Quick answer: Windows has no built-in daily time limit for apps on your own account. Microsoft Family Safety can limit apps, but only for a child's account in a family group. To give any app a daily allowance on your own Windows 10 or 11 PC, use a free tool such as Pulse: pick the app, set the minutes, and choose whether Pulse reminds you or minimizes the app when time is up.
App timers are one of the most-used wellbeing tools on phones. They don't block anything for good; they just make you notice when a quick check has turned into an hour.
What Windows offers
Microsoft Family Safety
Family Safety has app and game limits, but it's designed for parents. The person being limited needs a child account in your Microsoft family group, and their activity is reported through Microsoft's cloud. You can't use it to set limits for yourself.
Focus in the Clock app
Windows 11's Focus sessions turn on Do Not Disturb and run a timer. They help you start working, but they don't count how long you spend in an app or stop you opening one.
So for your own account, there's nothing that says "45 minutes of this app a day, then remind me."
Setting a limit with Pulse
Pulse is a free, open-source app that adds Digital Wellbeing to your PC. Its Limits page takes three steps:
- Pick an app. The list shows apps you've used on your PC in the last week.
- Set the rule. Choose a daily allowance (30 minutes, 1, 2 or 3 hours, or any number of minutes), hours when the app is unavailable, such as late evenings, or both.
- Choose what happens. Remind me shows a Windows notification and leaves the app open. You choose how often it reminds you again: every 5, 15, 30 or 60 minutes, or once a day. Minimize the app moves it out of the way, and minimizes it again if you reopen it straight away.
Pulse only counts time while the app is in front of you, so an app left open in the background doesn't use up its allowance. You can pause a limit with its switch, or change it, at any time.
Like everything in Pulse, limits stay on your PC. There's no account, and nothing is uploaded.
Tips for limits that stick
- Start with one app. The one you open without thinking is usually the right one.
- Set the allowance a little below your current use. Check how long you really spend in the app on the App Usage page first, then trim it.
- Start with a reminder. A nudge is often enough. Switch to minimizing only if you keep ignoring it.
- Use unavailable hours for routines. Blocking a game or a chat app after 10 PM protects your sleep better than a daily total.
- Use a focus session for deep work. If you only need an hour without distractions, a focus session in Block mode minimizes apps you tagged as Entertainment until the timer ends.
Common questions
Can I set app time limits on Windows without a child account?
Not with Windows alone. Family Safety's limits only apply to child accounts. A tracker like Pulse lets you set daily limits for any app on your own account.
Does a limit block the app completely?
No. Pulse never deletes or locks anything. It either reminds you or minimizes the app, and you can pause the limit whenever you need the app.
Does this work on Windows 10?
Yes. Pulse runs on Windows 10 and 11, from the Microsoft Store or the download page.
Built into Pulse
Track screen time, focus and breaks on Windows. Free, open source, no account.