The Windows 11 Start menu automatically displays recently opened or added files and apps as recommended items.
This is convenient because you can easily access frequently used files and apps, but many people want to hide it because the Start menu display is cluttered.
This article will explain how to hide recommended items in Windows 11 Start Menu.
Method 1: Hide recommendations in Start Menu settings
Recommended items in the Start Menu can be hidden by changing the Start Menu settings in your settings.
However, keep in mind that if you change the settings this way, the taskbar icon in the explorer or browser will no longer display the jump list for recently opened items.
To change the Start Menu settings to hide recommended items, follow the steps below.
- Right-click on “Windows Mark” and select “Settings“.
- Click Personalize in the left pane.
- Click Start in the right pane.
- Toggle the “Show recently opened items in Start, Jump List, File Explorer” switch in the right pane to “Off“.
- If you also want to hide the apps, switch to “Show recently added apps” to “Off“.
If you can change the Start Menu settings, open the Start Menu and ensure that the recommended items are no longer displayed.
Method 2: Change the layout in the Start Menu settings
You can also reduce the number of recommended items displayed in the Start menu by changing the Start menu layout to reduce the recommended area.
Therefore, if you see too many recommended items in the Start menu, consider reducing the number displayed. Follow the steps below to change the layout in the Start Menu settings and reduce the recommended area.
- Right-click on “Windows Mark” and select “Settings“.
- Click Personalize in the left pane.
- Click Start in the right pane.
Select Other Pins in the layout in the right pane. Note: Layout settings will not be displayed unless Windows 11 is 22H2 or later.
After changing the settings, display the Start menu and check that the area of ​​recommended items has been reduced to one line.
Method 3: Delete individual Start Menu recommendations
Recommended items in the Start menu can be individually selected and manually deleted.
If you want to hide only some recommended items, delete them individually. To delete individual Start Menu recommendations, follow the steps below.
- Click “Windows Mark” to display the Start menu.
Right-click “Items you want to delete” in the recommended item list. Suppose you want to remove the oldest recommended item, tap “Other” to the right of the recommended item to find the item.
- Select Remove from List.
You can delete the recommended items in the Start menu with the above procedure.
Method 4: Use a third-party utility
You can also use a third-party utility, ExplorerPatcher, to hide recommended items in the Start menu.
Explorer Patcher is a freeware that allows you to customize the GUI environment of Windows 11. Follow the steps below to use ExplorerPatcher to hide the recommended Start Menu items.
- Go to the “valinet / ExplorerPatcher –GitHub” page and click on the “setup program” link in How to.
- Right-click the downloaded “ep_setup.exe” and select “Run as administrator“.
- Click Yes when User Account Control appears and the utility will be installed automatically.
- Right-click on an empty area on the taskbar and select Properties.
- Click Start menu in the left pane.
- Click the Disable “Recommended” section in the right pane to enable it (checkmark).
With the above steps, you can use Explorer Patcher to hide the recommended items in the Start menu.
If you want to stop using ExplorerPatcher, you can uninstall it by right-clicking on “Windows Mark”, selecting “Apps and Features”, and selecting “ExplorerPatcher”.
Method 5: Disable Recommendations in Group Policy
For Windows 11 Pro edition and above, you can change the Group Policy settings to hide the recommended items in the Start menu.
Please note that Group Policy settings cannot be changed in Window11 Home editions.
Follow the procedure below to change the Group Policy settings to hide the recommended items in the Start menu.
- Right-click on Windows Mark and select Run.
- Enter gpedit.msc as the name and click OK.
When the Group Policy Editor opens, expand the tree in the left pane in the following order and select Taskbar and Start Menu.”User Configuration” >> “Administrative Templates” >> “Taskbar and Start Menu“
- Double-click “Delete Recent Files from the Start Menu” in the right pane to open it.
Select the Enabled option and click OK.NOTE: Select the “Not configured” option to restore the settings.
- Restart your PC for the policy settings to take effect.
After changing the Group Policy settings and restarting your PC, ensure that the recommended items in the Start menu are no longer displayed.
Method 6: Disable recommendations in the registry
You can also edit the Windows registry to hide the recommended items in the Start menu.
However, it is recommended that you make a backup, as misediting the registry can cause problems with Windows operation.
Follow the steps below to edit the registry and hide the recommended items in the Start menu.
- Right-click on Windows Mark and select Run.
- Enter “regedit” as the name and click “OK”.
- Expand the tree in the left pane when the Registry Editor starts to access the following keys.
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer
- Right-click the Explorer key and select Export to save a backup of the registry.
- Right-click the Explorer key and select New → DWORD (32-bit) Value.
- Rename the value added to the right pane to “HideRecommendedSection”.
Double-click “Hide Recommended Section” to open it, change the value data to “1” and click “OK“.Note: If you delete the value data to 0 or the key itself, it will return to the original setting.
Restart your PC to reflect the registry.
After changing the Group Policy settings and restarting your PC, open the Start menu and check that the recommended items are no longer displayed.
