How to Disable Website Recommendations on Windows 11 Start Menu

In newer versions of Windows 11 operating system, the Start Menu shows personalized websites recommendations and suggestions based on user’s browsing history. If you want to disable or remove this new recommended type on Windows 11 Start Menu, this article will help you.

Following screenshot shows a website shortcut is being displayed under recommended section on Windows 11 Start Menu:

Microsoft has added this functionality to recently released Windows 11 2023 Update (version 23H2) and Windows 11 Moment 4 Update (4th feature drop) and many users have already received this feature in their Windows 11 devices. If you haven’t received the new update yet, it’ll be automatically rolled out on your device very soon.

Microsoft first started testing Start Menu website recommendations feature in Windows 11 Insider Preview build 25247 which was released to testers on November 18, 2022. Now the feature is being rolled out to all public Windows 11 devices.

These recommended websites are taken from user’s browsing history. Windows 11 automatically picks visited websites from user’s browsing history and displays the selected website under recommended section on Start Menu. Sometimes the Start Menu might also show common and generally popular websites recommendations based on user’s region.

Windows 11 looks for user’s browsing history in Microsoft Edge (the default and built-in web browser in Windows 11) as well as Google Chrome web browser. Please note that this feature is only enabled for users who opt into sharing browsing data with Microsoft and visit enough websites in both web browsers with continuous import option enabled.

If you don’t like this extra promotion-based feature in your Windows 11 device, following methods will help you in hiding or disabling recommended websites shortcuts from Start Menu:

Remove a Recommended Website Quickly from Windows 11 Start Menu

Microsoft allows users to delete a particular website from recommended section on Start Menu. When a website name or link appears on Start Menu, you can right-click on the website shortcut and select “Remove” option from the context menu, It’ll immediately remove the recommended website from Start Menu and Windows 11 will no longer recommend the same website again on Start Menu.

Disable Websites Recommendations on Start Menu Using Windows 11 Settings

If you want to completely disable websites recommendations feature in your Windows 11 device, you can turn it off using Settings app as described in following steps:

STEP 1. Right-click on empty area in Start Menu and select “Start Settings” option. It’ll open Start Menu personalization page in Settings app.

Alternatively, you can open the same page using Settings app from Start Menu or by pressing WIN+I keys together and then go to “Personalization -> Start” section.

STEP 2. On Start settings page, look for “Show recommendations for tips, shortcuts, new apps, and more” option. To disable and remove unwanted websites recommendations and suggestions on Start Menu, disable this option by setting the toggle button given next to it to OFF.

It’ll immediately turn off all kind of recommendations, tips and suggestions on Windows 11 Start Menu.

Remove Websites Recommendations in Windows 11 Start Menu Using Registry Editor

If you want to disable websites recommendations feature in multiple devices, following Registry tweak will help you in applying the policy to get rid of recommended websites feature from Windows 11 devices:

STEP 1: Press WIN+R keys together to launch RUN dialog box. Now type regedit and press Enter. It’ll open Registry Editor.

STEP 2: Now go to following key:

STEP 3: In right-side pane, right-click on empty area and select New -> DWORD (32-bit) Value option.

STEP 4: Set the new DWORD name as HideRecommendedPersonalizedSites and set its value to 1 to disable website recommendations feature.

Close Registry Editor. You’ll need to restart computer to apply changes.

After restart, you’ll no longer see recommended websites on Start Menu in your Windows 11 device.

PS: In future, if you decide to restore the recommendations feature, delete the above mentioned DWORD from Registry Editor.

Also Check:

[Tip] Remove “Recommended” Section from Windows 11 Start Menu

How to Restore or Enable Old Classic Start Menu in Windows 11 (All Versions)

How to Restore or Enable Classic Taskbar in Windows 11 (All Versions)