The new centered Start Menu in Windows 11 is divided into two sections. The top half displays the shortcuts for pinned apps, whereas the bottom half includes the “Recommended” section. The latter shows recent files and offers recommendations for various apps installed on your PC. However, if you find the Recommended section annoying and unnecessary, you now have the option to completely remove it. In this tutorial, we will explain how to remove the Recommended section in the Windows 11 Start Menu.

We have mentioned an easy method to remove the Recommended section from the Windows 11 Start menu in this tutorial. Along with that, we have also included steps to reduce the space assigned to Recommended items, and how to prevent recently added apps from showing up in the Recommended section. You can expand the table below and move to a tutorial of your preference.

  • Method 1: Remove Recommended Section on Windows 11 with Explorer PatcherMethod 2: Reduce Recommended Section Area and Add More PinsMethod 3: Remove Recommended ‘Items’ Through Windows SettingsMethod 4: Remove Recommended ‘Items’ From Start Menu

With the latest release of Explorer Patcher, you can now entirely remove the Recommended section from the Windows 11 Start menu. And the best part is that it’s completely free to use. Earlier, we had used Explorer Patcher to set Windows 11 Taskbar icons to ‘Never Combine’ and this time too, the tiny open-source utility has come to the rescue. Here is how to do it.

  1. Then, move to the “Start menu” section from the left sidebar and turn on the “Disable the Recommended section” toggle. Finally, click on “Restart File Explorer” at the bottom-left corner.

  2. Now, open the Start menu on Windows 11, and you will find that the Recommended section has been removed. You can add more apps to the Start menu and fill the entire section with your favorite pinned apps. That’s awesome, right?

If you are on the Windows 11 Dev build (22509 or later; Dec 1, 2021), you can choose a Start menu layout where the Recommended section is shrunk to just one row, and more space is available for pinned apps. It is one of the best Windows 11 hidden features, and I always switch the layout when setting up Windows 11.

  1. Here, choose the “More pins” layout.

  2. Now, open the Windows 11 Start menu, and you will find that more rows are available for pinned apps. The Recommended section area is reduced to just one row.

You can remove the Recommended section from the Start Menu using the Settings menu. Here’s how you can do that in two clicks:

  • Now, turn off the toggle next to “Show recently opened items in Start, Jump Lists, and File Explorer“. You can also disable the “Show recently added apps” option to get an even cleaner Start Menu experience in Windows 11.

Note: Disabling “recently opened items” will also get rid of your favorite websites on the Taskbar jump-lists for your browser, which could be inconvenient for some users.

Another way to remove the Recommended items is by individually removing each one from the Start Menu. Here’s how you do that:

  • Now, right-click on the unwanted item and select “Remove from list“. If it is an app that you are trying to remove, you can also click the “Uninstall” button. But this will remove the app from your device for good, and you can no longer access it.