How to Disable Windows 11 Start Menu Ads

After only two weeks of beta testing under its ‘Windows Insider Program,’ Microsoft has enabled ads on Windows 11’s Start Menu for all users. If you have already updated your Windows 11 version to KB5036980, chances are you have already seen an ad or two in your Start Menu.

So, if you don’t want ads lingering there, keep reading. This guide will teach you how to disable Windows 11 Start Menu ads step-by-step.

Where Are The Ads Located?

Before getting into specifics on disabling Windows 11 Start Menu ads, you must know where to look for them to ensure they are disabled once you have finished reading this guide.

The Windows 11 Start Menu ads are located inside the Start Menu, the panel that opens up when you click the ‘Windows’ icon on your taskbar.

Then, once the panel is open, you should see the ads posing as a program installed on your computer under the Recommended section of the Start Menu.

Credit: Microsoft

Now that you know where to see the ads in your Start Menu, let’s discuss disabling them step-by-step.

Step-by-Step Guide on Disabling Windows 11 Start Menu Ads

You can open your Start Menu by pressing the ‘Windows’ icon on your keyboard or clicking it on your taskbar.

Search for the ‘Settings’ program.

Head into the ‘Personalisation’ section of the ‘Settings’ program.

Then, go to the ‘Start’ section and turn off the “Show recommendations for tips, app promotions, and more” setting. This setting disables ads in your Start Menu. If you want to declutter your Start Menu even more, you can also turn off the other toggles alongside the “show recommendations” one.

Now, go back to your Start Menu and check if you still have ads or, as Microsoft calls them, “app recommendations.” These ads or app recommendations should be gone by now.

• If ads are still present, do not hesitate to restart your PC. You can also close “explorer.exe/Windows Explorer” in Task Manager, which will refresh the Windows UI (Taskbar and Start Menu included) for any updates you may have.

Will The Ads Come Back In Future Windows 11 Updates?

For the past months (or years, if you count the infamous ad-filled Start Menu tiles of Windows 8 and 10), Microsoft has been testing how many ads its users can tolerate under normal circumstances.

In case you missed it, they already tested putting ads inside Windows 11’s File Explorer in 2022. As expected, it was not met with positive feedback, as users thought it was “too much” and “invasive.”

However, during these past weeks, they have been sneakily putting ads on Windows 11 again, as evident with the Windows 11 KB5036980 update. For now, the best we can do is disable them in the Start Menu and hope they do not return in File Explorer, Start Menu, or anywhere else on Windows.

Have you seen ads on your Windows 11 recently? If so, please let us know if you’ve successfully disabled them!