How to Turn On or Off Focus Assist in Windows 10

Starting with Windows 10 build 17083, Quiet Hours has been renamed to Focus Assist.

Focus Assist is a feature in Windows 10 that disables showing all notifications. Any notifications you get while Focus Assist is turned on will still appear in the Action Center for you to review later.

Are there certain times when you don’t want to be interrupted or just need to stay focused on what you’re doing? Starting with Windows 10 build 17074, you can automatically choose those times when you don’t want to be bothered with focus assist automatic rules.

• Focus assist will automatically turn on when you are duplicating your display. Never get interrupted during presentations again!
• Focus assist will turn on automatically when you are playing a full screen exclusive DirectX game.
• You can set the schedule that works for you so that focus assist is always on when you want them. Go to Settings > System > Focus assist to configure your schedule.
• Customize your own priority list so that your important people and apps always breakthrough when focus assist is on. People pinned to your task bar with always break through!
• See a summary of what you missed while you were in focus assist.

The priority list allows you to manage which notifications are allowed. The rest will go straight to action center when you have focus assist turned on to Priority only. Alarms will still work though.

Starting with Windows 10 build 17661, Focus assist will now turn on automatically when you’re playing any full screen game. No more interruptions when you’re crushing it. This behavior should be turned on automatically, but ensure the When I’m playing a game automatic rule is enabled.

See also:

• Turn Focus assist on or off in Windows 10 | Microsoft Support
• Make it easier to focus on tasks | Microsoft Support

This tutorial will show you how to turn switch between Focus Assist modes for when you see notifications for your account in Windows 10.

Contents

• Option One: Switch Between Focus Assist Modes from Action Center Quick Action
• Option Two: Switch Between Focus Assist Modes from Action Center
• Option Three: Switch Between Focus Assist Modes from Settings

OPTION ONE

Switch Between Focus Assist Modes from Action Center Quick Action

1 Open Action Center (Win+A).

2 Click/tap on the Focus assist quick action button to toggle what you want set. (see screenshots below)

The Focus assist quick action button in Windows 10 builds earlier than build 17074 will only toggle on or off Focus Assist.

• Off - Get all notifications from your apps and contacts.
• Priority only - See only notifications from the priority list. The rest will go straight to action center.
• Alarms only - Hide all notifications, except for alarms.

OPTION TWO

Switch Between Focus Assist Modes from Action Center

This option is only available starting with Windows 10 build 17083.

Starting with Windows 10 build 17093, Microsoft updated the Action Center context menu such that the three focus assist states are now collapsed under one expandable entry.

1 Right click or press and hold on the Action Center button on the taskbar.

2 Click/tap Focus assist, and click/tap on the mode below to you want to use to check it. (see screenshot below)

• Off - Get all notifications from your apps and contacts.
• Priority only - See only notifications from the priority list. The rest will go straight to action center.
• Alarms only - Hide all notifications, except for alarms.

OPTION THREE

Switch Between Focus Assist Modes from Settings

This option is only available starting with Windows 10 build 17074.

1 Open Settings, and click/tap on the System icon.

2 Click/tap on Focus assist on the left side, and select (dot) Off, Priority only, or Alarms only on the right side for what mode you want to set for focus assist. (see screenshot below)

3 You can now close Settings if you like.

That's it,
Shawn

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