How to quickly disable ads in Windows 11’s Start Menu

Windows 11 has introduced a feature that has been met with mixed reactions: ads in the Start menu. These ads, ranging from suggestions for Microsoft products to third-party applications, can disrupt the user experience for many.

Fortunately, Microsoft provides several ways to disable these ads in Windows 11, ensuring that users can maintain a clean and focused computing environment. This guide will show you how to disable ads in Windows 11 Start menu, including steps through the Settings app, Group Policy Editor, and Registry Editor.

How to disable ads in Windows 11 Start menu

Through Settings app

1. Remove Suggested Apps from Start Menu:

• Open the Start menu and click on Settings.
• Navigate to Personalization > Start.
• Look for an option that might say Show recommendations for tips, shortcuts, new apps, and more and toggle it off.

1. Turn off suggested content in the Settings app:

• Go to Settings > Privacy & Security > General.
• Turn off Show me suggested content in the Settings app to prevent ads from being suggested through the Settings app itself.
• You can also turn off all of the toggles that start with “Let…” to prevent Microsoft from tracking your apps and activity on in order to display ads for you on Windows 11.

1. Disable Tailored experiences:

• Under Privacy & security, find Tailored experiences.
• Disable the toggle for Tailored experiences to prevent Microsoft from using your diagnostic data to show you personalized ads.

1. Adjust Diagnostic Data Settings:

• Still under Privacy & Security, find Diagnostics & feedback.
• Disable the toggle Send optional diagnostic data to prevent the use of your diagnostic data for creating targeting ads.

Through Group Policy (For Windows 11 Pro, Education, and Enterprise)

1. Disable consumer experiences:

• Press Windows key + R, type gpedit.msc, and press Enter to open the Group Policy Editor.
• Navigate to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Cloud Content.
• Find and double-click Turn off Microsoft consumer experiences.
• Set it to Enabled, click Apply and then OK.

Through Registry Editor (For All Editions)

1. Disable Start menu ads:

• Press Windows key + R, type regedit, and press Enter to open the Registry Editor. Click Yes when the User Account Control prompt pops up.
• Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ContentDeliveryManager.
• Find the DWORD named ContentDeliveryAllowed and set its value to 0 and click OK.

If it doesn’t exist, right-click in the right pane, select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value, name it ContentDeliveryAllowed, and set its value to 0. Similarly, find or create a DWORD named SubscribedContent-338388Enabled and set its value to 0 to disable specific types of content, including suggested apps.

1. Disable ads for specific features:

• For disabling web search in the Start menu, navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer. If the key does not exist, create it.
• Under the Explorer key, create a new DWORD (32-bit) Value named DisableSearchBoxSuggestions, and set its value to 1 and click OK. Restart your PC for the changes to take effect.

Things to remember

Editing the Registry can have unintended consequences if done incorrectly. Always back up the Registry before making changes. Some settings might revert after major updates, so you may need to reapply these settings. The availability of certain options may vary based on the Windows 11 version and updates.

By following the steps outlined in this guide, users can enjoy a more streamlined and ad-free experience by disabling ads in Windows 11. Whether through simple toggles, you can disable ads in Windows 11 by using the Settings app, more advanced configurations in the Group Policy Editor, or direct edits in the Registry Editor, there are options available to suit different levels of technical expertise.

It’s important to proceed with caution, especially when making changes to the Registry, to avoid unintended system behavior. With these adjustments, your Windows 11 Start menu can remain a clean and efficient launchpad for your computing activities, free from unwanted advertisements.