How-To

How to Hide Recommended Items on Windows 11 Start Menu

By Brian Burgess

Published August 18, 2021

The Windows 11 Start menu displays “Recommended” items by default. But you can hide some or all files, folders, and apps it shows. Here’s how.

Windows 11 is getting a fresh coat of paint and some different user experiences. A notable change is to the Start menu. It is centered on the bottom of the screen (although you can move it to the left). And by default, it displayed pinned items and recently opened files, folders, apps, and other items. If you want to hide items in the “Recommended” section, you can. Here’s how.

Recommended Section on the Windows 11 Start Menu

Click the Start button, and you will see pinned items at the top of the menu. Then, beneath that is the “Recommended” section.

If you click the More button at the upper-right corner of the “Recommended” list, you will get a list of more recently used documents and other items. While it is convenient and helpful for some people, other users might want to hide the content.

Remove or Hide Recommended Items on Windows 11 Start Menu

To remove or hide items from the “Recommended” section, click Start and click the Settings button. Alternately, you can use the keyboard shortcut Windows key + I to open Settings directly.

Once the Settings page is open, go to Personalization > Start.

On the following page, go down the list and turn off the items you don’t want to show under the “Recommended” section on the Windows 11 Start menu. You can turn off “Show recently added apps,” “Show most used apps,” and “Show recently opened items in Start, Jump Lists, and File Explorer.”

Note: The “Folders” option will let you choose which folders appear next to the Power button at the bottom. For more on that, read our article on adding or removing adding or removing folders on the Windows 11 Start menu.

When you turn an item on or off, the change will take place immediately. You can turn items off one at a time and see the results. Or turn them all off and see if you like it. In the example below, I turned everything off except for the Folders next to the Power button.

If you want to turn select items back on, click the “Start settings” link under the “recommended” section. That will bring you directly to the Personalization > Start section, where you can toggle items on or off.

And for more on managing the Start menu on the new OS, check out our articles on how to show or hide “Most Used” apps on the Windows 11 Start menu. Or take a look at changing the Start menu and taskbar colors.