It’s all too straightforward to permit distractions reminiscent of social media or movies to seduce us from the issues we’re speculated to be doing — reminiscent of, say, writing articles about Windows 11. Features reminiscent of Focus help at the moment are being included with working techniques to attempt to assist us maintain our eyes on the street, so to talk.

Microsoft’s Focus help was first launched in a 2018 replace of Windows 10, the place it changed a characteristic referred to as Quiet Hours, and whereas Windows 11 doesn’t provide any radical updates, it has made the characteristic simpler to make use of. Focus help stops notifications from popping up in your display screen and may be activated mechanically once you put in your show on presentation mode, are taking part in a sport, or are utilizing an app in full-screen mode.

I’ll present you the way to edit the automated classes in a second. First, right here’s the way to manually start a Focus help session.

Start a session

In Windows 11, Focus help has been made part of the Clock app. To begin a session manually, kind “Clock” into your taskbar’s Search icon. You’ll be guided to a web page that helps you arrange the size of time you need the session to final; you can too set a every day aim if you want. And there are tiles that allow you to hyperlink your Spotify account (ought to you’ve got one) to your focus classes or use Microsoft To Do to select a process for that session. Don’t want both of those? Keep studying.

If you click on on the settings icon on the backside left of the Clock app, you possibly can alter the size of your focus time (together with breaks) and choose a sound to play when your focus interval (or your break) ends. And you possibly can eliminate the Spotify and / or To Do tiles.

The Clock settings web page additionally enables you to decide a theme for the app and tweak your notification settings, together with which notifications shouldn’t be filtered out throughout a Focus help session.

To personalize this characteristic a bit extra and to edit the automated settings, it is advisable go to “Focus assist settings.”

Focus help settings

You can get to Focus help settings in a number of methods: by clicking on “Settings” > “System” > “Focus assist,” through the use of the taskbar search icon to seek out “Focus assist,” or by clicking on the system clock on the proper fringe of the taskbar after which on “Focus assist settings.”

Once you’re there, there are two important sections.

The first part enables you to flip Focus help on and off and set sure parameters when it’s lively:

• “Priority only” limits lively notifications to these laid out in a precedence checklist. You can set that checklist up by deciding on the “Customize priority list” hyperlink proper under the “Priority only” subhead. You can have it all the time notify you of incoming calls, all the time notify you of reminders, or permit notifications from particular apps. New to Windows 11 is the power to prioritize notifications from contacts who’re both pinned to your taskbar or whom you specify by way of an “Add contacts” button.

• “Alarms only” enables you to cover all of your notifications, aside from any alarms you will have arrange.
• Concerned that you could be miss one thing? If you test “Show a summary of what I missed when focus assist was on,” then you can be mechanically notified of all of your filtered notifications as quickly as Focus help is now not lively.

The second part, headed “Automatic rules,” enables you to alter a number of pre-set guidelines. You can toggle every on and off from this web page, however if you wish to change their settings, click on on the identify of the characteristic.

• “During these hours” enables you to set particular occasions and days when Focus help will kick in. To edit the settings, choose “During these times” after which, on the following web page, toggle it on. You’ll have the ability to select the beginning and finish occasions for every session; whether or not it applies to day by day, to only weekdays or simply weekends; and whether or not it’ll permit precedence solely or alarms solely.

The different options underneath “Automatic rules” function in a lot the identical manner. On the Focus help web page, click on the toggle to show them on or off, and click on on their identify to regulate them.

• “When I’m duplicating my display” kicks in once you’re received two shows going; toggle it on so you possibly can edit it to permit both precedence solely or alarms solely.
• “When I’m playing a game” is fairly apparent; once more, toggle it on to vary it to precedence solely or alarms solely.
• Finally, “When I’m using an app in full-screen mode only” will also be tweaked to be precedence solely or alarms solely.

One very last thing: when Focus help is lively, you will notice a small moon icon on the far proper of your taskbar. Click on it, and you need to have the ability to see any missed notifications.