From the moment Windows 11 was launched back in 2021, Microsoft has continually explored avenues to incorporate advertisements within the widely used PC operating system. The most recent development in this part involves the integration of ads directly into the Start menu. As highlighted in the release notes of the KB5036980 update, Windows 11 users will now have to deal with “Recommendations” for apps sourced that are from the Microsoft Store within their Start menu interface.
As per the statement of Microsoft within the release notes, these app recommendations are sourced from a specially curated selection of developers. Microsoft believes that this new recommendation feature will assist users in discovering decent apps available through the Microsoft Store.
Notably, Microsoft had recently tested the concept of featuring ads within the Start menu just around two weeks back. The relatively swift transition of this feature from the testing phase to the Stable release, moving from the Beta channel, has caught the attention of many observers. For the people who prefer not to have Microsoft’s app recommendations visible in their faces when they open the Start menu, here is a quick guide with which you can learn how to disable this feature within a minute.
How To Disable Ads In Windows 11 Start Menu
- Open the Start Menu and search and launch the ‘Settings’ app.
- Click on ‘Personalization’ and tap on ‘Start’ from the left pane.
- Turn off the ‘Show recommendations for tips, app promotions, and more.’
Notably, this method currently prevents ads from popping up which arguably is one of the most frequently used features on Windows-powered PCs, Microsoft may remove the toggle in the future versions of Windows 11.