By default, n8n never tells you when a workflow dies.

The exact clicks

1. Create a new, separate workflow — this will be your Error Workflow, not one of your regular automations.
2. Add an Error Trigger node as the first (and only required) node in this new workflow.
3. Add a notification node after it — a Slack message or Send Email node works well — and reference the Error Trigger's own output fields (workflow name, error message, node that failed) in the message.
4. Save and activate this Error Workflow.
5. Open each existing workflow you want protected, go to its Settings (the three-dot menu → Settings), and set 'Error Workflow' to the one you just built.
6. Test it: deliberately break a duplicate or test workflow (never a production one) and confirm the notification arrives.

What changes

• This is standard, current n8n behavior — verified live this session against n8n's own current documentation on error handling.
• By default, a failed execution only shows as a red X in the Executions list — there is no notification of any kind unless an Error Workflow is explicitly configured.
• n8n ships its own official template for exactly this pattern ("Attach a default error handler to all active workflows"), confirming this is a recommended, current, and supported setup — not an improvised workaround.

What it will not do

• The Error Workflow has to be set per-workflow (or applied to all active workflows via n8n's own template) — it is not automatically on for every workflow in an account by default.
• This tells you a workflow failed; it doesn't diagnose why on its own — the Error Trigger's output data (the error message, the failing node) is what you use to investigate.
• Test on a duplicate or test workflow first — deliberately breaking a production workflow to test this is not worth the risk.