Notifications are an important tool that allows us to stay on top of the things that matter most in our life. But many times, they can also feel like a hindrance, interfering with our focus or adding to our stress levels when we really don't need it.

You're probably used to managing notifications on your phone, but your Windows PC also has a few options for customizing notifications that can really make things a lot more peaceful and useful to you. Here are seven ways you can tailor Windows notifications to your liking.

7 Use Do not disturb

For when you can't be bothered

Do not disturb, also called DND, is a popular feature in most modern operating systems and for good reason. As the name implies, this feature makes sure you're not disturbed by notifications, and essentially silences and hides all of them until you turn Do not disturb off.

Do not disturb used to be called Focus assist in Windows 10, but it changed names to be more recognizable and because of the point we'll talk about next. But you can enable DND easily in the Settings app under System > Notifications, where you can turn the Do not disturb toggle on, or use the notifications panel in the bottom right corner of the screen. Either way, it's the easiest method to get some peace and quiet.

That said, if you never ever want notifications, you can go to System > Notifications and turn off the Notifications toggle at the top of the page. This is a more extreme measure, but it may be useful for some.

6 Turn off notifications after hours

Automatic rules are very helpful

One cool thing Windows 11 comes with is automatic rules for enabling Do not disturb. A few are enabled by default — for example, if you're playing a full-screen game or watching a movie, DND will kick. They'll also be paused if you're sharing your screen or projecting it., so your notifications don't get shown to other people by accident.

However, there's an additional option you can set up yourself, which is turning on Do not disturb at specific times. To enable this, go to the Settings app and choose System > Notifications. Expand the Turn on do not disturb automatically button and check the During these times box. Set the time frame you want and the repeat frequency, and you're good to go.

5 Use Focus sessions

Ultimate focus

Focus sessions are a feature introduced in Windows 11 as part of the Clock app, but they're woven into the operating system itself. This capability builds on top of the Do not disturb function, and it's desiogned to help enhance your focus for set periods of time.

In addition to enabling Do not disturb, using a focus session goes a few steps further in preventing distractions. Not only do you not see notification banners or hear sounds, but if an app you ahve open wants your attention, it won't be able to flash orange on the taskbar, either, making sure you're completely in the zone for whatever you need to do. Plus, focus sessions let you listen to music from Spotify and give you some additional ways to stay on top of your workload.

You can find focus sessions in the Clock app, but some settings for focus periods can be changed in the Settings app under System > Notifications > Focus.

4 Set priority notifications

Some things are too important to miss

As great as Do not disturb is, and while you definitely should have some serious quiet time, some notifications may be too important to miss. Certain apps will still show notifications during Do not disturb because notifications are essential to how they work (like the Snipping Tool's notification for editing a screenshot after taking it). But you can add your own apps to the priority list so you always get notifications from it.

Doing this is relatively easy, too. Go into the Settings app and then System > Notifications > Set priority notifications, then click Add apps to add any app you want to the priority list.

3 Hide notifications from the lock screen

What's the point anyway?

By default, Windows 11 shows notifications on screen even if you're looking at the lock screen, though the content of the notification is kept private. That being said, if you don't want to see notifications on the lock screen at all, you have the option to turn them off, too.

Simply open the Settings app and head into System > Notifications, and expand the Notifications section at the top. Uncheck the Show notifications on the lock screen and you're all set.

2 Turn off notification sounds

Sometimes, silence is best

If you're anything like me, the Slack notification sound might be haunting you in your dreams, and sometimes, that's the worst part of a notification. Loud, jarring sounds can be the absolute worst, so even if you want to have notifications on screen, you can just turn off the notification sounds.

To do that, all you need to do is head into the Settings app, go to System > Notifications and expand the Notifications button at the top, then clear the box labeled Allow notifications to play sounds. You can also disable sounds for a single app, which brings us to the next point...

1 Manage settings per app

Not all notifications are born equal

Not every app has equally important notifications, so thankfully, Windows also gives you the option to manage notification settings for every app on your system. These settings are pretty in-depth, too. You can turn off notifications entirely for a given app, but you can also just choose to hide notification banners, turn off sounds, or decide whether those notifications should be stored in the notification center.

To manage these settings, go into the Settings app and then to System > Notifications. You'll have a list of your apps with the option to turn notifications off for each one, or you can click the app's name to see more in-depth settings.

Take control of your digital life

As important as notifications are, they can also be a problem for many of us, and all of these options make it that much easier to get the experience you want. If you want some peace of mind while using your PC, these options will go a long way to help you get just that.

That being said, there are ways Windows could be better, such as adding the ability to create different focus profiles. That's something we'd love to see in an eventual Windows 12, but all we can do right now is wait and hope Microsoft will add it sooner rather than later.