Recommended apps in the Start menu

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Recommendation

Situational

Usually can be disabled for a clean Start interface.

Installed programs are not removed, and regular search keeps working.

Primary effect: Hiding app recommendations
FPS and memory: See the research

What changes

In the Start menu, Windows shows recommendations for apps that are not yet installed: they can be installed with a single click right from Start. This setting removes those suggestions.

Installed programs are not affected: they all stay in place, and search by name finds and launches them as before. In Windows 10, the “Recently added” section also remains.

Exceptions and differences

The visible effect differs between versions. In Windows 10, it is specifically the promo cards for recommended apps that disappear. In Windows 11, according to the BoosterX description, the entire “Recommended” section disappears — keep this in mind if you use its recent files lists. Promotions after updates in Start and on other surfaces are additionally limited by the “Customer Experience” setting.

How to verify the result

Open Start: in Windows 10 the promo cards are gone, in Windows 11 the “Recommended” section has disappeared; an installed app is still found by search.

How to change and revert

Open Optimization → Customization → Search and assistants → Recommended apps in the Start menu and set the toggle to “Enabled”: BoosterX will apply hiding of recommended apps. Click “Apply” at the bottom of the page; if “Instant apply” is enabled, a separate button is not required. To revert, set the toggle to “Disabled”: BoosterX will return Windows to its default state — recommendations come back.

Confirmation

Related consumer offers setting: “Customer Experience”.
List of launch frequency: “Hide most used apps”.
BoosterX shell settings research.

Last verified: 2026-09-19.