If you have started seeing advertisements in the Recommended sections of your Windows 11 Start menu, you might be wondering how to get rid of them. This article will provide a detailed explanation of the context behind these ads and provide step-by-step instructions for permanently removing them.
Understanding Ads in Windows 11 Start Menu
Microsoft includes ads in the Windows 11 Start menu as a way to promote apps and services to users. These ads can appear in the Recommended section of the Start menu, which is located at the bottom of the menu and displays a list of apps and websites that Microsoft thinks you might find useful or interesting. While some users may find these ads useful, others may find them annoying or intrusive.
How to Remove Ads from the Recommended Section
To remove ads from the Recommended section of the Windows 11 Start menu, you can follow these steps:
- Right-click on an ad and select
"Remove from list". - Repeat the above step for all the ads that you want to remove.
However, it's important to note that this only hides the ads temporarily. They may reappear after some time. To permanently remove ads, you need to follow the steps below.
Permanently Removing Ads from the Recommended Section
To permanently remove ads from the Recommended section of the Windows 11 Start menu, you can follow these steps:
- Press the
"Windows key + I"to open the Settings app. - In the Settings app, select
"Privacy & security"from the left-hand menu. - Scroll down to the
"Windows permission settings"section and select"Diagnostics & feedback". - Under the
"Diagnostic data"section, select"Optional diagnostic data". - Toggle off the switch for
"Improve Recommended apps".
This will disable the collection of data that Microsoft uses to provide personalized recommendations and ads in the Start menu. Once you have disabled this setting, the ads should no longer appear in the Recommended section. However, it's important to note that disabling this setting may affect the relevance of other features in Windows 11, such as the Suggested content in the Microsoft Edge browser and the recommendations in the Microsoft Store.
- Ads in the Windows 11 Start menu can be removed temporarily by right-clicking on them and selecting
"Remove from list". - To permanently remove ads, you need to disable the
"Improve Recommended apps"setting in the Diagnostics & feedback section of the Privacy & security settings in the Settings app. - Disabling this setting may affect the relevance of other features in Windows 11.