Windows 11 includes a new Start menu that drops Live Tiles in favor of traditional icons and introduces a minimalistic design. One of the main parts is the "Recommended" section that replaces Timeline and includes suggestions to pick up recently opened files and installed apps.

Although it can be a handy feature to reopen recent documents and files, it's not something for everyone. If this is your case, removing the "Recommended" section from the Start menu is impossible, but the Windows 11 Settings app lets you hide all the items you don't want to appear in the list, which is the closest to disabling the feature.

This guide will walk you through the steps to disable the "Recommended" section from showing items in the Start menu.

To remove all the items in the "Recommended" section of the Start menu on Windows 11, use these steps:

Once you complete the steps, reopen the Start menu, and the "Recommended" section should no longer show any items.

To remove specific items from the Recommended section in the Start menu, use these steps:

After you complete the steps, the item will no longer be available in the list. However, the file will still be available from the location.

If you have a lot of items, you will notice a More button in the top-right corner to view the list. You can also right-click items within that list to remove them as necessary.

For more helpful articles, coverage, and answers to common questions about Windows 10 and Windows 11, visit the following resources: