Focus Assist is a new feature coming to the feature update

Apr 3, 2018 12:36 GMT  ·  By

One of the more significant changes coming to Windows 10 users with the release of the Spring Creators Update (also codenamed Redstone 4) is Focus Assist.

While this might sound like an entirely new feature for existing users, it’s not, as Focus Assist is a new name for Quiet Hours, a tool that was already available in Windows 10 and which Microsoft decided to rebrand with the Redstone 4 update.

The decision to rename Quiet Hours makes sense given that the feature evolved substantially in the last months, and while Focus Assist has been received with mixed reactions by the community, it does seem to align with Microsoft’s intentions here.

Focus Assist was announced in Windows 10 build 17083 released in late January, and it is part of the final version of the Spring Creators Update as well, obviously with a bunch of refinements.

What Focus Assist is supposed to do

First and foremost, just like Quiet Hours, Focus Assist is supposed to silent your notifications and let you… well… focus on what’s important.

Microsoft’s Brandon LeBlanc says the name makes sense because “when I use it, it’s not simply about shutting up my PC for a few hours, it helps me plan times of focus so I can work. It’s not simply about stopping notifications. It really does assist you and focusing at times you need to focus and keep things quiet.”

In other words, Focus Assist makes sure you won’t be interrupted when working, and as compared to Quiet Hours, it comes with some extra tools to help you with this.

This is particularly helpful for those who make presentations on their personal laptops, but it also comes in handy when playing games or running other apps in full-screen and you don’t want any notifications to show up, but still have the apps run in the background.

Windows 10 Focus Assist modes

How Focus Assist works

Before anything, as compared to Quiet Hours, Focus Assist lets you enable and disable it a lot faster. You can simply right-click the Action Center icon the taskbar and toggle between the available modes (yes, Focus Assist comes with modes), like Off, Priority, and Alarms. Their names are quite intuitive so you shouldn’t have any problems figuring out their purpose.

Launching the Action Center and clicking the Focus Assist toggle also lets you switch between these modes, though I’d say it’s a lot easier and faster to rely on the method above.

The configuration part is the one that’s more complex in Windows 10 Spring Creators Update because Focus Assist comes with several new settings versus Quiet Hours.

First and foremost, you can further tweak the Priority mode by selecting which apps should be on your priority list. You can also define calls, texts, and reminders, as well as contacts that you want to go through when this particular mode is enabled.

Windows 10 Focus Assist settings

The other super-handy feature is the automatic rule support. This means that you can configure Focus Assist to automatically kick in during certain times, when you’re duplicating the display (such as when projecting to a bigger screen for a presentation) or when playing games. You can configure what mode to be enabled for each of these three options.

Focus Assist also comes with improved default behavior. For instance, it’s automatically enabled when the display is duplicated or when playing a full-screen exclusive DirectX game.

Additionally, it’s important to keep in mind that contacts that are pinned to the tasker bar will always be allowed to break through Focus Assist, so if you receive a message from any of them, you’re still going to see the notification.

And last but not least, digital assistant Cortana can be used to turn on Focus Assist automatically when you’re at home, with no manual input required.

Whenever Focus Assist is turned on, notifications are turned on, but you can still see them in the Action Center whenever you’re ready. This means you’re not going to lose any notification, despite the fact that they’re blocked and not interrupting your work.

Windows 10 Focus Assist automatic rules

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The Spring Creators Update will launch this month
Windows 10 Focus Assist modesWindows 10 Focus Assist settings
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