Notifications on desktop or mobile – and the web in general – can be annoying and distracting. Like mobile phones, Windows 11 relies heavily on push notifications for proprietary or third-party apps and websites. Almost every app on Windows 11 tries to send notifications, and often they are useless.
For example, the Windows Security app regularly sends alerts after running a security check on your device. Likewise, notifications sent through the Weather app, websites you’ve subscribed to through Microsoft Edge or Chrome, and other apps are undeniably a problem in Windows 11.
Microsoft has already made some changes to Windows to reduce the daily alerts you receive. For example, Windows 11 comes with “Focus Assist”, which helps you focus on specific tasks by reducing distractions, including toast notifications from apps like Outlook, Edge, etc.
Now the tech giant is trying a different approach to reduce spam notifications so you can focus on essential alerts. According to references in Windows 11 preview builds, a new one called “Smart opt-out” will reduce spam notifications in the operating system.
Smart opt-out isn’t AI, but it should do the trick
Microsoft is working on a new approach to minimize notification spam and help you focus on critical alerts in Windows 11. This feature is a notification that recommends turning off notifications from apps that users don’t interact with on a regular basis.
For example, if you have not interacted with Outlook notifications for a month, you will receive a notification titled “Turn off Outlook notifications?” which offers two options: Disable and Do Not Change.
This change is expected to have a positive impact on the user experience for most Windows 11 users as excessive notifications can be distracting. Email filters have used a similar approach for years, making it a logical step for Windows 11 to detect ignored notifications and suggest turning them off automatically.
The smart opt-out feature shouldn’t affect apps’ notifications that you interact with a feature on a daily or weekly basis.
Since Smart opt-out is a minor new addition to the operating system, it should arrive in the production channel within a few months via Windows 11’s new configuration updates.
Urgent notification feature in Windows 11
Another notification-related improvement in Windows 11 involves giving users more control over high-priority notifications from native and third-party apps. These urgent or important notifications can bypass the Focus Assist (Do Not Disturb) settings.
For example, apps can send a notification titled “Allow Important Notifications,” which allows users to allow high-priority notifications from a specific app, such as Visualizer, even when Do Not Disturb mode is on.
Microsoft is improving the urgent notifications feature with a new control, “view notification”, to view the contents of the privacy notification while using apps in full screen mode.
