How to Take Full Control of Notifications in Windows
All your devices, and every app running on those devices, crave your attention, which can make it difficult to get anything done—and Windows is no different when it comes to regularly distracting you with pings and pop-ups. Leave your notification settings at their defaults and it can get a little tedious.
However, Windows gives you full control over how notifications work, including which apps and system events can bother you and when—there are even different Do Not Disturb settings and modes you can take advantage of. Here’s how to customize Windows 11 notifications the way you want.
Notification settings
To get started with managing notifications, open Settings from the Start menu, then choose System > Notifications . You will immediately see the “Notifications” toggle switch: turn it off, and no notifications will bother you at all. You can also tap the Notifications header to choose whether these alerts have sounds and appear on your lock screen.
Next on the same screen, you will see a list of all the programs installed on your computer, where you can configure notification settings for each individual software. If there is an application that you don’t want to hear about at all, just turn off the corresponding toggle switch. Alternatively, you can have more granular control over what each application can do.
You can choose whether apps can show notification pop-ups or display their alerts in the notification center (which appears when you tap the time and date in the bottom right corner). You can also turn on or off sounds for an app’s notifications and choose the priority of its messages in the notification center: Top , High , or Normal .
Turn on Allow an app to send important notifications when Do Not Disturb is enabled to give an app permission to interrupt you when Do Not Disturb is active (more on this in a moment) – what counts as an “important” notification varies by developer . Note that you can also manage an app’s notifications from the Action Center by clicking the three dots on any of its alerts.
Do Not Disturb and Focus modes.
In Windows, the familiar Do Not Disturb mode is available to temporarily block notifications: From the Notifications screen, you can either use the Do Not Disturb toggle to turn it on or off manually, or select Turn on Do Not Disturb Automatically , which will allow you to you schedule this feature (and turn it on automatically if you’re gaming).
Tap Choose Priority Notifications and you’ll have more control over which apps can violate Do Not Disturb restrictions. By default, reminders and alarms are turned on, for example, because you probably still want to see them, but you can turn them off if necessary. You can add any app here and all its notifications will be allowed (not just the important ones as specified in the setting mentioned earlier).
Once back on the Notifications screen, you can use the Focus option as an extension of Do Not Disturb mode. This allows you to configure certain Windows sessions to remain silent, as well as to enforce any restrictions imposed by Do Not Disturb. instead, you can also stop program icons and flashes from appearing on the taskbar. Focus mode will also display a timer on the screen if you want it to.
To start a focusing session, choose how long you want it to last, then click Start Focusing Session . You’ll notice that it’s also available in the Action Center, where it’s easier to access: Tap the time and date in the bottom right corner, set a timer, then tap Focus . Windows opens the Clock app, which controls the Focus feature, and your session begins.
Individual applications
Just like with Android or iOS on your phone, individual apps in Windows will have their own notification settings that you can use in addition to those available in Windows. To truly customize your notification behavior, you’ll need to dive into the apps you use regularly, and maybe even the alert settings for individual websites.
Take Microsoft Edge for example: Click the three dots (top right), then Settings , then select Cookies and site permissions and Notifications to see which websites might bother you and which ones won’t . By default, sites ask for permission when they want to show notifications, but you can turn this off so you don’t even get distracted by requests to show alerts.
And you can dig even deeper if you want: many websites have their own notification settings. There’s not space here to cover every single site, but Slack is one of them: If you click your workspace name in the top left corner and then select Settings & Notifications , you can set specific times when Slack is not allowed to be disturbed. you (regardless of Edge and Windows settings).
The Microsoft Store is another Windows app with its own notification settings that’s worth understanding. Click your Microsoft account avatar (at the top), then select Settings : Turn off the App Install Notifications toggle and you won’t be bothered by software updates through the Microsoft Store.