blocked conversation stays in the list.	Section 3
Arist Comms is in your chat list, and no new alerts have arrived	The bot conversation is blocked	Section 4 on a computer, section 5 on the iOS app
You have unblocked the bot and alerts still do not arrive	Something beyond the block is holding them back	Section 6

3. Bringing Arist Comms back when the chat is hidden

Hiding a chat takes it off your chat list and keeps it in Teams. The Hide command sits at the bottom of the same three-dot menu that carries Unblock bot conversation, which makes it an easy thing to select by accident. Teams still opens the conversation from the apps sidebar while it is off the list, and Show hidden chat history at the bottom of it puts the chat back:

the Arist Comms conversation opened from the apps sidebar in the Microsoft Teams desktop app, with an empty message area, a Show hidden chat history link near the bottom, the greyed box reading You cannot send messages to this bot, and the conversation's three-dot menu outlined in the top right

These steps are for the desktop app:

Select the ... button in the Teams sidebar to open more apps.
Search for Arist Comms and select it. The conversation opens even though it is not in your chat list.
Select Show hidden chat history near the bottom of the conversation.
Go back to Chat. Arist Comms is listed under Chats again.

Note: Selecting Show hidden chat history changes nothing on screen. Go back to your Chat list and the conversation is there.

With Arist Comms back in your chat list, unblock it if the alerts have not returned. Section 4 covers a computer and section 5 covers the iOS app.

4. Unblocking the bot in Teams on your computer

On a Windows PC or a Mac, the whole fix is one command in the conversation's three-dot menu:

the Microsoft Teams desktop app with the chat list filtered to Arist comms and the three-dot menu open on the Arist Comms conversation, showing Open in new window, Mark as unread, Move to, Mute, Unblock bot conversation outlined, Workflows, Copy link, Remove chat history and Hide

Select Chat in the Teams sidebar.
Type Arist Comms in the search box above your chat list, so the conversation is easy to pick out.
Point at the Arist Comms conversation and select its three-dot menu.
Select Unblock bot conversation.

Right-clicking the Arist Comms app icon and selecting Unblock bot conversation does the same thing, if that is quicker for you.

Alerts reach you again from the next lesson onward. If they do not, work through section 6.

5. Clearing the block in Teams on the iOS app

The iOS app keeps the same command in a different place, reached from inside the conversation rather than from the chat list.

Open the Arist Comms conversation in your Chat list. It may be filed under Favorites.
Tap Arist Comms at the top of the conversation.
Tap Unblock bot conversation.

The same command sits one level deeper as well, so either route works. Tapping the arrow beside Arist Comms opens Chat details, where Unblock bot conversation appears below the app's description, under Mute chat and Find in chat. Use whichever screen you land on first.

While you are on that screen, check that Mute is not switched on. Muting is not the same as blocking, but a muted conversation is silent all the same.

6. Getting the alerts back when unblocking was not enough

If unblocking did not restore your alerts, these three cover nearly everything that is left. Try them in this order:

Sign out of Teams and sign back in: This refreshes the connection between Teams and both Arist apps, and it resolves most cases that survive an unblock.
Block the bot, then unblock it again: Deliberately toggling the setting forces Teams to re-register the conversation, which clears a stuck state that unblocking alone leaves in place.
Clear your Teams cache: A corrupted cache stops alerts from rendering even when everything else is correct. Microsoft's own instructions for clearing the Teams client cache cover both Windows and macOS.

Two details make a support request quick to answer, so gather them before you write in. Say which app is affected, Arist or Arist Comms, and say what you have already tried. Unblocking, signing back in and clearing the cache each rule out a different cause.

Send those to your training leader, or email [email protected] directly.

Note: Need help at any point? Reach out to your Arist Customer Success contact, or email [email protected].

How do I unblock the Arist Comms bot in Microsoft Teams?