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

If you want to completely remove the “Recommended apps and files” section from the bottom of Windows 11 Start Menu, this article will help you.

Windows 11 comes with a redesigned Start Menu which shows Recommended section at the bottom of Pinned program shortcuts as shown in following screenshot:

The Recommended section contains 6 items which are taken from recently used apps and files. Windows 11 allows users to disable the recently added apps and most used apps shortcuts in Start Menu using Settings app (More details) but it doesn’t remove the Recommended section. It just empties the section and we get a large blank area at the bottom of the Start Menu.

There are many Windows 11 users who want to get rid of the Recommended section from Start Menu so that they can access more pinned items directly from the Start Menu.

In this article, we are going to share a simple trick to completely disable and remove the Recommended section from Windows 11 Start Menu. Following screenshot shows Recommended section removed from the Start Menu in our Windows 11 device:

If you also want to remove Recommended apps and files section from Windows 11 Start Menu, following steps will help you:

New Method to Reduce Recommendations on Windows 11 Start Menu

1. Open Start Menu and right-click on empty area and select “Start Settings” option. It’ll open Start Menu settings page.

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.

2. On Start Menu settings page, you’ll see new Layout options to show more pinned items or recommended items on Start Menu as shown in following screenshot:

Select “More Pins” option and it’ll minimize recommended items number to two on Start Menu.

In future, if you decide to restore more recommended items on Start Menu, select “Default” option on Layout.

Completely Remove Recommended Items from Windows 11 Start Menu

If you want to completely disable and remove all recommended items from Start Menu in your Windows 11 device, following steps will help you:

STEP 1: Download and Install Explorer Patcher Software

We’ll take help of a freeware called “Explorer Patcher” developed by valinet to remove Recommended section from Start Menu.

Download Explorer Patcher from following link:

Download ExplorerPatcher for Windows 11

STEP 2: Open Explorer Patcher Properties

After downloading the tool, install it and it’ll restart the Explorer.

Now right-click on the Taskbar and you’ll see some extra classic options added to the Taskbar such as Task Manager, cascade windows, Show desktop, etc. Click on Properties option in the context menu. It’ll open ExplorerPatcher settings window.

Alternatively, you can also open ExplorerPatcher properties using Start Menu -> All Apps -> Properties (ExplorerPatcher) option.

STEP 3: Disable Start Menu Recommended Items List

Now go to Start Menu tab in ExplorerPatcher properties and enable “Disable the Recommended section” option.

That’s it. It’ll immediately remove the Recommended section from Windows 11 Start Menu.

In future, if you decide to restore the Recommended section in Start Menu, disable the above mentioned option again.

Also Check:

[Tip] Restore Windows 10 Classic Taskbar in Windows 11 along with Classic Start Menu

[Tip] Restore Old Classic Start Menu in Windows 11

[Tip] Move Start Button, Start Menu and Taskbar to Left in Windows 11