Notifications

Windows 11 supports notifications so that the system can alert you of events happening that are unrelated to whatever it is that you are doing at the time. Many apps integrate with this capability as well and deliver notifications via Windows 11.

For example, the Mail app that comes with Windows 11 can display a notification banner---a small informative window that appears in the lower right corner of the screen---when you get a new email message.

Like the mobile apps that you might use on an Android phone, an iPhone, or an iPad, apps don't need to be running to trigger notifications. Instead, they use background processes to display notifications as required. And they integrate with the Notifications pane in Windows 11 to store notifications that you missed so you can review them later.

You open the Notifications pane---along with the Calendar pane---by clicking the time and date display at the far right of the Taskbar.
You can open Notifications and Calendar even more quickly by typing WINKEY + N.
Configure notifications
Depending on how you work and which apps you use, you could find yourself dealing with notifications frequently. So you may wish to spend some time configuring how notifications work.

You do so by opening the Settings app and navigating to System > Notifications.

Here, you can make the following configuration changes:

Toggle notifications and access additional options. The "Notifications" option here can be used to globally toggle notifications on or off. But you can also expand this option to display three more related options---"Allow notifications to play sounds," "Show notifications on the lock screen, and "Show reminders and incoming VoIP calls on the lock screen"---which are all fairly obvious.

Access options related to Do not disturb. Three of the options here---"Do not disturb," "Turn on do not disturb automatically," and "Set priority notifications"---are related to Do not disturb, which is a handy way to temporarily disable notifications. Each is described in Do Not Disturb and Focus.

Access options related to Focus. The "Focus" option links to Focus settings, which helps you create a Focus session you can use to get work done without distractions. Focus and focus sessions are also described in Do Not Disturb and Focus.

Configure notification settings for individual apps and other senders. The "Notifications from apps and other senders" area lets you configure notification settings for individual apps and system services. This capability is described in the next section.

Configure notifications for an app or system service
To globally disable all notifications for a single app or system service, locate it in the list under "Notifications from apps and other senders" and use the toggle switch to set it to "Off."

You can also configure notifications for an app or system service in a more granular way. To do so, select that app or service in the list under ...