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Most of the recommendations and offers Windows 11 shows you come from a handful of separate Settings pages, and each one controls a different thing. You can reduce them by changing a few toggles, but only if you first identify where the prompt came from. Work through the pages in the order below: privacy and offers, Start, app installation, notifications, and device usage.
Settings names and layouts shift between Windows 11 updates. If a label below does not match your screen exactly, look for the closest wording on your installed version.
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Start with the Recommendations & offers page
This page controls the personalized tips, ads, and suggestions that Windows presents across Microsoft and some third-party products. To reach it, open Settings > Privacy & security > Recommendations & offers.
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors- Open Settings > Privacy & security > Recommendations & offers.
- Find Get personalized tips, ads, and recommendations based on my Windows activity. Microsoft says personalized offers can cover tips, ads, and recommendations for Microsoft and third-party products, services, features, apps, and hardware. Its examples include a prompt to try OneDrive or buy hardware when your storage is running low. Turn this off if your goal is fewer personalized offers.
- Review the remaining controls on the same page one at a time. They are separate switches, so you can leave some on and turn others off.
The other controls on this page
- Let apps show my personalized ads by using my advertising ID. Controls the Windows advertising identifier that apps can use for ad personalization.
- Let websites show me locally relevant content by accessing my language list. Controls whether websites can read your language list to show locally relevant content.
- Let Windows improve Start and search results by tracking app launches. Controls whether Windows uses your app launch history to improve Start and search results.
- Show me suggested content in the Settings app. Controls suggested content inside the Settings app itself.
Each switch affects only its own category. Turning off one does not switch off the others.
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What the advertising ID switch does not do
Turning off the advertising ID does not reduce the number of ads you see. Microsoft Support’s documentation for this page states that the change “will not reduce the number of ads you see, but it may mean that ads are less interesting and relevant to you.” The setting covers apps that use the Windows advertising identifier. It does not govern every interest-based ad method used by Microsoft, third parties, or websites, so treat it as a personalization control, not an ad blocker.
Reduce Start menu recommendations
The Start menu’s recommended section is built from two kinds of content: recently added and frequently used apps, and recently opened files. Microsoft’s Start settings control which recommendation providers appear there. Open the Start settings page (on most Windows 11 builds, Settings > Personalization > Start) and review the available recommendation options.
Turning off all recommendation providers, or unpinning everything, collapses the recommendation area so it no longer shows content. Keep in mind that this removes the list only; it does not change your pinned apps or the apps installed on your PC.
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Stop app suggestions during installation
If the prompt appears while you install an app from outside the Microsoft Store, the control is in the app source settings. Open Settings > Apps > Advanced app settings and find Choose where to get apps.
| Choice | Effect on installs | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Anywhere | Microsoft says this stops app recommendations when you install an app outside the Microsoft Store. | Installs from any source proceed without a Store-based prompt. |
| Other available choices | These can warn you before an outside-Store install, or limit installs to the Microsoft Store. | A warning adds a step to each outside install. Store-only limits block software that is not in the Store. |
The exact option names depend on your Windows 11 version, so read each option’s description before selecting it.
Turn off Windows tips and welcome prompts
Tips and post-update welcome screens are controlled under Notifications, not under the privacy page.
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- Open Settings > System > Notifications.
- Turn off Show the Windows welcome experience after updates and when signed in to show what’s new and suggested.
- Turn off Get tips and suggestions when using Windows.
Per-app notification controls are on the same Notifications page. You can leave alerts from apps you rely on turned on while suppressing Windows’ own tips.
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Device usage selections can change which tips, recommendations, and personalized ads Windows shows. Open Settings > Personalization > Device usage and turn off any category you do not want used for tailoring.
Microsoft’s examples are conditional. Selecting Gaming may lead to a Game Pass trial offer, and selecting Business may lead to a Microsoft 365 Business trial offer. These are possibilities, not guaranteed offers, so you may not see either one after you change the selections.
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Know which control to use
| Control scope | Where to change it | What it affects | What it does not do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personalized offers | Privacy & security > Recommendations & offers | Tips, ads, and recommendations for Microsoft and third-party products | Does not reduce ad volume on its own |
| Advertising ID | Privacy & security > Recommendations & offers | Ad personalization in apps that use the Windows advertising identifier | Does not cover every interest-based ad method |
| App-launch tracking for search | Privacy & security > Recommendations & offers | Start and search results influenced by app launches | Does not change pinned apps |
| Start recommendations | Personalization > Start | Recently added and frequently used apps, and recently opened files | Turning off all providers collapses the section but does not uninstall anything |
| App install prompts | Apps > Advanced app settings > Choose where to get apps | Recommendations and warnings during outside-Store installs | Does not affect Store app behavior |
| Windows tips and welcome screens | System > Notifications | Tips, suggestions, and post-update welcome prompts | Does not disable notifications from individual apps |
| Device usage tailoring | Personalization > Device usage | Tailored tips and offers based on how the PC is used | Offers shown are possibilities, not guarantees |
If your Settings page says General
On older or not-yet-updated Windows 11 installations, the privacy controls may appear under a page called General instead of Recommendations & offers. Microsoft says the General page is being replaced by Recommendations & offers in more recent Windows 11 versions. The switches are the same; only the page name differs. If you cannot find either page, check for a Windows update and look again.
Limits of these settings
- There is no single master switch that removes every Windows or third-party promotion. Each category has to be handled on its own page.
- The device-usage examples describe what Microsoft says a selection may lead to. They are not promises about what you will see.
- All of these are reversible. If you turn a category off and later want it back, return to the same page and turn it on again.
Change only the categories you do not want. Leaving the rest on keeps the features you use working as before.
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