I do not need or want Focus. But, seems to be impossible to shut off totally. Is there a way?
Not sure what you mean by ‘shut off totally’. Like lots of things in Apple software, they are there whether you like/want/use them or not, and many of them you cannot remove in an obvious easy way.
In the case of Do Not Disturb/Focus, I have never used it at all so it is more or less ‘off’, but its Settings and configuration screens are there. I suppose if one set up/turned on some options at one time or another, it might be possible to go in and remove those options, but am not sure.
Others here who have used it will surely have even better ideas!
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Never turn it on?
You can also remove it from control center so that you never see it there.
You can also completely simplify iOS using assistive access, which I think never shows focus. Assistive Access User Guide - Apple Support
What about the F6 overlay function? Is there any way to prevent Focus from turning on when you hit F6 on a modern MBP?
I can turn off Caps Lock using Settings > Keyboard > Keyboard Shortcuts > Modifier Keys, but there is no option in there to turn off Focus Mode on F6. And the Function Keys section is a global toggle so it would affect other stuff I want left the way it is.
Is there any built-in method to just stop F6 from turning on Focus? Every other method to invoke Focus I have successfully turned off, but when I accidentally hit that F6 key (which I do a lot because it’s just under the ampersand that I frequently use), it turns it on. Worse yet, if I’m not paying close attention to the screen while typing, I won’t even notice that I inadvertently just turned on Focus Mode.
@Simon yes there is a way, that worked for me couple of years til macOS 26.2. A LaunchAgent plist file can be written and installed that will change the key mapping. I used it on my M2 MBA to revert F5 and F6 to keyboard brightness, which I use daily, from Microphone and Moon symbol, neither of which I want or use.
Sadly the plist is not working in 26.2 yet and I haven’t found a new one, or if something has changed etc.
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