Focus sessions in Windows 11 are a built-in productivity tool that helps you work without distractions. They use a timer (based on the Pomodoro technique) combined with automatic Do Not Disturb to silence notifications during focused work periods. Here is how to use them.
Where to Find Focus Sessions
Focus sessions are part of the Clock app in Windows 11. Open it from the Start menu by searching “Clock”. Select Focus sessions from the left sidebar. The feature is also accessible from Settings → System → Focus, though the Clock app gives you the full interface.
Setting Up a Focus Session
- Open the Clock app and click Focus sessions
- Set the duration using the circular timer — drag to choose between 5 minutes and 4 hours, or type a value directly. The timer uses 25-minute work blocks with 5-minute breaks by default (Pomodoro method). Sessions over 30 minutes automatically include a short break halfway through.
- Optionally link a to-do task from Microsoft To Do — the task appears as your focus goal for the session
- Click Start focus session
What Happens During a Focus Session
When a focus session is active:
- Do Not Disturb turns on automatically — notifications are silenced and banners do not appear on screen. Notification badges still accumulate in the taskbar; they just do not interrupt you.
- Teams status may update — if Microsoft Teams is linked, your status can be set to Do Not Disturb during the session (optional, configurable in settings)
- Spotify can integrate — if you use Spotify, the Clock app can start a playlist automatically when a session begins
- A progress indicator shows in the system tray
When the break period starts, a notification appears to prompt you to take a break. You can skip the break if you want to continue working.
Customising Focus Session Settings
In the Clock app focus sessions page, click the gear icon to adjust:
- Skip break notification: whether to show a popup when a break starts
- End of focus session notification: whether to show an alert when the full session ends
- Focus session clock: show or hide the countdown during the session
- Spotify: link your account to start music automatically
- Microsoft To Do: link your task list to select tasks to focus on
Manual Do Not Disturb (Without a Timer)
If you want Do Not Disturb without a timed session:
- Go to Settings → System → Notifications
- Toggle on Do not disturb
Or click the Notification centre icon in the system tray (bottom right) and toggle Do Not Disturb from the quick settings panel. This stays on until you turn it off manually.
Focus Assist vs Focus Sessions
In earlier versions of Windows 10/11, the equivalent feature was called Focus Assist and lived in Settings. In Windows 11 22H2 and later, the Settings version was renamed simply “Do Not Disturb” and the richer focus sessions experience moved to the Clock app. Both control notification suppression — the Clock app adds the timer, task integration, and break reminders on top.
Tracking Your Focus History
The Clock app’s focus sessions page shows a daily summary of how many minutes you have focused today. There is no long-term history or analytics dashboard — it is intentionally simple. If you want more detailed productivity tracking, the Microsoft Viva Insights add-in for Outlook provides a richer view of focused work time.
