Windows · Display & Sound
Manage Notifications & Alerts
Notification settings let you control which apps can send alerts, how they appear, and when Do Not Disturb (Focus Assist) is active to reduce interruptions.
How to open Notifications
- Open Settings → System → Notifications.
- Toggle notifications on or off for specific apps.
- Set up Focus Assist automatic rules.
- Customize banner and lock screen notification behavior.
What you should know
- Turn notifications on or off globally or per individual app.
- Enable Focus Assist to silence notifications during specific hours or activities.
- Customize whether notifications show previews or banners on the lock screen.
- Priority apps can be set to always notify you, even during Focus Assist.
Disabling notifications for security or system apps may cause you to miss important alerts, such as low battery or update warnings.
Why it matters
Notification settings determine how often your workflow gets interrupted, and left unmanaged, they can bury genuinely important alerts — like a security warning or low battery notice — under a flood of app promotions and casual pings. Focus Assist gives you a way to silence non-critical interruptions during deep work or presentations without losing important alerts entirely, since priority apps can still get through. Tuning this once saves you from either notification fatigue or missing something you actually needed to see.
Best practices
- Disable notifications individually for apps that send frequent, low-value alerts rather than turning off notifications system-wide.
- Set up Focus Assist automatic rules for specific times, like working hours, or activities, like duplicating your display for presentations.
- Keep notifications enabled for Windows Security and Windows Update so you don't miss critical system alerts.
- Turn off lock screen previews for sensitive apps like messaging or email to prevent private content from showing when your screen is locked.
Common problems and fixes
- Important alerts get silenced during a presentation or game without you realizing.
- Add exceptions in Focus Assist's priority list for apps you always want to hear from, such as calendar reminders or messaging apps.
- Too many notification banners pop up and disrupt your work.
- Turn off notifications for individual noisy apps in Settings → Notifications instead of disabling everything, keeping only the alerts you actually care about.
- Notifications stop appearing entirely after enabling Focus Assist.
- Check whether Focus Assist is stuck on 'Alarms only' or 'Priority only' and adjust it back to 'Off' or reconfigure your priority list.
Tips and tricks
- Click the date and time in the taskbar to open Notification Center and review anything you dismissed too quickly.
- Set Focus Assist to activate automatically 'When playing a game' so notifications never interrupt full-screen gameplay.
- Use automatic rules to enable Focus Assist during duplicate/mirrored display mode so presentations never get interrupted by a popup.
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between Focus Assist and simply turning off notifications?
Focus Assist silences notifications only during the conditions you set, like specific hours or full-screen apps, while still logging them for later, whereas disabling notifications for an app blocks them entirely, all the time.
Why do I miss notifications that I know were sent?
Check the Notification Center (click the date/time in the taskbar) since missed notifications are stored there, and also confirm the sending app hasn't been silenced by a Focus Assist rule.
Can I stop notification previews from showing on the lock screen?
Yes, under Notifications settings you can turn off 'Show notifications on the lock screen' or manage it per app to prevent sensitive content from appearing before you unlock your PC.
Related settings
- Sound SettingsSound Settings allow you to select input and output devices, adjust volume levels per app, and troubleshoot audio issues such as no sound or distorted playback.
- Display SettingsDisplay settings allow you to adjust screen resolution, brightness, scaling, and multiple monitor configurations. Proper display configuration improves visual clarity and productivity.
- Windows SecurityWindows Security is the built-in protection center for virus & threat protection, firewall & network protection, and device health. It runs Microsoft Defender Antivirus and lets you review recent scans and threats.
More Display & Sound guides for Windows
- Focus AssistFocus Assist (formerly Quiet Hours) automatically silences notification banners and sounds so alerts don't interrupt you during focused work, gaming, or presentations. You can trigger it manually or set automatic rules for specific times, duplicated displays, or full-screen games, and choose whether only alarms or also priority contacts still get through.
- Game ModeGame Mode prioritizes system resources for the game you're actively playing, preventing Windows Update from installing updates or restarting the PC mid-session, and reducing background activity that could interrupt gameplay. It's a single toggle designed to squeeze more consistent performance out of the same hardware during full-screen gaming.
- Night LightNight light shifts your display's color temperature to warmer tones at scheduled times, reducing blue light exposure that can interfere with sleep and cause eye strain in the evening.
- HDR SettingsHDR settings let you turn on high dynamic range on a supported display, adjust HDR brightness balance, and stream HDR video content for a wider range of colors and contrast.
- Volume MixerVolume mixer lets you control the output volume of individual running apps independently, and assign specific apps to different output or input devices.
- Advanced Display SettingsAdvanced display settings show detailed information about each connected display, including exact resolution, refresh rate, bit depth, and color format, with options to change them individually.