You're in the middle of browsing a website, creating a document, or playing a game. Then Windows 10 taps you on the shoulder to tell you about an update, or some other notification. It's a case of bad timing, but you can avoid unwanted interruptions with Focus Assist.

Formerly known as Quiet Hours, Focus Assist was introduced with the Windows 10 April 2018 Update. It gives you greater control over notifications, allowing you to get more work done without distractions.

Focus Assist can be used while playing games, sharing your screen, using an app in full-screen, or during specific hours. You can tell Windows to hide all notifications, while still filtering alarms or anything deemed high priority. A summary of any notifications you missed can then be viewed in the Windows Action Center. Here's how to get started.


Turn on Focus Assist In order to use Focus Assist, you must first activate it by going to Settings > System > Focus Assist and making a selection. By choosing Priority only, you will only let notifications through that are considered high priority. Selecting Alarms only will block all notifications except for any alarms you have set.

Set Priority List You can set a priority list by clicking the Customize link. At the Priority list page, you can choose to allow or disallow phone calls, text messages, and reminders for an Android phone linked with Windows 10. Unfortunately, iOS is not supported at this time

Set Hours You can then choose when you want Focus Assist to go into action. From the Focus Assist settings screen, turn on the switch next to “During these times” to select the start and end times. Choose whether you want your Focus Assist schedule to repeat daily, on weekends, or weekdays. Set the focus level to alert you for alarms or priority notifications. You can also opt to see a notification in the Action Center when Focus Assist turns on.

Set Other Specifications You can then set how Focus Assist will work in different situations, including when you’re sharing your screen, while you’re gaming, and when your app is in full-screen mode. Click into each section and choose the focus level, selecting either alarms or priority notifications.

Set Notification Options If you’re using a laptop or tablet, you’ll see an option “When I’m at home,” which will block notifications if you’re on your home or private network. There is also an option for “Show me a summary of what I missed while focus assist was on” that you can turn on and off. This controls whether or not you see missed notifications in the Action Center.

Control Focus Assist From the Action Center To turn Focus Assist on and off, click the Action Center icon in the lower-right corner. Click on the Focus Assist button. You can then set it to priority or alarms only. You can also see any notifications you missed while Focus Assist was on.

Further Reading

Windows 10 Reviews