Windows 10 has been a game-changer for Microsoft in multiple ways. With each update, they have been implementing new features that make the software more accessible and convenient for all users.
One of the most remarkable features is the quiet hours. This particularity allows you to deactivate all notifications; all of this to let you concentrate on your work. You won’t receive any alerts as, during the period, the quiet hours feature is active so that you can enhance your productivity.
This aspect of Windows 10 is similar to the “do not disturb” mode that most phones have integrated with the modern-day. Although this app may sound hugely beneficial for some people, is it that the reality.
About Windows 10 Quiet Hours
Although this feature isn’t new, most people have been paying more attention to it lately. Microsoft introduced the “quiet hours” in April 2018. At first, it had the name “Quiet Hours,” but the company changed the name to Focus Assist.
Additional to the name change, it also proportioned new aspects that make the tool extremely useful for many people. You can enable or disable this feature at any time. If you don’t know how to modify this feature’s settings, stay with us for a while.
How can you enable or disable the quiet hours feature in Windows 10?
For starters, you should know that you cannot edit the quiet hours via the UI. Additionally, Windows 10 sets the Focus Assist feature to start at midnight, and the period ends at 6:00 am.
Although you cannot change the quiet hours, you can edit perform some actions to accommodate your schedule instead of the default settings. What you will do depends on the version of Windows 10 you have. We have a thorough explanation of a procedure that works for any version.
Windows 10 Home: Edit the registry.
Users of Windows 10 Home edition must modify the registry to modify the Quiet Hours feature. There is another method for Pro and Enterprise users, but they can also use this one with no problems in case they’re not familiar with the Local Group Policy Editor.
Before we start explaining the steps, you should keep in mind that the Registry Editor is a delicate tool. You must not modify anything if you do not know what you’re doing, as you can cause your operative system to malfunction or become inoperable.
Follow all the steps described here carefully:
Go to the Windows search bar and search for “Regedit.” Open the first result, and you will open the Registry Editor. Allow the tool to modify your PC.
Once you’re in the tool, go to the left sidebar and search for this key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
Following up, you must create an additional sub-key inside the previous selection. You can do that by making right-click on it, then selecting “New” and next “Key.” A new key will be generated, which you must name “QuietHours.”
We’re going to add two values inside the new key we just created. You can do that by making right-click on the QuietHours key. There, you must select the following options: “New” and then “DWORD (32-bit) Value.” That value should be named EntryTime. Create an additional value following the same steps, but this time save it under the “ExitTime” name.
As you can assume, the first value will be about when the feature begins, and the second about when it finishes. Now we must modify the properties for these actions to happen successfully. You can do this by opening each key’s properties and changing the “Base” set to “Decimal.”
Once there, go to the Value Data box. You must enter a number equal to the minutes after a minute you want the feature to start being active. For instance, let’s say you set it up for 120 minutes; that would mean the quiet hours will start at 2:00 am. The same thing applies to the ExitTime value; if you set the number for 600, for instance, that would mean the period would end at 10:00 am.
Once done, please close the Registry window. You don’t have to do anything else, as the changes will start as soon as you make the changes. If you don’t want these modifications to be effective, you can follow this guide and delete the new registry keys you’ve generated. If you do that, you will delete the values as well.
This method works for any windows version, and the system will apply the changes immediately.
