How to remove Start’s Recommended section on Windows 11

Windows 11 lets you remove or disable the Start menu recommendations, depending on your version of the operating system.

Avatar for Mauro Huculak
@Pureinfotech
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Start menu without Recommended items

Windows 11 22H2 includes new settings for the Start menu to control the number of items in the “Recommended” section, but you won’t find an option to remove the feature. However, version 22H2 introduces a policy for administrators to disable the “Recommended” section through the “User Configuration” settings in the Group Policy Editor.

The only caveat about this policy is that it’s only available for the education version of Windows 11 (SE). If you have Windows 11 Pro or Home, you can disable the ability for the system to show recommendations for files and apps, but the section will continue to be available.

In this guide, you will learn the steps to completely hide the “Recommended” section from the Start menu on Windows 11.

To remove the Start menu Recommended section, use these steps:

  1. Open Start.

  2. Search for gpedit and click the top result to open the Group Policy Editor.

  3. Browse the following path:

    User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Start Menu and Taskbar

  4. Right-click the “Remove Recommended section from Start Menu” policy and select the Edit option.

    Remove Recommended section from Start Menu

  5. Select the Enabled option.

    Gpedit remove recommended

  6. Click the Apply button.

  7. Click the OK button.

  8. Restart the computer.

Once you complete the steps, the “Recommended” section should no longer be available in the Start menu.

You can always revert the changes by following the same steps, but in step 5, change the setting to “Not Configured.”

Since you cannot remove the section on Windows 11 Pro and Home, you can disable the ability to recommend content and minimize the footprint of the interface.

To prevent Start from showing recommendations of files and apps on Windows 11, use these steps:

  1. Open Settings.

  2. Click on Personalization.

  3. Click the Start tab.

  4. Turn off the “Show recently added apps” toggle switch.

  5. Turn off the “Show recently opened items in Start, Jump Lists, and File Explorer” toggle switch.

    Start disable recommendations

  6. (Optional) Select the More pins option to change the layout to show an extra row of pins.

Once you complete the steps, the Start menu will no longer show recommendations and will show an extra row of pins.

If you want to remove a specific item from Start, you only need to right-click the item and select the “Remove from list” option.

About the author
Avatar for Mauro Huculak

Mauro Huculak is a Windows How-To Expert who started Pureinfotech in 2010 as an independent online publication. He has also been a Windows Central contributor for nearly a decade. Mauro has over 14 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows and software, including Android and Linux. Before becoming a technology writer, he was an IT administrator for seven years. In total, Mauro has over 20 years of combined experience in technology. Throughout his career, he achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft (MSCA), Cisco (CCNP), VMware (VCP), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+), and he has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years. You can follow him on X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn and About.me. Email him at [email protected].