Microsoft keeps stuffing new features into the Windows 11 Start menu, and with most of them enabled by default, it has become unnecessarily cluttered. Add web search results that have zero value—when I need to search the web, I’ll just open a browser—and you end up with a Start menu that feels bloated rather than helpful. By disabling the following features and options, I turned the Start menu on my Windows 11 PC into a lightweight application launcher and local search interface.

I disabled online results in Windows Search

I won’t wait for Microsoft to officially let users disable Bing Search

While Microsoft will soon add a setting that lets users disable Bing-powered web results directly from Windows Settings, I disabled online search results in Windows Search a long time ago. Disabling Bing-powered web results is dead simple; all you need to do is open PowerShell and paste the following command:

reg add HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search /v BingSearchEnabled /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

While you won’t have to reboot your PC for the changes to take effect, you’ll likely need to restart Windows Explorer. The only caveat is that you can’t disable Microsoft Store app suggestions from appearing in search results. If nothing else, at least they show up at the very bottom. You can also disable Bing-powered web results from the Registry Editor, but the PowerShell method is faster and simpler.

All it takes is a few clicks

By default, the Start menu can show app promotions in its Recommended section that serve no purpose other than getting you to install promoted software. Naturally, I disabled this feature the moment Microsoft added it to the Start menu in April 2024.

To disable this feature, open the Settings app, select the Personalization tab, and then click Start. All you have to do now is turn off the “Show recommendations for tips, app promotions, and more” toggle. That’s it, no more ads in the Start menu. If you want to fully disable ads in Windows 11, our guide will help you do just that.

My Start menu doesn’t show recently added apps and recommended files

I want it to be as clean as possible

By default, Windows pins recently added apps and recommended files—usually recently opened and frequently accessed files—to the Start menu. This can be useful in some situations, but I don’t need those recommendations because all they do is add clutter. So, I disabled both features in Settings.

To do this, open Settings, go to Personalization > Start, and turn off the “Show recently added apps” and “Show recommended files in Start, recent files in File Explorer, and items in Jump Lists” toggles. Note that I don’t recommend disabling the second toggle if you rely on File Explorer and Jump Lists to show recent files. However, since I don’t use the latter and pin all important and frequently accessed folders to File Explorer’s Quick Access, I disabled it.

The Settings button was the only one to survive the culling

Windows 11 shows a number of folder shortcuts next to the Power button in the Start menu by default. I don’t need this feature because I’ve pinned all my important folders to Quick Access in File Explorer, so I disabled every folder from appearing next to the Power button. The only button that survived is Settings because, if you ask me, you can never have enough shortcuts to the Settings app.

If you want to do the same, open Settings, navigate to Personalization > Start > Folders, and remove every folder shortcut you don’t want to see next to the Power button.

I reverted to the List app view

The default Categories view is nigh-unusable

One of the features Microsoft has added to the Start menu is grouping apps into automatically generated categories. This could’ve worked if you could actually create and edit them, but you can’t, which makes the feature practically unusable. I can’t rename them or move apps and games between categories—I can’t do squat.

The result is a mess of categories that don’t make any sense. For instance, on my PC the Forza Horizon 6 shortcut is placed in the Other folder, the Games folder has a subfolder containing Steam games (that doesn’t include every Steam game installed on my PC), and I also have an Entertainment folder that hosts game launchers—why not put those in the Games folder?—and so on.

So, as soon as I noticed the change (of course Microsoft made Categories the default view after adding it), I reverted to the list app view. To do this, just click the View button and switch to List or Grid, whichever suits you best.

After making all these changes, my Start menu transformed from a noisy mess filled with unnecessary information into a lightweight, minimalistic app and file launcher that’s simple to navigate. I’ve got the Search box at the top, a few pinned apps that I don’t use often enough to warrant pinning them to the Taskbar, a list of apps installed on my PC, and the Power button with the Settings button next to it. It’s as bare as possible, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

What’s included?

Device encryption, find my device, firewall and network protection, internet protection, and more

Brand

Microsoft

Upgrading the operating system for your PC can be simple with Windows 11 Home; it offers a simple, fast, and intuitive interface for ease of use.