How to remove the Recommended section of the Start menu in Windows 11

Windows 11 has a completely different interface than Windows 10, especially when it comes to the Start menu. The Windows 11 Start menu has a Recommended section that displays recently downloaded files and installed applications.

Although this section was added to make related content more accessible, some users don't like it because it takes up space in the Start menu and makes sensitive information easier to find. If you are one of those users, here's how to remove the Recommended section from the Start menu on Windows 11.

How to remove the "Recommended" section of the Start menu using Group Policy Editor

Before continuing, note that you can only remove the Recommended section of the Start menu in the Education edition of Windows 11 (SE). If your computer is running Windows 11 Pro or Home, you can only configure files and applications to be hidden from the Recommended section. This section will still appear in the Start menu.

Additionally, here's how to remove the Recommended section from the Start menu in Windows 11 Education edition:

1. Press Win + R to open the Run dialog box.

2. Type gpedit.msc in the search bar and press Enter. This will open the Group Policy Editor.

3. In Group Policy Editor, navigate to the following location:

User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Start Menu and Taskbar

4. Double-click the Remove Recommended section from Start Menu policy on the right.

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5. Select Enabled from the policy editing window that appears.

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6. Click Apply > OK .

Then, restart your computer. When you reboot, you will see that the Recommended section has disappeared from the Start menu.

How to remove the "Recommended" section of the Start menu using Registry Editor

Another quick way to remove the Recommended section is to edit the registry. Here's what you need to do.

1. Open the Run tool, enter regedit in the search bar and press Enter.

2. In Registry Editor, navigate to the following location:

ComputerHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREPoliciesMicrosoftWindows

3. Right-click the Windows key , hover over New and select Key.

4. Name the key Explorer.

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5. Right-click the Explorer key, hover over New and select DWORD (32-bit) Value .

6. Name the value HideRecommendedSection.

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7. Double-click the HideRecommendedSection value on the right.

8. Enter 1 in the Value Data field and click OK. This will remove the Recommended section. To revert the changes, enter 0 in the Value Data field and click OK.

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Then, restart your computer to see the changes.

Remove content from the Recommended section of the Start menu using the Settings app

You can use the Windows Settings app to manage the content displayed in the Recommended section of the Start menu. This can be useful if you only want to display installed applications, recently accessed files, or none of those things.

To remove Recommended content, open the Settings app, select Personalization from the left sidebar, and click Start on the right. In the Start window, you will see 3 toggles - Show recently added apps, Show most used apps and Show recommended files in Start, recent files in File Explorer, and items in Jump Lists.

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You can turn off Show recently added apps if you don't want the Recommended section to display apps you recently installed on your computer. The Show most used apps toggle manages the apps you frequently access on your computer. You can turn off this switch if you don't want those apps to show up in the Recommended section.

You can turn off Show recommended files in Start, recent files in File Explorer, and items in Jump Lists  if you don't want the Recommended section to display files and folders you recently accessed.

Lesley Montoya

Update 20 October 2023