In fact, and taking into consideration that we are talking about software for which we pay a license, it should be free of this type of unwanted advertising. It would be another thing if we were talking about free software that somehow has to be made profitable. But that is not exactly the case with Windows. Over the years we have encountered various movements and strategies that come from Microsoft and that show different advertising messages in various sections of the operating system itself.
With all this, what the software giant intends is to publicize different services and programs, both its own and third-party ones, in case we want to try them. Likewise, it shows pop-up messages about recommendations and tips for using some of its platforms. This is something that directly affects various sections of Windows such as the Settings application, the lock screen or the start menu.
Advertising reaches the start menu
Here we are going to focus on the last section mentioned, the start menu that many of us access daily to run installed programs. Hence, the appearance of certain icons and texts in the form of recommendations and advertisements can become a major annoyance for most.
Initially, the software giant began testing these ads among Windows insiders. After several weeks of testing and seeing that everything worked correctly, these advertising icons finally reached the final version of Windows 11. When displaying the aforementioned start menu of the operating system, here we find different suggestions in the form of advertising for us to use programs from the official store.
The striking thing is that here they are not only published application recommendations Microsoft’s own, but we also find third-party software solutions. There is no doubt that this can become a major annoyance for many users of the latest Windows. More so if we take into account, as we mentioned before, that we are faced with an operating system for which we have to pay. That is why below I am going to explain how I eliminated these annoying pop-up advertising messages, hopefully forever.
How I got rid of Windows 11 ads
Fortunately, Microsoft itself offers us a solution to get rid of these annoying ads and program recommendations, as I am going to show you. So we return to have a clean start menu just with the shortcuts to the applications that we have installed of our own free will. This is a function that we find in the Settings application of the operating system itself. For example, we can access it using the Win + I key combination.
Once the corresponding window appears on the screen, we opt for the entry called Personalization in the left panel of the same. Here we are going to find several options corresponding to different sections of Windows 11. The one that interests us in this case is the one called Start. In the window that appears we will find a new option that says Show advice recommendations, application promotions and more.
Basically, this means that we will only have to deactivate the selector itself so that these advertisements do not appear again in the Windows 11 start menu.
What will happen to this Windows feature in the future
Furthermore, the change is made immediately and becomes effective for subsequent sessions with the operating system. At the same time, it is a function that, for whatever reason, we can activate in the future if we want to take advantage of it.
What we still don’t know is whether this deactivation feature that we have shown you will still be in effect in the Settings application later. Microsoft is committed to offer us recommendations and suggestions of all kinds referring to services and programs, both our own and third-party programs in Windows 11. Therefore, at first it may not seem too coherent that it allows us to deactivate all of this if we wish.
It is for this reason that perhaps in the future remove this selector and forces us to view these advertising messages, whether we want it or not.