Should You Enable Suggestions and Tips in Windows 11 Recommendations and Offers Settings
The recommendations and offers in Windows 11 are controlled from two pages in the Settings app: Settings Personalization Start and Settings System Notifications. They are built-in tips and promotions that suggest Microsoft apps, cloud services and settings in the Start menu, the Settings app and the notification area.
Turning them off stops the promotional pop-ups and tips while you work. Whether to keep them comes down to one question: do you want occasional reminders about features, or a quiet screen? This tutorial covers both sides and shows how to switch them off, or back on, in a few minutes.
Yes, if you want a quieter screen: turn suggestions and tips off, and you can switch them back on later. In Windows 11, open Settings Personalization Start and turn off the Show recommendations toggle, then open Settings System Notifications and clear the suggestion checkboxes. Nothing else in Windows depends on them, so the choice is about comfort.
What Are 🪟 Windows 11 Recommendations and Offers?
Recommendations and offers are pop-ups, banners and suggested items that promote Microsoft apps, cloud storage and system settings. Microsoft places them in the Start menu and the Settings app to help you find new features. Many people see them as ads, especially on a PC they paid for.
Whether you should enable suggestions and tips in Windows 11 depends on whether you want to keep seeing these reminders. Nothing in Windows needs them to work properly, so the choice is about comfort, not function.
You will run into these recommendations in a few places:
- The Start menu, where you might see suggestions for apps you do not own.
- The Settings app, which often shows banners that encourage you to finish setting up your account or try cloud storage.
- Pop-up notifications in the bottom-right corner of the screen that promote various services.
The prompts mostly introduce Microsoft 365, OneDrive, Xbox Game Pass and Microsoft Edge. Some people like the quick access to these services. Others find the prompts cluttered, because they interrupt work and make the PC feel less like their own.
How Suggestions Affect Your Computer Experience
Before you change anything, look at how the suggestions affect your daily use. Weigh the pros and cons below against your own workflow.
Nothing here is permanent. Every setting can be switched back later, and none of the changes needs a restart.
The Benefits of Leaving Suggestions On
Leaving suggestions on can help you discover features, security tools and shortcuts you might otherwise miss. For a new user, the tips can point to useful things like cloud backup or productivity tools that save time.
If you are still learning Windows 11, or you set up PCs for family members who are, keeping the tips on for a while is reasonable. You can always turn them off once the system feels familiar.
The Drawbacks of Leaving Suggestions On
Leaving suggestions on can mean distracting pop-ups while you work or play games. Many people also dislike seeing promotions for commercial products and cloud services on a computer they already paid for.
If you are comfortable finding settings on your own, the tips add little. Turning them off is the better choice for most experienced users.
Where to Find Recommendations and Offers Settings in 🪟 Windows 11
You will find the main options in two places in the Settings app: Personalization (under Start) and System (under Notifications). Changing them takes only a few clicks. Knowing where to look lets you decide quickly whether to keep suggestions and tips or turn them off for a cleaner screen.
In short, open Settings, turn off the recommendations toggle under Start, then clear the suggestion checkboxes under Notifications. Together these cut down the promotional pop-ups and the “finish setting up your device” prompts.
Step-by-Step Guide: How to Turn Off Suggestions and Offers
The steps below turn off suggestions and offers by changing a few switches in the Personalization and Notifications sections. The result is a cleaner desktop with fewer promotional tips. If you later want them back, repeat the same steps and turn each setting on again.
- Click the Start button on the taskbar and select Settings, the small gear icon. You can also press Win+I to open Settings directly. The Settings window should now be open.
- In the Settings window, click Personalization in the left-hand menu. The personalization options appear on the right.
- Scroll down the list on the right and click Start. The Start page opens with its list of toggles.
- Find the toggle labeled Show recommendations for tips, shortcut apps, new apps, and more. The exact wording changes slightly between Windows 11 versions, so look for the one about recommendations and tips. Click the switch so it reads Off.
- Go back to the main Settings menu with the back arrow, or click System in the left sidebar. The System options appear on the right.
- Click Notifications. The page lists notification switches for Windows and for individual apps.
- Scroll to the bottom of the Notifications page and click Additional settings to expand it. Several checkboxes appear.
- Uncheck the boxes for options like Show me the welcome experience after updates… and Suggest ways to get the most out of Windows and finish setting up this device. Some builds word these options a little differently, so uncheck any that mention the welcome experience, tips or suggestions.
That’s it. The Start menu and the notification area should now show far fewer promotions, and the welcome and setup prompts after updates should stop appearing.
If a toggle is greyed out, or you see a message that some settings are managed by your organization, you cannot change it yourself and will need to ask your IT team. To undo any change, return to the same page and turn the setting back on. No restart is needed.
The steps above do not cover every suggestion. Windows shows tips in a few other places, and these settings catch most of what is left. Wording and availability vary a little between Windows 11 builds, so look for the closest match.
- Open Settings Personalization Start. Turn off Show recommended files (the full label mentions recent files in Start, File Explorer and Jump Lists) and Show websites from your browsing history, if your build lists them. This stops file and website suggestions in the Start menu.
- On the same Start page, open Layout and choose More pins to give pinned apps most of the space, or More recommendations to give the Recommended area more room. More pins shrinks the Recommended area but does not remove it.
- Still on the Start page, turn off the toggle for recently added apps (labeled Show recently added apps). New installs then stop appearing in the Recommended area.
- Open Settings Privacy & security General. Turn off Show me suggested content in the Settings app and, if it is listed, Show me notifications in the Settings app. Also review the tailored experiences setting, which some builds place under Privacy & security Diagnostics & feedback.
- Open Settings Personalization Lock screen. If you see a checkbox such as Get fun facts, tips, and more on your lock screen, clear it. It appears only for certain lock screen choices.
You should now have the main suggestion sources switched off: Start recommendations, Settings banners, update prompts and lock screen tips. Reverse any of them by returning to its page and turning it back on.
Common Misconceptions About Windows Recommendations
A common belief is that turning these tips off will break your computer or block security updates. It will not. Disabling them only removes promotional messages and does not touch core system functions. Turning them off is safe, and you do not need to leave suggestions on to keep the PC running properly.
- Myth 1: Turning off suggestions will break my computer. This is false. Disabling tips and offers only stops promotional messages and app recommendations. Windows, its security updates and your software keep running normally.
- Myth 2: You cannot use the Microsoft Store if you turn off suggestions. Disabling offers in Start and Settings does not block the Microsoft Store. You can still open it yourself whenever you want to download a game or utility.
- Myth 3: These settings turn off all notifications. Turning off promotional recommendations only stops marketing and setup tips. You will still get important system alerts, security warnings and notifications from apps like email and chat.
Summary
Windows 11 recommendations and offers are built-in prompts that introduce Microsoft apps and services. If you find them distracting, you can turn them off in the Settings app without harming your system. The result is a quieter screen.
The main switches are under Personalization Start and System Notifications. Extra ones sit under Privacy & security General and Personalization Lock screen. Whether to keep suggestions and tips is a personal call: keep them if you find the reminders useful, and switch them off if you do not.
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About the Author
Richard
Tech Writer, IT Professional
Richard is a writer at Geek Rewind who turns complex IT tasks into clear, step-by-step guides. He draws on years of hands-on experience in system administration and enterprise IT operations, focusing on Windows, Linux and WordPress: the problems people actually run into, and the fixes that work. His server and WordPress guides come from systems he runs himself. Richard builds and maintains the platform behind Geek Rewind, from its Ubuntu servers and Nginx configuration to its custom WordPress plugins. Many new tutorials start with readers' questions, and he's always glad to answer them in the comments.
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