Whether you buy a new PC, purchase the latest edition from a retailer or upgrade your operating system, Windows 11/10 comes with tons of pre-loaded advertisements. These advertisements are embedded to encourage users to buy apps, games, and other services from Microsoft Store or Xbox. Though they can be disabled, so have a look at all the possible ways to disable advertisements in Windows 11/10 for good.
How To Disable Advertisements in Windows 11/10 for Good
These advertisements occupy a lot of space on your Desktop Screen and the Start Menu and interrupt while doing an important task, which is annoying. So follow these methods:
- Disable Personalized ads in Windows 11/10
- Change Privacy options
- Take advertisements off from the Lock Screen
- Remove Suggested Apps feature
- Disable Tips
- Stop ‘Get Office’ Notifications
- Uninstall pre-installed apps
You may need admin permission for some of these.
1] Disable Personalized ads in Windows 11/10
- Go to Microsoft Ads settings
- Turn off the toggle for these three options
- See ads that interest you
- See personalized ads in your browser
2] Change Privacy options
Go to Start > Settings > Privacy. Turn off the setting for Let apps uses advertising ID to make ads more interesting to you based on your app activity. The option also shows up during Windows 11/10 Installation.
To disable the advertising ID on multiple computers, you can use the Group Policy Editor.
- Type gpedit.msc in the Run prompt and press the Enter key.
- Go to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > User Profiles
- Locate policy “Turn off the advertising ID” and set the radio button to Enabled.
3] Take ads off from the Lock Screen
The new Windows Spotlight feature usually shows beautiful wallpapers on the Lock screen. Still, at times it displays ads for some paid games as well. To be free of such advertisements, you can follow the steps given below.
- Go to Settings > Personalization > Lock Screen
- Under Background, choose either Picture or Slideshow instead of Windows Spotlight.
- You may also see an option ‘Get fun facts, tips, and more from Windows and Cortana on your lock screen,’ toggle it to turn off. (Not available after anniversary update)
4] How to Get Rid of the Suggested Apps on the Start Menu?
When you launch the Start Menu, it shows you the list of all the apps installed on the system, but at the same time, it also displays a few suggestions. These suggestions are nothing but advertisements for paid apps that can be purchased from the app store. If you are not interested in buying them and don’t want to space to be occupied unnecessarily then,
- Go to Settings > Personalization > Click on Start
- Toggle and turn off the ‘Occasionally show suggestions in Start’ option
5] How to Disable Tips that Come from Microsoft?
Windows 11/10 offers tips that are recommendations to make the most of the operating system. You might have seen them, encouraging you to use Microsoft Edge for power efficiency and a better browsing experience. Sometimes these tips also advise users to buy certain apps from Windows Store. If you don’t want such tips to appear on the screen then:
- Go to Settings > System > Select Notifications & Actions
- Under Notifications, you will an option listed ‘Get tips, tricks, and suggestions as you use Windows,’ turn it off.
6] How to Stop ‘Get Office’ Notifications?
Microsoft Office is a paid service and doesn’t come with your Windows 11/10 while buying the computer. However, the notification to purchase this service comes many times, and people who don’t want to try MS Office get disturbed because of that. Let’s see you can take these notifications off. This option will work only in Windows 11/10, but if you have updated your system to Creators Update, jump to the next option.
- Go to Settings > System > Notifications and Actions
- Scroll Down and under Get Notifications from these senders, turn off Get Office
There is another way to take this app off; you can click on the Start Menu and find the Get Office app on the list, do a right-click, and select Uninstall. However, the app might come back in the future when you receive Window Updates.
7] Uninstall the Automatically Installed apps
When you sign in to your Windows 11/10 for the first time, many apps like Candy Crush Soda Saga, Minecraft, and Twitter get installed on the system automatically. Some of the apps also get added by the computer manufacturer as Microsoft Consumer Experience. After the Anniversary update, only Windows 11/10 Enterprise users can disable that feature from the group policy editor. However, you can remove them if you don’t find it necessary.
- Launch the Start Menu by clicking on the Start button
- Go through the list of all apps and right-click on the one that needs to be removed
- Select Uninstall
If you see an app on the tile but not on the list, that means the app has not been downloaded yet. There won’t be the Uninstall option, but you choose Unpin from Start instead. These tiles usually carry the link that takes you to the Windows Store.
So, this is how you can Disable Advertisements in Windows 11/10 for good. Do let us know in the comments section below, and we will try to solve it.
I have done everything I have seen on your page and all I could generally find on the internet and still get a popup while logging into Outlook in Firefox. The popup tells me to “try outlook in microsoft edge”. I did get rid of it for a couple of days last week by unchecking the get tips area of notifications.
Dale