How to Remove Start Menu Recommendations on Windows 11?

The Recommended section in Windows 11 displays the files, apps, and folders that users have recently used or opened. But many users have complained that the feature often raises privacy concerns. Anyone who opens the Start menu can see the user’s most recent files, applications, and folders. At the same time, the recommendation in Windows 11 takes up the space of the original pinned application. This article introduces how to remove Recommendations from the Windows 11 Start menu.

2 Ways to Remove Recommendation from Windows 11 Start menu

Avoid recently used or opened files, applications and folders from being seen by others by disabling recommendation and removing recommendation sections. Next, this article will explain how to disable Windows 11 recommendations and remove the Windows 11 recommendations sections respectively.

Disable Recommendation

Method 1: Use the Settings app

Step 1: Press Windows + i and click Personalize.

Step 2: Click Start.

Step 3: Turn off the following items.

• Show recently added apps
• Show most used apps
• Show recently opened items in Start, Jump List, and File Explorer

Step 4: Close the Settings app and press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to launch Task Manager. Click and select Windows Explorer.

Step 5: Click Restart task.

Windows Explorer will now be restarted on your system and recommendation should now be disabled in the Start menu.

Method 2: Use the Group Policy Editor

You can also disable recommendation in the Start menu using the Group Policy Editor. This is the recommended method if you are running Windows 11 SE.

Step 1: Press Windows + R to launch the run.

Step 2: Type gpedit.msc and press Enter.

Step 3: Go to User Configuration, then Administrative Templates, then Start Menu and Taskbar

Step 4: Now double click to remove the Recommended section from the start menu.

Step 5: Click and select Enable.

Step 6: Click OK.

Step 7: Close the Group Policy Editor and press Windows + R to start running again.

Step 8: Type cmd and then press Ctrl + Shift + Enter on your keyboard.

Step 9: Execute the command gpupdate /force to force update the Group Policy on the system.

Step 10: After the update, execute the command exit to close CMD.

Delete Recommendation

Method 1 Delete individual recommendation

Step 1: Launch the Start menu and right-click the item you want to remove from recommendations.

Step 2: Select Remove from the list.

The selected item will now be removed from the Recommended section.

Method 2 Remove Recommended section completely

Step 1: Click and download the latest version of the ep_setup.exe file.

Step 2: Double click after downloading and run the same. Wait a few seconds and Windows Explorer will restart several times during the process.

Step 3: Once done, you should have a new taskbar and start menu on your system. Right-click Step 4: Click on the taskbar and select Properties.

Step 5: Click the Start menu.

Step 6: Check the box for the Disable Recommendations section.

Step 7: You can now go ahead and customize other elements of the Start menu and taskbar as needed. When done, click Restart File Explorer(*).

Step 8: The Recommended section will now be removed from the start menu.

that’s all about the ways to remove recommendation section from Windows 11 start menu. If you are worry about the privacy, you can disable or remove your recommendation section from your taskbar.