Here’s How to Configure Quiet Hours on Windows 10 via Focus Assist

 Quiet Hours on Windows 10 were a popular setting that enabled users to manage notifications and alerts. With this feature, they were able to work without any interruptions and unwanted notifications. In 2018, Microsoft upgraded this service and named it as Focus Assist. With Focus Assist, you can do the same thing that you were able to do using Quiet Hours.

Some users are still confused as they cannot find and access the Quiet Hours feature on their Windows 10 computer. If you also want to set up and use Quiet Hours on Windows 10 in 2020, you have come to the right place. 

This article will guide you how you can use Focus Assist service to set up Quiet Hours on your Windows 10 system. 

Focus Assist Windows 10- Everything You Need to Know

Focus Assist is an upgraded feature of Windows 10 that enables you to control notifications and unwanted alerts. It was once known as Quiet Hours, but now it is known as Focus Assist. You can easily enable and disable Focus Assist on Windows 10.

This service has three basic controls:

• Off- We use it when we want to get all notifications on your computer and when you don’t want to focus.
• Priority only- You can use this option to listen only to selective notifications or alerts.
• Alarm only- This option will turn off of all alerts and notifications completely. However, you will still listen to your alarms.

How to Enable or Disable Focus Assist on Windows 10

Please obey the directions given down here to enable or disable the Focus Assist feature on Windows 10:

1. First and foremost, hit the start button on your keyboard to open the start menu.
2. In the start menu, search for the Focus Assist feature.
3. From the results, please select the appropriate option.
4. Now you will see the Focus Assist window on your screen.
5. Next, you will see the three options of Focus Assist as we told you before, these three options are, off, priority only, and alarm only.
6. If you want to focus and turn off unwanted and less critical notifications, then choose priority only.
7. In case you want to disable essential and unnecessary alerts and notifications, you should select the alarms only option.
8. If you want to disable Focus Assist, select the off option.

That is how you can use and enable Focus Assist on your Windows 10 PC.  If you want to make changes to the settings, you can open the Focus Assist window once again by using the same steps.

How to Customize Focus Assist Settings

If you want to change what notification and alarms to listen and what to not, you can customize it with the instructions given down here:

1. Firstly, navigate to the action centre on your computer.
2. Once you reach the action centre, locate the Focus Assist option from the action Centre window.
3. Now right-click on it.
4. Navigate to settings
5. Then you will see the Focus Assist window on your computer.
6. Now you can locate the automatic rules section on your screen.
7. This section has several customization options to customize the Focus Assist service.

That’s all you need to do to set up and use Focus Assist on Windows 10.  This setting is indeed useful if you want to improve your user experience while working. If you are a gamer, you may like to turn off all notifications and alerts to increase your focus while gaming.

Emily Johnson is a Microsoft product expert and has been working in the technology industry since 2002. As a technical expert, Emily has written technical blogs, manuals, white papers, and reviews for many websites such as office.com/setup.

Source:  Here’s How to Configure Quiet Hours on Windows 10 via Focus Assist

5 Common Microsoft Outlook Issues and Their Solution

 Microsoft Outlook is a useful tool with a user-friendly interface. But can be irking to come across issues day in and out. It has been observed that Outlook is facing certain issues more frequently. So, here we are with the master guide to fix these common issues on Microsoft Outlook that are spoiling user experiences.

Outlook Send/Receive Error

The Outlook Send/Receive error has been reported by users most frequently. Here, we will be discussing some of the most useful solutions from the ones available on Microsoft Support website. But before that, let’s rule out some of the common possibilities that might be causing the error.  Check that you are connected to the Internet properly. There might be messages stuck in your Outlook, consider cleaning them first.

Confirm that your Outlook email settings are appropriate. If the error still prevails, after trying the aforementioned fixes, only then, you should consider proceeding to one of the following methods.  

Method A: Use Microsoft Outlook Inbox Repair Tool

1. Navigate to the Control Panel via the Windows 10 Start menu. Find a tab named File Explorer, click on it. A new window will open up.
2. Now, open the “View” tab and select “Show hidden files, folders, and drives.”
3. After this, search for a file named “Scanpst.exe” from the Start menu.
4. Once done, you will be directed to the Inbox Repair tool. Hit “Start” to repair the Outlook client. This should take care of the Send/Receive error and many other related problems.

Method B: Open Microsoft Outlook in Safe Mode

You can also try to open Microsoft Outlook in Safe mode, to eradicate the Send/Receive error. Opening in this mode helps skip any bugs in the client that otherwise won’t go away before the next restart/update.

1.  Open the Start menu to enter outlook.exe /safe to start Outlook in Safe mode.
2. Then select “Show Progress,” and then “Download Preferences.” The Send/Receive error should be fixed by this step.

Method C: Terminate and Restart the Outlook App

1. Go to the Start menu to search “Apps & Features.”
2. Click on the “Mail and Calendar” in the list of apps, and then hit “Terminate” followed by restarting the app.

Cannot Open Outlook Window/Outlook Won’t Open

This error means that the data file where all Outlook information has been stocked is unable to open. The problem should be fixed by restarting Outlook in safe mode (refer to Method B above for instructions). You can also try to enable “reset navigation pane,” as the name suggests, this feature resets the navigation pane settings to its default settings. To do so, type and enter ‘outlook.exe/resetnavpane’ in the Start menu.

Increasing PST File Size

Outlook tends to slow down with frequent use that leads to the accumulation of a tremendous number of emails. The email client is compelled to process larger PST files bringing out errors. To resolve this issue in Outlook 2016 and above.

1. Open your Outlook, go to File > Account Settings > Account Settings.
2. In the window that appears, click Data Files > Settings.
3. Select “Outlook Data File Settings” in the “Advanced” tab, then hit “Compact now.”
   This will decrease the size of the PST file.

Slowdown by Add-in Applications

We tend to install a lot of extra programs to Outlook, unknowingly. These cause slowdown issues. So, if these add-ins aren’t really beneficial to you, consider getting rid of them as they may clutter your message window slowing down the overall Outlook performance.

1. To do so, open File and then Options.
2. A new window will open up, open the “add-ins” menu in this new window.
3. You will see a list of all active, inactive, and disabled add-ins. Move down to select Manage > COM Add-ins, then hit Go.
4. A dialog box will open up, here, you can remove any nonessential add-ins by checking it.

Outlook Crashes Frequently

Although rare sometimes this error may show up, crashing your Outlook window that forces you to restart the client. To resolve the Outlook crashing issue, you need to download Microsoft’s Outlook Advanced Diagnostics.

1. After downloading the tool, close the Outlook client and operate the diagnostics tool .exe in Administrator mode.
2. Once the tool is launched. It will run a set of diagnostic checks and present some possible solutions for you to try to fix Outlook’s crashing issue.
3. Open “Outlook” from the applications that have problems.
4. Click on the “Outlook crashing problem” from the menu, then authenticate your Outlook account with Microsoft credentials.
5. Follow the prompts and Outlook will have settled any issues that cause crashes.

You will rarely encounter these issues if you are running Outlook 2016 and above. If for some reason, you still come across such issues, you have this guide to refer to.

Elina John is a self-professed security expert; she has been making the people aware of the security threats. Her passion is to write about Cyber security, cryptography, malware, social engineering, internet and new media. She writes for Norton security products at norton.com/setup.

Source:   5 Common Microsoft Outlook Issues and Their Solution