Microsoft is showing ads again in Windows 11: here’s how to turn them off

In recent weeks, many users Windows 11 They complained about the appearance of different advertising in the notification tray operating system. From offers to buy Call of Duty: Black Ops 6and tips for using the new Defender app included with Microsoft 365.

This case caused great discontent among the public, and Redmond residents admitted Latest version of Windows that they have started sending these notifications to owners of Windows 11 computers. Of course, the company avoided calling its strategy a publicity stunt, since it classified the ads as simple notifications.

If anything was clear among those who received the notices, it was that these were no ordinary notices. Microsoft has been experimenting with advertising and promotional content in the form of “suggestions” on the lock screen, File Explorer, widgets, and the Start menu in Windows 11 for a while now.

In the case of advertisements that were displayed in the notification area, Windows 11 users had the option drop them with one click. However, after a few hours they appeared again. This may not be a big deal to many, but introducing ads by disguising them as push notifications is far from the best practice. The good thing is that there is an easy way to disable them, theoretically, permanently.

How to stop Windows 11 from showing you ads in notifications

It doesn’t matter whether you stumbled upon the ad in person. Black Opera 6 and Defender in Windows 11 notifications. If you don’t want this type of content to sneak into your computer, there are a few steps you need to follow. The first thing you need to do is go to the Start menu and open Settings > System. Once you are there, you need to enter the section Notifications.

The most radical way to prevent ads from appearing in the notification bar is to disable them completely. However, this is not entirely recommended. Keep in mind that if you use apps like Slack or Teams for work, you may miss important notifications if you decide to turn off team notifications 100%.

To prevent hidden advertising from reaching you, you need to go to the end of the list that appears in “Notifications” and click “Advanced settings”. There you need to disable the option that says “Get tips and tricks for using Windows”. On paper, Microsoft promises that this is enough to stop seeing commercial content in Windows 11, at least between notifications.

As an additional recommendation, also disable the option that says: “Suggest ways to get the most out of Windows and complete setup for this device.”. One way or another, it is likely that in the future we will encounter new forms of advertising integrated into Windows 11, so we will continue to pay attention to the news.