Turn On or Off Focus Assist in Windows 10  

    Turn On or Off Focus Assist in Windows 10

    Turn On or Off Focus Assist in Windows 10

    How to Turn On or Off Focus Assist in Windows 10
    Published by Category: General Tips
    22 Jul 2020
    Designer Media Ltd

    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:

    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.

    Turn On or Off Focus Assist in Windows 10-focus_assist_action_center-1.jpg Turn On or Off Focus Assist in Windows 10-quiet_hours_action_center-2.jpg Turn On or Off Focus Assist in Windows 10-quiet_hours_action_center-3.jpg






    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.

    Turn On or Off Focus Assist in Windows 10-focus_assist_w10_build_17093.jpg






    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.

    Turn On or Off Focus Assist in Windows 10-focus_assist_settings.jpg


    That's it,
    Shawn






  1. Posts : 172
    Windows 10
       #1

    How do I actually set the quiet hours?

    I want to set it from 10 pm to 7 am, but I cannot find the setting control to specify the time.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 68,668
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Thread Starter
       #2

    Hello Satchmo, :)

    I'm afraid that currently there's not a way to set a time for Quiet Hours. Only to turn it on or off for now.
      My Computers


  3. Posts : 4
    10
       #3

    Truly retarded you can not set the hours.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 426
    Windows 10 Home 64-bit, 22H2 19045.3636
       #4

    Is it safe to use the BAT file at startup as a workaround for the Quiet Hours turning itself on bug? So far, it seems to be working for that purpose, but I don't know whether it's safe to close and restart explorer while things are launching.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 68,668
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Thread Starter
       #5

    Hello Greg, :)

    It's safe. They will continue to load at startup as usual.
      My Computers


  6. Posts : 25
    Win 10 Pro
       #6

    Is there any way to enable this for non-directx games? Currently I have to manually turn it on while playing DMC5 and of course I always forget to do so and of course I get email notifications at the worst time possible in game. It wouldnt be so bad but I have HDR so the screen flashes black and then back to SDR and then back again to HDR, because the notification is not HDR which can be really annoying.
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 74
    Windows 10 Home
       #7

    That's great and all, but as it appears, every time I do something, like send a screenshot to OneDrive for example, none of the notifications are popping up!
    Focus assist is supposed to be "off" because I'm not in a game or fullscreen in an app, I'm not duplicating my screen and it's not inside quiet hours (set on "weekdays" atm).
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 68,668
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Thread Starter
       #8

    HoneycombWX said:
    That's great and all, but as it appears, every time I do something, like send a screenshot to OneDrive for example, none of the notifications are popping up!
    Focus assist is supposed to be "off" because I'm not in a game or fullscreen in an app, I'm not duplicating my screen and it's not inside quiet hours (set on "weekdays" atm).
    Hello mate,

    Double check to make sure you also turn off any automatic rules below for Focus Assist. If one is turned on, it will automatically turn on Focus Assist as needed.

    Change Focus Assist Automatic Rules in Windows 10
      My Computers


 

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