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Remove Recommended in Windows 11: How to Do It the Easy Way

Prevent recently accessed files from showing up on your Start menu

3 min. read

Updated onOctober 4, 2023

updated onOctober 4, 2023

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Windows 11 has been a massive upgrade over the previous iteration and offers aplethora of changes, both in terms of UI and features. TheRecommendedfiles section in Windows 11 Start Menu is one that has been bothering many, and users are looking for ways to remove it.

TheStart Menufeatures two parts: thePinnedappsat the top, and theRecommendedsection, which lists the apps and files opened recently.

The only problem is that some users aren’t interested in constantly seeing the files, documents, or installed apps, and this section can even get annoying. So, let’s find out how to remove theRecommendedsection in theStart Menuon Windows 11.

How do I turn off the Recommended list on Windows 11?

1. Disable the recently opened items in Start, Jump Lists, and File Explorer

You can easily turn off app recommendations in Windows 11 via Settings. This is by far the easiest and quickest method.

1.Open theStartmenu, and choose theSettingsapp.

2.On the sidebar at the left, choose thePersonalizationsection.

  1. Scroll down and selectStart.

4.Turn off theShow recently opened items in Start, Jump Lists, and File Exploreroption.

5.This will make recently opened files or documents disappear from the recommendations section.

6.You can even go a step further and hide even the recently installed apps from the Start Menu. All you need to do is turn off theShow recently added appsoption from the previous menu.

2. Modify the policies

You can remove Recommended in Windows 11 with GPO, but the policy works only for theWindows 11 SEedition. So, those using Home, Pro, or other editions can’t use it.

Also, for those wondering how do I hide the Recommended Start Menu in Windows 11 Registry, the DWORD for Windows 11 recommended start menu corresponds to the policy only. And since it’s available for the SE edition, the Registry method might not work either.

If, after these two methods, the changes don’t reflect right away and the apps opened previously still appear as recommendations, you can fix that by manually removing recommended items one by one.

Also, for users who are only bothered by certain files they don’t want to be displayed in the Recommended section, there’s a really quick fix for them too.

Though, remember, there’s no way to remove theRecommendedsection altogether but just the apps and files listed under it. If and when such an option or setting is available, we will update the article to include the steps for it.

Also, if you’re curious aboutWindows 10 compared to Windows 11, it’s worth checking out our comprehensive guide to visualize the differences.

For more suggestions or other questions, feel free to leave a message in the comments section below.

More about the topics:files,Windows 11

Vladimir Popescu

Being an artist his entire life while also playing handball at a professional level, Vladimir has also developed a passion for all things computer-related.

With an innate fascination for research and analysis, and realizing many other people share his passion for this subject, he delved into writing Windows-related articles, so other people can also benefit from the acquired information.

When not writing kick-ass articles, Vladimir likes to spend his time doing Crossfit and creating art.

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