This fresh UI stands out with rounded corners, but the surprise element is that the Taskbar and the Start Menu are now centrally arranged, no longer appearing as we were used to in all other versions of Windows in the past. Of course, more conservative users, or those who are used to the old way, can move the Taskbar back to the left side of the screen without much effort. The only downside to the new Taskbar layout is that it can only be pinned to the bottom of the screen. It’s no longer flexible like it used to be. Although most users prefer to use it exactly as it is, being limited to this option can cause some complaints. The Start menu features two sections: the Pinned section at the top with large app icons from which to choose what you need, and the Recommended section, which shows you documents you’ve recently opened. The only problem is that some users aren’t interested in constantly seeing the latest open files, documents, or installed apps, and this section can even get annoying. But that’s no cause for concern either because there are two ways you can remove them in this OS, which you can find below.

1. Disable the recently opened items in Start, Jump Lists, and File Explorer

You can easily turn off app recommendations in Windows 11 via Settings. This is by far the easiest and quickest method.

  1. Open the Start menu, and choose the Settings app.

  2. On the sidebar at the left, choose the Personalization section.

  3. Scroll down and select Start.

  4. Turn off the Show recently opened items in Start, Jump Lists, and File Explorer option. SPONSORED

  5. This will make recently opened files or documents disappear from the recommendations section.

  6. You can even go a step further and hide even the recently installed apps from the Start Menu. All you need to do is turn off the Show recently added apps option from the previous menu.

2. Modify the policies

You can remove Recommended in Windows 11 with GPO, but the policy works only for the Windows 11 SE edition. So, those using Home, Pro, or other editions can’t use it. Also, for those wondering how do I hide the Recommended Start Menu in Windows 11 Registry, the DWORD for Windows 11 recommended start menu corresponds to the policy only. And since it’s available for the SE edition, the Registry method might not work either. If, after these two methods, the changes don’t reflect right away and the apps opened previously still appear as recommendations, you can fix that by manually removing recommended items one by one.

Also, for users who are only bothered by certain files they don’t want to be displayed in the Recommended section, there’s a really quick fix for them too. It’s also worth mentioning that the section currently remains in the Start Menu even after you disable the Show recently opened files option, although empty. Let’s not be alarmed yet, though. Microsoft may allow users to remove this section altogether in upcoming updates. Why not, possibly even allow them to use the entire Pinned section exclusively for the desired apps they want to access as quickly as possible. At the moment, however, anything is possible. Also, if you’re curious about Windows 10 compared to Windows 11, it’s worth checking out our comprehensive guide for a visualization of the differences. For more suggestions or other questions about Windows 11, feel free to leave a message in the comments section below.

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