Windows 8, like its predecessors, displays notifications related to system security and other important matters to the user in the system tray. Usually a white flag is shown in the notification area, hovering over which you can view more information about the problem. It can be about non-existent antivirus and anti-spyware, outdated virus definitions, turned off firewall, disabled Windows updates etc. to name a few. Although these notifications are of vital nature and should not be ignored, yet they annoy you especially while you are busy doing your work. Good news is that you can postpone such notifications in Windows 8 for a few hours if you are busy doing something else. Here is how:
- Press the hotkey Win + C to open the Charms bar. Click/tap on the Settings icon in the Charms bar.
- In the Settings section, click/tap on the Notifications icon and it would display another menu. From this menu, you can select to postpone (hide) the notifications for 1 hour, 3 hours or 8 hours.
That’s it. Now Windows will not bother you with its notifications for the selected number of hours. This is a great way to postpone the notifications displayed by Windows 8. However, these notifications can be critical and should not be ignored for too long. For example, if you postpone a notification about the installation of an antivirus product on your PC, you may get infected by a malware due to your procrastination. This feature should be used only as a temporary relief from the notifications while you are busy in your office work.