It all looks nice now, but just wait until Windows starts 'recommending' stuff to you in the start menu. — Photo: Zacharie Scheurer/dpa
BERLIN: In Windows 11, the trusty Start menu features a selection of program shortcuts in the upper section under "Pinned". Additionally, there is a button labelled "All apps" in the top right corner, which allows users to browse through all installed programs.
However, to the annoyance of many users, there's now also a lower section of the Start menu called "Recommended" showing list of random files and recently opened apps. The good news you can remove this somewhat peculiar selection of suggestions.
To do this, right-click in the empty area between "Pinned" and "All app" in the upper section. A context menu with a single entry - "Start settings" - should appear. Select this with a left click to open the settings page for the Start menu.
You should then be able to select "More pins" at the top and then toggle the sliders for the following three entries to the "Off" position:
- "Show recently added apps"
- "Show the most used apps"
- "Show recommended files in Start, recent files in File Explorer and items in Jump Lists"
Afterwards, the "Recommended" section should be empty, and there will also be a bit more space available for program shortcuts. – dpa
