How to Disable Focus Assist Notifications While Keeping Calls Through

Quick fix: Open Settings → System → Focus → Configure focus session behavior. Then go to Settings → System → Notifications → Priority notifications. Tick Calls, Reminders, and any apps you want to bypass Do Not Disturb (Phone Link for calls, Teams for emergency meetings).

You want Focus mode to silence Slack pings, Spotify notifications, and Windows promotional toasts. But you can’t miss phone calls (when paired with Phone Link) or Teams urgent calls. Windows’s Priority Notifications list does exactly this: it whitelists specific apps and notification types to bypass Do Not Disturb.

What causes this

Windows 11’s Focus feature includes Do Not Disturb. By default, DND silences all notifications. But you can configure a Priority Notifications list — apps and notification types that bypass DND. The list affects how DND treats specific senders, not the global on/off.

Priority list types: Calls (phone calls via Phone Link or Teams), Reminders (Calendar, alarms), and per-app whitelist (any installed app you tick).

Method 1: Configure Priority Notifications

The standard route.

1. Open Settings → System → Notifications.
2. Scroll to Set priority notifications. Click to expand.
3. Tick categories that should bypass Do Not Disturb:
   • Calls — allows calls from Phone Link, Teams, Skype to ring through.
   • Reminders — allows Calendar reminders and Clock alarms.
4. Under Apps, click Add apps. Pick the apps you want to bypass DND (Teams, Outlook, etc.). Each adds to the list.
5. For finer control, open the specific app’s notification settings (Settings → System → Notifications → click app row). Some apps have per-channel priority (e.g., Teams: Calls always notify, Channel messages respect DND).
6. Open Settings → System → Focus. Configure Focus duration and Do Not Disturb integration.
7. Click Start focus session. The session runs; notifications respect your Priority list.
8. To test: trigger a non-priority notification (e.g., Spotify track change). It silently goes to the notification center. Trigger a priority notification (Teams call). It pops up and rings normally.

This is the canonical Microsoft path.

Method 2: Set Focus to run automatically on a schedule

For predictable quiet periods (work hours, sleep, focus blocks).

1. Open Settings → System → Focus.
2. Scroll to Automatic rules. Toggle on relevant rules:
   • During these times — pick start/end time, days of week. Example: 9 AM – 12 PM, weekdays.
   • When duplicating my display — auto-Focus during presentations.
   • When playing a game — auto-Focus during gameplay.
   • When using an app in full screen mode — auto-Focus when videoing or focusing.
3. For each rule, click to configure DND behavior. Toggle “Do not disturb” on or off for that rule.
4. Focus also auto-hides badges on taskbar apps and the “flashing” attention indicator. Set in Settings → System → Focus.
5. For Calendar-based Focus: pair with Outlook calendar — configure focus blocks via Outlook’s Insights, which can auto-schedule Windows Focus.

This is the right path for predictable schedules. Less manual intervention.

Method 3: Use third-party apps for richer rules

For users who want more sophisticated control.

1. Install Forest or Focusrite (mobile-first, but desktop versions exist). These have richer Focus modes than Windows’s built-in.
2. For developer-focused: Notu (free, third-party) lets you build complex notification rules: “Allow Slack messages from @here only,” “Block Teams group messages but allow direct.”
3. For corporate environments using Microsoft Viva Insights: enable Focus Time integration with Outlook calendar. Viva auto-schedules Focus blocks based on your meeting load.
4. For users who want Pomodoro-style Focus: Pomofocus, Forest, Be Focused. These don’t integrate with Windows DND but can be paired manually.
5. For automation via PowerShell: use the BurntToast module to write custom toast handlers that route notifications based on time of day or active app.

Use third-party only if Windows’s native Focus + Priority Notifications doesn’t cover your needs.

How to verify the fix worked

• Open Focus → Start focus session. During the session, observe notification behavior:
  • Priority notifications pop up and ring/buzz normally.
  • Non-priority notifications go silently to the notification center without banner.
• Trigger a test call from Phone Link or Teams. Should ring through.
• Send yourself a Slack message (if Slack isn’t in priority). Should not ring or banner.

If none of these work

If Priority Notifications doesn’t honor your settings, the app may bypass Windows’s notification system entirely. Some apps use their own sound playback: Teams plays a ringtone via its own audio path, separate from Windows notifications. Disable in Teams: Settings → Notifications → Calls → Sounds → pick None. This silences Teams sound even when Windows DND lets the notification through visually. For Phone Link calls: ensure the phone’s ringer is on and Phone Link is signed in to the same Microsoft Account. For Outlook reminders: outlook plays its own reminder sound separate from Windows notifications. Outlook → File → Options → Advanced → Show reminders can be untoggled if you don’t want them. For PCs where Focus auto-rules don’t fire: Settings → System → Focus → verify the rule is enabled (toggle on). Confirm the current time matches the rule’s scheduled window. Reboot if rules seem stuck.

Bottom line: Priority Notifications list lets specific calls, reminders, and apps bypass Do Not Disturb. Focus + Priority gives quiet work blocks without missing critical alerts.