Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common and complex arrhythmia that significantly impacts cardiovascular health. Recent advancements in technology have enabled long-term rhythm monitoring, allowing for the quantification of AF burden and its impact on outcomes. This review highlights the relationship between AF burden and clinical outcomes, emphasizing the potential of AF burden reduction as a therapeutic target. Lower AF burden is associated with reduced stroke and heart failure risks in patients with AF. Early rhythm control and AF ablation interventions can reduce cardiovascular events, including stroke and heart failure, by lowering AF burden. Device-detected AF episodes, which are more frequent and less severe than ECG-diagnosed AF, can develop into ECG-diagnosed AF over time. The development of innovative data science tools and continuous rhythm monitoring devices has facilitated broader research on AF burden. Ongoing trials aim to further define the threshold for AF burden that justifies anticoagulation therapy and to evaluate the benefits of AF burden reduction through interventions like AF ablation. The review underscores the need for more research to refine risk prediction and treatment strategies based on AF burden, integrating additional risk modifiers such as genetic information, circulating biomolecules, and imaging data.Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common and complex arrhythmia that significantly impacts cardiovascular health. Recent advancements in technology have enabled long-term rhythm monitoring, allowing for the quantification of AF burden and its impact on outcomes. This review highlights the relationship between AF burden and clinical outcomes, emphasizing the potential of AF burden reduction as a therapeutic target. Lower AF burden is associated with reduced stroke and heart failure risks in patients with AF. Early rhythm control and AF ablation interventions can reduce cardiovascular events, including stroke and heart failure, by lowering AF burden. Device-detected AF episodes, which are more frequent and less severe than ECG-diagnosed AF, can develop into ECG-diagnosed AF over time. The development of innovative data science tools and continuous rhythm monitoring devices has facilitated broader research on AF burden. Ongoing trials aim to further define the threshold for AF burden that justifies anticoagulation therapy and to evaluate the benefits of AF burden reduction through interventions like AF ablation. The review underscores the need for more research to refine risk prediction and treatment strategies based on AF burden, integrating additional risk modifiers such as genetic information, circulating biomolecules, and imaging data.