How To Remove Recommended Section From Start Menu In Windows 11?

The all-new Start menu is one of the first things that you notice upon upgrading to Windows 11. The new Start menu gets back the search bar and gets rid of the live tiles.

The Start menu has a section called Recommended, which displays recently opened files and newly installed apps. While the number of recently viewed files and installed apps vary depending on the screen size, many users find it helpful to quickly view recently opened files without opening the File Explorer Quick Access.

That said, there are users who do not want to show recently viewed files and newly installed apps on the Start menu. Although Windows 11 does provide an option not to show anything in the Recommended section, there is no option to hide the “Recommended” text. Luckily, there is a third-party tool out there to help users completely remove the Recommended section from the Windows 11 Start menu. Here is how to use it to hide and remove Recommended section from the Start menu.

Completely remove Recommended section from Start menu in Windows 11

Step 1: Visit this page of GitHub and download the ExplorerPatcher software. Edge and other browsers might warn you against downloading this new software but it’s safe.

Step 2: Next, run the downloaded ExplorerPatcher to install the same. You will not see any setup screen. The taskbar and Start menu might disappear for a few seconds.

Step 3: Once installed, the taskbar and Start might look like the one in Windows 10 or might look different from the default. Worry not. You need to change a couple of settings. To do that, perform a right-click on the taskbar and then click Properties (refer to the picture below) to open TaskbarPatcher Properties dialog.

Step 4: Here, in the left pane, select Taskbar. On the right side, ensure Windows 11 style taskbar is selected.

Step 5: Next, click the Start menu on the left pane. On the right side, select the Disable the “Recommended” option. On the same page, change the maximum number of frequent apps to show on the Start menu to “Unlimited” (refer to the picture below) if you wish to see only apps on the Start menu.

Step 6: Finally, click on the Restart File Explorer link (located bottom left) to restart the Windows Explorer. That’s it! The Start menu will not show the Recommended section from now on. You can now pin as many apps you want to the Start menu.

Hide apps and files from the Recommended section of the Start menu in Windows 11

Step 1: Open the Settings app either using the search or Windows logo + I keyboard shortcut.

Step 2: In the left pane of the Settings app, you will see a list of categories. Click on Personalization.

Step 3: On the right side, click on Start to see Start menu settings.

Step 4: Finally, turn off Show recently added apps and Show recently opened items in Start, Jump Lists, and File Explorer options.

As you might have noticed, when you configure Windows 11 not to show recently opened files in the Start menu, it will not show them in the File Explorer Quick Access as well.

When the Show recently added apps and Show recently opened items in Start, Jump Lists, and File Explorer options are turned off, recent files and new apps do not appear in the Recommended section. However, the Recommended section continues to appear (but does not display anything). If you wish to remove the Recommended text along with the section, please use the ExplorerPatcher software mentioned above.