Stop bugging me!

Removing ads, nags, prompts and distractions in Windows 10 / 11

An unfortunate trend in recent Windows version is the ever increasing number of distractions that come in different forms like ads for other Microsoft products, superflous prompts or web content you didn’t ask for.

Fortunately, Microsoft seems to be very well aware of the backlash this is causing and almost always includes configuration switches to remove those nuisances. In this article, I am collecting these.

Some remarks:

• Most customizations are registry additions that set group policies. Entries that go into the “HKLM” registry hive affect all users on the system, those in the “HKCU” registry hive affect only the current user.
• HKCU changes take effect after you sign out and back in. HKLM changes take effect after a reboot.
• I am providing the customizations in the form of command lines you can use on any PC. However, if you manage your PCs though Windows Server Group Policies or Intune, you should use these tools instead of the command lines.
• You need administrative privileges to make the HKLM changes and those HKCU changes that have “Policies” in their path. This means, you need to start the Command Prompt with “run as administrator” before entering any of these commands (and maybe first add the user to the Administrators group).
• To undo the customizations, simply delete the registry keys (except where I give other instructions).
• I am only using the “Pro” and “Pro Education” editions of Windows 10 / 11 myself. “Home” and other editions might behave different in some rare cases.
• Some tips may apply only to either Windows 10 or 11, or only to certain versions of Windows 10 / 11. Some items target the Office 365 desktop apps, Edge Chromium, Tems etc. instead of Windows.

Remove web search results in Windows search

reg add "HKCU\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer" /v DisableSearchBoxSuggestions /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

Remove “search highlights” (strange icons in search box and unsolicited web content in search)

reg add "HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search" /v EnableDynamicContentInWSB /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

Windows 10: Remove “news and interests” (weather icon in taskbar with a random web content popup)

For the similar Windows 11 annoyance, see “Widgets feature” below.

reg add "HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Feeds" /v EnableFeeds /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

Windows 11: Remove Widgets feature (weather icon in taskbar with a random web content popup)

For the similar Windows 10 annoyance, see “news and interests” above.

reg add "HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Dsh" /v AllowNewsAndInterests /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

Remove OneDrive advertisement in Windows Explorer

reg add "HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced" /v ShowSyncProviderNotifications /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

Remove ads in windows ink workspace

reg add "HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\PenWorkspace" /v PenWorkspaceAppSuggestionsEnabled /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

Remove Cortana circle button in taskbar

reg add "HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced" /v ShowCortanaButton /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

Remove Windows welcome experience

reg add "HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ContentDeliveryManager" /v SubscribedContent-310093Enabled /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

Remove “Get tips, tricks, and suggestions as you use Windows”

reg add "HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ContentDeliveryManager" /v SubscribedContent-338389Enabled /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

Remove app suggestions in start menu

reg add "HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ContentDeliveryManager" /v SystemPaneSuggestionsEnabled /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

Remove Game Bar Tips

reg add "HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\GameBar" /v ShowStartupPanel /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

Remove backup notification OneDrive advertisement

reg add "HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\StorageSense\Parameters\BackupReminder" /v BackupReminderToastCount /t REG_DWORD /d 3 /f

Disable “Get Even More Out of Windows” Screen in Settings / System / Notifications

reg add "HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\UserProfileEngagement" /v ScoobeSystemSettingEnabled /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

Windows 11: Remove taskbar chat icon (Teams consumer client)

Removes only the taskbar icon. Does not prevent the automatic download and installation of the Teams consumer client and the resulting start menu entry (my German language post Fenster nach Maß has instructions how to do that).

reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Chat" /v ChatIcon /t REG_DWORD /d 3 /f

Windows 11: Remove “System requirements not met” watermark on desktop when running on unsupported hardware

Although I am running Windows 11 on a number of unsupported hardware configurations, I have never seen this watermark myself. But other people have and reported that this registry entry removes the watermark.

reg add "HKCU\Control Panel\UnsupportedHardwareNotificationCache" /v SV2 /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

Windows 11: Remove “recommendations for tips, shortcuts, new apps, and more” in start menu

reg add "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced" /v Start_IrisRecommendations /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

Windows 11: Remove account notifications / start menu badges (ads for OneDrive etc. in the start menu’s user profile action menu)

At least up to the initial release of Windows 11 23H2, this is not part of production versions of Windows, only beta versions. The ads also probably won’t appear if you are logged on with an AD or Entra ID user. Still, it can’t hurt to disable this prophylactical.

reg add "HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\AccountNotifications" /v DisableAccountNotifications /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

Edge Chromium: Prevent starting a web search if a web page cannot be loaded

reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge" /v AlternateErrorPagesEnabled /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

Edge Chromium: Disable Sidebar (vertical toolbar with promotions for games, Office etc.)

reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge" /v HubsSidebarEnabled /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

Edge Chromium: Disable Shopping Assistant

reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge" /v EdgeShoppingAssistantEnabled /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

Edge Chromium: Disable Insider promotion on edge://settings/help

reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge" /v MicrosoftEdgeInsiderPromotionEnabled /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

Edge Chromium: Disable Microsoft Rewards points in user profile

reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge" /v ShowMicrosoftRewards /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

Edge Chromium: Disable Games promotion menu item

reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge" /v AllowGamesMenu /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

Edge Chromium: Disable first run experience (full screen, multi page wizard when starting Edge for the first time)

reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge" /v HideFirstRunExperience /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

Edge Chromium: Disable advertisement for Acrobat subscription

Only relevant, if the integrated Adobe PDF reader is enabled in Edge Chromium.

reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge" /v ShowAcrobatSubscriptionButton /t REG_DWORD /d 0/f

Edge Chromium: Disable advertisement to set Edge as default PDF reader

reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge" /v ShowPDFDefaultRecommendationsEnabled /t REG_DWORD /d 0/f

Edge Chromium: Disable advertisement for browser features

reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge" /v ShowRecommendationsEnabled /t REG_DWORD /d 0/f

Prevent Teams autorun after install

Obviously, this needs to be set before running the Teams installer.

reg add "HKCU\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Teams" /v PreventFirstLaunchAfterInstall /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

Office: remove first run “default file types” chooser

reg add "HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\16.0\common\general" /v ShownFileFmtPrompt /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
reg add "HKCU\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Office\16.0\common\general" /v ShownFileFmtPrompt /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
reg add "HKCU\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Office\16.0\firstrun" /v bootedrtm /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

Outlook: remove “Try the new Outlook” toggle

reg add "HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook\Options\General" /v HideNewOutlookToggle /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

Outlook: remove ads for Outlook Mobile

These appear in several places, see Remove Get and set up Outlook mobile app on my phone option — Outlook | Microsoft Learn.

reg add "HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook\Options\General" /v DisableOut
lookMobileHyperlink /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

OneDrive: disable animation shown during setup

reg add "HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\OneDrive" /v DisableFREAnimation /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

OneDrive: disable launching turial in browser after setup

reg add "HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\OneDrive" /v DisableTutorial /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f