Unable to Turn Off Focus Assist? Try these fixes

Many Windows 11 users report an extremely frustrating bug where the Focus Assist feature Re-enables itself or sets itself to Priority Mode after users have turned it off.

Focus assist not turning off.

Focus assist is a window feature that automatically suppresses notifications to help users focus while playing a game or using an app in fullscreen, which admittedly being a useful feature for some proves to be a detriment to those who actually want to receive their important notifications.

Turn off Automatic Rules through the settings app.

Even if you have Focus Assist disabled there set of automatic rules will still enable it when their specific criteria are met. Thus to completely disable Focus Assist make sure to turn off or at least configure the automatic rules so they don’t enable Focus Assist when you don’t want to.

  1. Press the Windows key, search for and open the Settings app.
  2. From the “settings” app click on “System” in the left sidebar and open “Focus Assist”.
  3. From there scroll down and either disable or configure all automatic rules so they don’t turn on Focus Assist again.

Afterward, restart your device and replicate the steps prior to the activation of focus assist to check if it’s still turning on. If it still won’t turn off then move on to the next fix.

Change Date/Time through the Settings app.

According to many user reports, Focus Assist wouldn’t turn off if their Date/Time was incorrect. The best way to correct your date and time is to let windows set time zone automatically Via the settings app. If your system date/time is already correct then move on to the next fix.

  1. Press the “Windows key”, Search for and open the “Settings” app.
  2. From the settings, app click on Time and Language in the left sidebar and open Date and Time.
  3. In date and time check “Set time automatically” and “Set time zone automatically”.

Afterward, restart your computer, navigate back to settings and check whether or not Focus Assist is turned off or not.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Muhammad Zubyan


Muhammad Zubyan is a certified Google IT Support Professional with over 7 years of extensive experience. He has worked on more than 1500 computers, gaining valuable insights that enable him to detect and troubleshoot any complicated root cause of Windows-related issues and errors. In addition to managing Appuals as a Senior Editor, he is currently developing his own Game Optimization program that caters to both gamers and casual users alike.