The Recommended section of the Windows 11 Start menu displays recently installed apps and recently accessed files. However, many users are not happy with the Recommended section of the Start menu and want to get rid of it.
Until now, Windows 11 did not offer an option to remove the Recommended section from the Start menu. A built-in option exists to stop showing recent files in the Recommended section, but the section remains vacant and still uses valuable space. We had to use third-party tools to completely remove the Recommended section from the Windows 11 Start menu.
Luckily, the new redesigned Windows 11 Start menu allows users to completely remove the Recommended section from the Start menu. That is, not just recent files, but even the Recommended text is also removed. However, the option comes with a caveat. When you turn off the Recommended section in the Start menu, it also turns off recent files in the File Explorer Home and jump list items (taskbar right-click items).
So, if you often use the File Explorer Home to access recently opened files, turning off the Start menu Recommended section does not make sense.
Here is how to remove Recommended section from Windows 11 Start menu.
Remove the Recommended section from Windows 11 new Start menu
NOTE: You cannot remove the Recommended section of the Start menu if using the old Start menu. This method works only with the new Start menu.
Step 1: Open the Windows 11 Settings app by using the Windows logo + I keyboard shortcut or the search.
Step 2: In the left pane of the Settings app, click Personalization.
Step 3: Now, on the right side, click Start to see Start menu settings.
Step 4: Here, turn off the ‘Show recommended files in Start, recent files in File Explorer, and items in Jump lists’ option to remove the Recommended section from the Start menu immediately. You do not need to restart the File Explorer or reboot your PC to apply the change.
When the Recommended section is turned off, the new Start menu displays installed apps in that space (refer to the picture above).
Should I turn off the Recommended section of the Start menu in Windows 11?
As said before, removing the Recommended section of the Start menu also removes the recent files feature of the File Explorer Home. If you do not mind losing the feature, you can go ahead and turn off the Start menu Recommended section.
How to remove the Recommended files from the File Explorer in Windows 11 guide might also interest you.
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