Windows 10: How can I completely remove the "Recommended" section of the Start Menu?

How can I completely remove the "Recommended" section of the Start Menu?I have turned off everything I can via Settings but the bottom of my Start Menu still says:"RecommendedTo show your recent files and new apps, turn them on in Settings. Launch Start Settings."Unable to upload an actual screenshot because this platform gives me an error for both PNG and JPG screenshots.Thanks.

:)

 

Recommended section in the start menu is blank

Hello, thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Community. I am here to help and provide assistance with any questions or concerns you may have.

I believe you should see recommended apps, recently used files, etc. Let's try some steps to address this problem:

1. Open the Settings app by pressing Win + I.

2. Navigate to Personalization on the left, and then select Start on the right.

3. Under Layout, choose More pins to reduce the size of the Recommended section.

4. Disable Show recently added apps.

5. Disable Show recently opened items in Start, Jump Lists, and File Explorer. This will clear your recent items list and halt the display of recently opened items in Jump Lists and File Explorer > Home > Recent.

6. Turn off Show websites from your browsing history.

7. Turn off Show recommendations for tips, shortcuts, new apps, and more.

This will clear the Recommended section in your Start menu. After you do this, restart your computer, and follow the steps again to enable everything again.

 

Recommended section in the start menu is blank

I can suggest a couple of additional steps for you to attempt and check if it resolves the problem:

- Check "Folders" under Personalization > Start: Make sure the desired folders like Downloads or Documents are enabled under "Folders" to populate the list with recently accessed files.

- Turn off "Focus Assist" while checking for recommendations: Focus Assist might prevent the system from learning your usage patterns and populating recommendations.

- Disable Group Policy settings: Check if any Group Policy settings related to Start menu and recommendations are enabled. You can access Group Policy Editor by pressing Win + R and typing "gpedit.msc".

 

"Remove Recommended Section from Start Menu" is NOT working

I am on Windows 11 Pro, 22H2, Build 22621.675.



I have gone through the instructions to enable Remove Recommended Section From Start Menu in the group policy editor and it's not working. Restarted, it's still there.



I tried enabling it from Computer Configuration too since the same setting exists both there (Computer Configuration>Administrative Templates>Start Menu and Taskbar) and in the same path in User Configuration.



22H2 was a not a clean install; it's an update from a clean install (performed January 2022) of the previous version.



Something is preventing this setting from working. Any ideas?