I made Home windows 11 completely ad-free by disabling these settings

While you boot up Windows 11 for the primary time, you are greeted with tons of latest options and customization choices. Whether or not it is the redesigned Begin Menu, Microsoft Copilot, Phone Link, Widgets, or Snap Layouts, to call a couple of. Nevertheless, one factor that actually bothers me about Home windows 11 is the variety of advertisements and suggestions that Microsoft sneaks into totally different components of the working system.

Though the advertisements are delicate, they’re noticeable and, for my part, closely detract from the Windows experience. In the event you simply booted up a laptop that price you lots of of {dollars}, not too long ago upgraded to Home windows 11, or paid $140 for Home windows 11 Residence or $200 for Home windows 11 Professional, the very last thing you in all probability wish to see is advertisements being displayed on the working system itself.

Fortuitously, eradicating these advertisements is easy, and you do not have to obtain any sketchy software program from the web to do it, as Microsoft permits you to disable all of them by way of numerous choices buried within the Settings menu. This is how I simply made my Home windows 11 PC ad-free, and the way you are able to do it too.

The primary place I ever observed advertisements on Home windows 11 was the Begin Menu, and since I incessantly use the Begin Menu to open numerous apps on my PC and seek for recordsdata, that is the place I first sought to take away them.

When Home windows 11 first launched, the Begin Menu did not even have this drawback, however again in 2024, with its KB5036980 update, Microsoft determined to start out together with advisable apps from the Microsoft Retailer into the Begin Menu “from a small set of curated builders.”

To eliminate these stealthy app suggestions, you will have to open the Settings menu, which you are able to do by looking for Settings or by urgent Win + I in your keyboard. After you have Settings open, go to Personalization > Begin. Within the listing of choices beneath Begin, you will see one that claims “Present advisable recordsdata in Begin, current recordsdata in File Explorer, and objects in Bounce Lists” and another choice that claims “Present suggestions for suggestions, shortcuts, new apps, and extra.” Toggle each of these off, restart your PC, and your Begin Menu will look quite a bit cleaner and ad-free.

Flip off lock display advertisements

Home windows Highlight is good, but it surely sadly has advertisements

While you flip in your PC, you are greeted with the Home windows 11 lock display, which by default makes use of the Home windows Highlight characteristic. I am truly fairly a fan of this, and I like the way it dynamically adjustments the lock display picture to totally different components of the world. It makes the expertise of utilizing Home windows really feel totally different each time you boot up your PC, and also you may even uncover one thing new concerning the world when you’re doing it.

Nevertheless, not all good issues are excellent, as Microsoft has built-in advertisements and suggestions into the Home windows 11 lock display with Home windows Highlight. The one approach to take away them is to, sadly, disable the Home windows Highlight characteristic and choose your individual background picture.

To do that, head to Settings > Personalization > Lock display. From there, you will have to vary the “Personalize your lock display” possibility from “Home windows Highlight” to both your individual image or a slideshow. As soon as you have finished that, you will see an choice to toggle off “Get enjoyable details, suggestions, methods, and extra in your lock display,” which is able to successfully make your lock display ad-free.

Clear advertisements out of Home windows Search and File Explorer

You should not should see advertisements when organizing recordsdata

Microsoft additionally has advertisements hiding in Home windows Search and File Explorer, and whereas they’re delicate, they’re nonetheless a nuisance and never one thing I wish to see whereas looking for and organizing recordsdata.

To cover advertisements in Home windows Search, open Settings once more and go to Privateness & safety > Search. Within the listing of choices, you will discover one referred to as “Present search highlights,” which provides “content material strategies” to Home windows Search, which is only a fancy approach of claiming its sharing advertisements. Toggle off “Present search highlights,” and your Home windows Search expertise will probably be far more seamless and ad-free.

Shifting on to File Explorer, I have never personally seen advertisements or suggestions displayed in mine, however some users have reported encountering them. To take away these advertisements, open File Explorer and click on the ellipsis icon (the three dots) close to the highest of the menu, to the best of the Kind and View. From there, within the menu that pops up, click on Choices. A brand new menu referred to as Folder Choices will seem. Change to the “View tab” in that menu, scroll down, and toggle off the “Present sync supplier notifications” possibility. Then click on “Apply” and “OK” to avoid wasting your adjustments.

Even the place the place you flip off advertisements has advertisements

Satirically, Microsoft additionally exhibits advertisements within the very place you go to show them off: the Settings menu. As soon as once more, these advertisements are delicate and sometimes characteristic product suggestions and provides, and you may in all probability see them on the high of various pages within the Settings app.

To forestall advertisements from exhibiting up in your Home windows Settings menu, open the Settings app and navigate to Privateness & Safety > Suggestions provides. On that web page, you will discover an possibility referred to as “Suggestions and provides in Settings” that you’re going to wish to flip off. It will cease advertisements or promotions from showing in your Settings menu.

Moreover, in that very same menu (Suggestions & provides), you may disable “Promoting ID,” which blocks third-party apps from exhibiting you personalised advertisements primarily based in your Home windows Exercise. Another choice that’s undoubtedly price disabling is “Customized provides,” which exhibits you personalised suggestions, advertisements, and suggestions.

Flip off suggestions and strategies from Home windows

In the event you’re already skilled with Home windows, its suggestions are pointless

Lastly, apart from Microsoft pushing advertisements into the Home windows 11 expertise, it has additionally added many suggestions and strategies. In the event you’re new to Home windows 11, these can genuinely be useful, however in case you’re an skilled Home windows consumer who simply received a brand new PC or carried out a recent set up of Home windows, the flood of suggestions that Microsoft sends can rapidly turn out to be annoying, identical to the advertisements might be.

To cease receiving suggestions and strategies from Home windows, go to Settings > System > Notifications, and scroll all the way down to the underside of the web page the place you will discover “Extra Settings.” Click on that, and you may see three totally different choices seem. I like to recommend toggling off “Recommend methods to get essentially the most out of Home windows and ending settings up this gadget” and “Get suggestions and strategies when utilizing Home windows.” I have been utilizing Home windows 11 for years, but sporadically, I nonetheless get a “End organising Home windows 11” pop-up, which might be fairly annoying since I accomplished that course of about two years in the past. Disabling these choices will stop that.

Moreover, there’s one final possibility you may disable referred to as “Present the Home windows welcome expertise after updates and when signed in to indicate what’s new and instructed.” If you wish to keep knowledgeable concerning the newest options added to Home windows 11 after an replace, it is in all probability price protecting this on. Nevertheless, in case you do not care or already know what Home windows is including, toggling this off is one other helpful approach to declutter your Home windows expertise.