How do I enter focus?

Hello susan-kay,

Welcome to Apple Support Communities!

If we understand your post correctly, you want to know how to open and change an item in Focus. We're here to help!

"Focus is a feature that helps you reduce distractions and set boundaries. When you want to concentrate on a specific activity, you can customize one of the provided Focus options—for example Work, Personal, or Sleep—or create a custom Focus. You can use Focus to temporarily silence all notifications, or allow only specific notifications—ones that apply to your task, for example—and let other people and apps know you’re busy.

When a Focus is linked to your Lock Screen, you can turn it on by simply swiping to the corresponding Lock Screen.

Likewise, you can customize a Home Screen page that has only apps related to a Focus and make that page your Home Screen during that Focus. iPhone also suggests Home Screen pages with apps and widgets that are relevant to the Focus you’re setting up.

Tip: To quickly silence all notifications, open Control Center, tap Focus, then turn on Do Not Disturb.

Set up a Focus

1. Go to Settings  > Focus, then tap a Focus—for example, Do Not Disturb, Personal, Sleep, or Work.
2. For the Focus you select, you can set up the options described in the steps below, but you don’t have to set up all of them.
3. 
4. Specify which apps and people can send you notifications during your Focus. See Allow or silence notifications for a Focus on iPhone.
5. After you specify which people and apps to allow notifications from, an Options link appears.
6. Tap Options, then do any of the following: 

• Show silenced notifications on the Lock Screen or send them to Notification Center: Turn Show On Lock Screen on or off.
• Darken the Lock Screen during this Focus: Turn on Dim Lock Screen.
• Hide notification badges on Home Screen apps: Turn on Hide Notification Badges.

1. When you’re finished selecting options, tap  at the top of the screen.
2. To change the Lock Screen to use with this Focus, tap the Lock Screen preview below Customize Screens, select a Lock Screen, then tap Done at the top of the screen.
3. To choose a Home Screen page to use with this Focus, tap the Home Screen preview below Customize Screens, select a page, then tap Done.
4. The Home Screen options that appear include the apps and widgets most relevant to the Focus you’re setting up.
5. To make changes to the Home Screen to customize it further for your Focus, see Move apps and widgets on the Home Screen.
6. To share your Focus across your devices, tap , then turn on Share Across Devices (you must be signed in with same Apple ID on all your devices).

After setting up your Focus, you can return to Settings > Focus at any time and change any of the options you chose above.

You can schedule a Focus to turn on automatically or turn it on or off in Control Center.

When you set up a Sleep Focus, you can also change your next bedtime and wake-up time, or adjust your sleep schedule by tapping Set Up Sleep in Health. See Set an alarm on iPhone or Add or change sleep schedules in Health on iPhone.

Add Focus filters

When you set up a Focus, you can add app filters that determine what information apps will show during the Focus. For example, you can choose which mail account or which calendar to use during the Focus.

1. Go to Settings > Focus, then tap the Focus you want to add filters to.
2. Scroll down to Focus filters, then tap Add Filter.
3. Tap an app, then select the information from that app you want to use during the Focus:

• Calendar: Choose which calendars you want to show during the Focus.
• Mail: Choose which mail accounts you want to use during the Focus.
• Messages: Choose which message conversations you want to see during the Focus—for example, only conversations from people you’ve allowed notifications from during this Focus.
• Safari: Choose which Tab Group you want to use during the Focus.

1. Tap Add to add the filter to the Focus.

Create a Custom Focus

If you want to concentrate on an activity that’s different from any of the provided Focus options, you can create a Custom Focus.

1. Go to Settings  > Focus.
2. Tap  at the top right, then tap Custom.
3. Enter a name for your Focus, then tap Return.
4. Choose a color and an icon to represent your Focus, then tap Next.
5. Tap Customize Focus, then set up the options for your custom Focus.

Keep your Focus settings up to date across all your Apple devices

You can use the same Focus settings on all your Apple devices where you’re signed in with the same Apple ID.

Go to Settings  > Focus, then turn on Share Across Devices.

Note: Focus filters don’t get synced across devices—they’re only on the device where you set them up."

Set up a Focus on iPhone

Let us know if you have any questions.

Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.

Take care!