diff --git a/circle.yml b/circle.yml
index fddb4eada2..7fdc97a97d 100644
--- a/circle.yml
+++ b/circle.yml
@@ -58,16 +58,16 @@ linuxWorkflowExcludeFilters: &linux-x64-workflow-exclude-filters
     - false
     # - equal: [ 'tgriesser/chore/fix-windows-build', << pipeline.git.branch >> ]
 
-# windows is slow in CI, so we only run a certain set of tests on each commit
+# windows is slow and expensive in CI, so it normally only runs on main branches
 # add your branch to this list to run the full Windows build on your PR
-fullWindowsWorkflowFilters: &full-windows-workflow-filters
-  filters:
-    branches:
-      only:
-      - develop
-      - 'linux-arm64'
-      - '*-release'
-      - 'win*'
+windowsWorkflowFilters: &windows-workflow-filters
+  when:
+    or:
+    - equal: [ develop, << pipeline.git.branch >> ]
+    - equal: [ linux-arm64, << pipeline.git.branch >> ]
+    - matches:
+          pattern: "-release$"
+          value: << pipeline.git.branch >>
 
 executors:
   # the Docker image with Cypress dependencies and Chrome browser
@@ -2671,14 +2671,12 @@ windows-workflow: &windows-workflow
           - windows-build
 
     - lint:
-        <<: *full-windows-workflow-filters
         name: windows-lint
         executor: windows
         requires:
           - windows-build
 
     - unit-tests:
-        <<: *full-windows-workflow-filters
         name: windows-unit-tests
         executor: windows
         resource_class: windows.large
@@ -2686,7 +2684,6 @@ windows-workflow: &windows-workflow
           - windows-build
 
     - create-build-artifacts:
-        <<: *full-windows-workflow-filters
         name: windows-create-build-artifacts
         executor: windows
         resource_class: windows.large
@@ -2717,3 +2714,4 @@ workflows:
     <<: *darwin-workflow-filters
   windows:
     <<: *windows-workflow
+    <<: *windows-workflow-filters