How to Temporarily Mute Notifications in Windows 10

no notifications
Jamie Jamie (33)
0
Discuss
 
Favorite

We've all had that moment. You're in a big meeting, or working hard, or maybe playing games with friends, and all of a sudden a notification pops up. Even small things can be big distractions when they're unexpected, so make sure you're never interrupted by an unwanted notification again.

If you're wary about turning off notifications permanently, this guide will show you how to temporarily disable notifications when you know something important is coming up. If this was Windows 8, you would do this by by turning on a feature called "Quiet Hours." For some odd reason Windows 10 did away with this feature, setting a standard Do Not Disturb (called "Focus Assist") from 11pm to 7am. However, you can still edit this time frame by editing the registry.

Let's get started!

1

Open Start and type "regedit"

regedit1

Open Start and type "regedit." Alternatively, you can type "regedit" into the search function on your toolbar.

2

Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER > Software > Policies > Microsoft > Windows > Current Version

current version

Use the left toolbar to navigate to the "Current Version" folder in the Registry.

3

Right Click on Current Version > New > Key

quiet hours

Create a new Key under Current Version and label it "Quiet Hours."

4

Create two values under "Quiet Hours" Key

two values

Right click on the "Quiet Hours" Key you've just created, and click New > DWORD (32 bit) Value. Name the first value "EntryTime." Create a second DWORD Value and name it "ExitTime."

EntryTime will dictate the start of your quiet hours, while ExitTime will dictate the end of your quiet hours.

5

Set your times

value time

Double click "EntryTime" to edit it, and make sure the "decimal" option is selected. In the value data box, enter the number of minutes after midnight you'd like your quiet hours to start (i.e. for 2am you'll enter 120, for 3am > 180, and so on).

Double click "ExitTime" and make the same edits, once again noting how many minutes after midnight you'd like your quiet hours to end (8am=480, 9am=540, etc.).

6

Close Registry Editor

Once you've entered the start and end times for your quiet hours, you're free to close the Registry Editor! These changes will happen automatically, there's no need to restart your PC.

Congratulations! You've now manually set your quiet hours to temporarily mute all notifications.

Discuss
Favorite