Hands-On Windows 146: Windows 11 Puts the Not in Notifications - All TWiT.tv Shows (Audio)

Summary

Summary of "Hands-On Windows 146: Windows 11 Puts the Not in Notifications"

Release Date: June 26, 2025 | Host: Paul Thurrott | TWiT.tv

Introduction

In the episode titled "Windows 11 Puts the Not in Notifications," host Paul Thurrott delves into the complexities and frustrations surrounding the notification system in Windows 11. Drawing from personal experiences and user feedback, Paul aims to uncover why Windows 11 notifications often fall short of user expectations and offers practical solutions to enhance the overall notification experience.

The Frustration with Windows 11 Notifications

Paul begins by sharing an incident that sparked his deep dive into Windows 11's notification system. He recounts encountering an unfamiliar notification that left him perplexed and led him to spend additional time online searching for ways to disable it—a clear indicator of the system's current shortcomings.

"Windows 11 notifications are terrible." [00:15]

He compares the Windows notification system unfavorably to mobile operating systems like Android and iOS, highlighting that managing notifications often becomes a tedious task of incessantly turning them off as they arise.

Specific Examples of Notification Issues

1. Slow Charger Notification

Paul illustrates his point by discussing a specific notification about his laptop's charging speed. Despite using a compatible 100-watt charger, Windows 11 persistently notifies him of a "slow charger," which he finds both unnecessary and confusing.

"I don't understand what this thing's all about." [01:30]

He criticizes the notification settings for forcing users into a binary choice: either disable all notifications from the "Power and Battery" app or navigate through convoluted settings to try and find a more nuanced option.

"That's a terrible choice. It's not turn off this kind of notification. It's turn off all notifications from this app or service." [02:30]

2. OneDrive Memories Notification

Another example Paul provides is the daily prompt from OneDrive encouraging him to view his photos—a feature he deems irrelevant on his computer.

"It wants me to enjoy my memories on my computer, which is not where I do that kind of a thing." [03:00]

He points out the lack of an easy way to disable this specific notification without silencing all OneDrive alerts, which could lead to missing important sync errors or updates.

Navigating Windows 11 Notification Settings

Paul guides listeners through the current process of managing notifications in Windows 11, emphasizing its inefficiency and lack of granularity.

"If you're familiar with the Android or the iPhone iOS, you probably know that most notifications are terrible." [00:15]

He explains that while users can access the general notification settings to toggle notifications for individual apps, the options are limited to broad, all-or-nothing choices. This design flaw makes it challenging to disable specific notifications without affecting the entire app's alert system.

Practical Solutions and Recommendations

Despite the challenges, Paul offers actionable strategies to reclaim control over Windows 11 notifications:

Utilize the "Do Not Disturb" Feature:
- For temporary relief from notifications, especially during focused work sessions.
Per-App Notification Customization:
- Spend time in the notification settings to selectively enable or disable notifications for individual apps based on their relevance.
- Example: Disable OneDrive's memory alerts while keeping critical security notifications active.
"Just go through, do it one time... leave notifications on, but curate it to the list that you want." [05:00]
Disable Unnecessary Suggestions and Recommendations:
- Turn off Windows' built-in suggestions and recommendations to reduce unsolicited prompts that clutter the notification center.
"Suggestions, recommendations. Turn it off and you'll be a happier, saner person." [07:30]
Accessing App-Specific Settings:
- For apps like OneDrive, Discord, or Slack, navigate to their individual settings within the app to fine-tune notification preferences beyond what Windows offers.

Conclusion

Paul wraps up the episode by reiterating the importance of personalizing notification settings to enhance user experience in Windows 11. While acknowledging that the current system requires an initial investment of time to configure, he emphasizes that the benefits of a streamlined and relevant notification system far outweigh the effort.

"You can make them work for you. It's a little bit of work, but it's a one time thing and you should be pretty good going forward." [07:50]

He encourages listeners to approach notification management proactively, ensuring that their workflow remains uninterrupted by unnecessary alerts.

Final Thoughts

"Windows 11 Puts the Not in Notifications" serves as a comprehensive guide for users grappling with the intricacies of Windows 11's notification system. Through relatable examples and practical advice, Paul Thurrott empowers listeners to take meaningful steps toward a more organized and less intrusive notification experience.

Note: Advertisements and non-content sections from the original podcast transcript have been excluded to maintain focus on the episode's core discussions.

Transcript

Paul Thurott (0:00)

Coming up next on Hands on Windows, we're going to take a Look at Windows 11 notifications and find out why they're so terrible and what you can do about it.

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Paul Thurott (0:15)

This is Twit. Hello, everybody, and welcome back to Hands on Windows. I'm Paul Thurat, and this week I'm going to take a Look at Windows 11 notifications. This was inspired by the fact that I recently saw a notification I'd never seen before, and I was confused by it and I tried to disable it because it was unnecessary and I had to Google search it to figure out how because Windows 11 notifications are terrible. So let me use some examples to explain why that. So if you're familiar with the Android or the iPhone iOS, you probably know that most notifications are terrible, right? When I set up a new phone or a new PC, I spend a lot of time just turning off notifications as they occur. But maybe there is a better way. So first let me show you the the notification I saw, because this one just blew my mind. I had a laptop. I have a laptop that requires or works better if you have a 100 watt charger. It came with a 100 watt charger. Most laptops have a 65 watt charger these days. And it works fine. There's absolutely no reason not to use says it works a little more slowly, but in my experience, it works fine. I don't understand what this thing's all about. And if you know how notifications work in Windows, I'll bring up something here because they sit up here in the notification center. You know that it has this settings button with the three dots and you click it and there are two choices. Turn off all notifications for whatever that app is. In this case it's for apps, but in that case it would have been for, I think it said power and performance or whatever it was. Power and whatever. You don't want that because you might have other problems that you actually want to be notified about. Right? That's a. That's a terrible choice. It's not turn off this kind of notification. It's turn off all notifications from this app or service. In that case, that's a bad choice. But then there's also this go to notification settings, and when you click on that, it goes into notification settings, obviously, but also apps. So to get to this, you go to system, and if I can find it, there it is notifications. And then they have these individual apps, right? So this is your general notifications interface, you might be tempted to just turn the whole thing off. I mean, you could do that. Don't recommend that necessarily, because again, there are some things you actually do want to be notified by. So we're going to come back to this. That's a. That's a terrible one. The other one, there are a couple of others that most people see pretty regularly. So I just showed you something that was kind of an outlier. That's a weird one. It confused me. I feel like I know a little bit about Windows. That one was confusing. I did solve it. We're going to get to that. But you've almost definitely seen this one. So this is a notification from OneDrive. And so every day, if you have all your photos are in OneDrive, you'll get this kind of thing. So in this case, on May 12, some year in the past, I obviously. Well, I know it's obvious you don't know what this is, but this is the Emmaus Farmer's Market. We went there in the rain and I took some pictures for some reason. And it wants me to enjoy my memories on my computer, which is not where I do that kind of a thing. And again, if I clicked on those options that it provided and went to that interface, there's nothing there to help me turn that thing off. I could turn off all OneDrive notifications. I absolutely do not want to do that because you might have a sync error or something. Like, I want to see that stuff. I don't want to see that thing. Like, that's something I might want on my phone. It's something I definitely don't want on my computer. The other one everyone has seen, I don't have this one to show you, but you've seen the weekly notification from Windows Security. That's this app here. It will basically say, hey, buddy, it's been a week, Nothing happened, everything's fine. Just letting you know. Now, in this case, it actually does have a link. One of the buttons lets you go and turn that notification off. And it's not all security notifications, it's just that one. So that's the one example of an app that's properly written. But if you want to find it yourself, go into Settings, go to Notifications, manage notifications. And this is the thing here, it's the informational notifications. You actually have to go through a user account control to do this. Um, like this. I hate this inter. I. I hate it. I turn it off. It just makes me crazy. But that one, at least that's the one example. That one's well written. So good for them.