Customising email alerts in Outlook

Outlook uses four alert types for new emails:

• A sound
• A brief change to the mouse pointer
• An email icon in the taskbar
• A banner alert in the bottom right of the screen (top right for Mac users)

Any of these can be turned off completely:

1. Launch Outlook.
2. Go to File > Options > Mail.
3. Scroll down to the Message Arrival section. You can turn any of the alerts on or off by checking or unchecking the corresponding boxes.
4. Click the OK button to close the Options panel when you have made your selection.

Using Focus (Assist) in Windows

If you want no notifications for a period of time while you're focusing on something else, Focus (or Focus Assist in Windows 10) is a built-in Windows tool that hides alerts from any (or all) apps at times and situations you choose.

Access Focus (Assist) via the Settings panel:

1. Press Windows+i on the keyboard to open the Settings panel.
2. Search for focus, then select Focus (Assist) Settings from the drop-down menu.
3. In Windows 10, scroll down to the Automatic Rules section and turn on the options you want to enable.
   • Each option allows either Priority Only or Alarms Only, which can be amended by clicking the option and changing the Focus Level
   • Alarms specifically refers to the alarms generated by clock or alert apps. If you don’t want to be disturbed at all, you can set the option to Priority Only and remove all priority apps
4. In Windows 11, choose the length of the Focus session you want and turn on the options you want to enable. Click the Start focus session button to start the session.