How to hide Recommended items in Windows 11's Start Menu

Microsoft's upcoming Windows 11 operating system changes the Start menu drastically in some areas, but keeps other features as they have been in previous versions of Windows.

If you take a look at the Windows 11 Start Menu, you see a list of apps and links displayed at the top. Some of these are pinned, others are added automatically by Windows 11.

Below that is the Recommended section. It displays recently added apps and recently opened files, but may also be used by Microsoft to display recommendations to the user.

In fact, on a brand new Windows 11 system, you may see the "Get Started" recommendation in the section.

Some Windows users may find these recommendations useful, others don't.  Just like on Windows 10, it is possible to disable the Recommended section on Windows 11 to hide the section in the Start Menu.

Microsoft kept the options in the Settings application under Personalization. On Windows 10, you find the options under Settings > Personalization > Start.

There you may disable the following content:

• Show recently added apps.
• Show the most used apps.
• Show suggestions occasionally in Start.
• Show recently opened items in Jump Lists on Start or the taskbar and in the File Explorer Quick Access.

Disable Recommended items in the Start Menu

1. Select Start > Settings > Personalization.
2. Look for Show recently added apps and turn it off.
3. Look for Show most used apps and set it to off.
4. Look for Show recently opened items in Start Jump List and File Explorer and turn it off.

Changes take effect immediately. Just open Start, while Settings remains open, to test the change. Note that Recommended is still displayed, but you should not see any content anymore under the section once you have made the change. Unfortunately, there is no option to hide the section entirely to use it for something else.

You may disable some of the options only, e.g. if you are interested in getting a list of recently installed applications, then you may keep that option enabled while disabling the other options.

Just toggle the preferences again if you want to restore one or all of the listings in the Start Menu.

Closing Words

The Windows 11 start menu lacks customization options, even more so than the Windows 10 Start Menu. Some users may use the recommended section actively, others, who may not use it at all, are stuck with it nevertheless. While it is possible to hide the items of the section, it is not possible to hide it entirely to make room for more apps or links in the Start Menu.

How to hide Recommended items in Windows 11's Start Menu