The first advertisements have arrived in Windows 11: this is how you can turn them off

Microsoft announced at the beginning of April that the Start Menu of Windows 11 can be expanded with advertisements and recommendations. They kept their promise.

24.04.2024 – It’s been almost 3 years since Windows 11 was released. At that time, Microsoft cut off many computers from the possibility of updating, since the new system also required SecureBoot and TPM 2.0 functions. This has not changed since then, in fact, it is becoming less and less worthwhile to cheat the system in this way. It may be possible to bypass the installer, but it may backfire later when using applications. Support for Windows 10 is also slowly ending, thanks to which users of older operating systems may encounter more and more advertisements.

These advertisements for now, they only contain in-house promotions that steer users towards version 11. However, this does not mean that Windows 11 is free from such activities. It has been known for a long time that Microsoft is constantly mapping the opportunities where it can smuggle some advertising into various elements of the system. The first chapter of this will begin on April 24, already in the middle of April the Redmond giant drew attention. Looks like they kept their promises.

The first advertisements and recommendations have arrived in the Windows 11 Start menu

Starting from April 24th, after opening the Start Menu, not only the installed applications will thank us. Windows 11 can make offers for various Microsoft Store apps. In the screenshot above, the 1Password application performs this task, but in a real environment the system tries to select based on user habits. So you don’t need to be scared if you see foreign icons, but fortunately the function can be turned off in seconds.

Fortunately, the PCForum revealed in which menu item such advertisements can be eliminated. Users need to go to the Engine Center and find the “Start” section in the “Personalization” menu. After entering the menu item a “Show suggestions for tips, shortcuts, new apps, and more” need a switch to the off state set. After that, in the Windows Start menu, users can only see those applications that have actually been installed on the machine. However, Microsoft has maintained that it can decide to disable these advertisements at any time.

Source: PCForum