Guide to Enabling or Disabling the Recommended Section in Windows 11 File Explorer Home

Key Notes

• You can toggle the Recommended section via File Explorer Options or the Registry Editor.
• Disabling this feature can enhance your File Explorer experience by removing unnecessary recommendations.
• Restoring defaults in File Explorer can help if you want to revert to the original settings.

Mastering File Explorer Customization in Windows 11: Enable or Disable the Recommended Section

In this guide, we will walk through the process of enabling or disabling the recommended section in Windows 11’s File Explorer. This newly introduced feature presents files that may be relevant to you, based on your recent activity.

How to Enable or Disable the Recommended Section in File Explorer Home on Windows 11

To enable or disable the ‘Recommended’ section in File Explorer’s Home, you can follow either of these two methods:

1. Using File Explorer Options

Step 1: Toggle File Recommendations via Folder Options

The most straightforward approach to toggle File Recommendations in the File Explorer Home is through the Folder Options dialog.

Press Win + I to launch the Settings app. In the search box, input ‘file explorer options’ and select File Explorer Options from the results.

Within the File Explorer Options dialog, navigate to the General tab and uncheck the following items found in the Privacy area:

• Show recommended section
• Include account-related insights, recent, favorite, and recommended files

Then, click Apply, followed by OK to confirm your changes. Restart File Explorer to ensure these modifications take effect.

After unchecking these options, the ‘Recommended’ section will no longer be displayed in your File Explorer Home (the display of the ‘Recommended’ section is the default setting).

If you decide to reinstate the section in the future, you can revert these changes by re-entering the File Explorer Options dialog and checking the box for ‘Include account-related insights, recent, favorite, and recommended files‘ as well as the ‘Show recommended section‘.After that, click Apply > OK and restart File Explorer.

Step 2: Adjust Settings through the Registry Editor

For those comfortable with advanced settings, you can use the Registry Editor to enable or disable File Recommendations in the File Explorer Home. However, use caution and consider backing up your Registry before proceeding with any changes.

Press Win + R , type ‘ regedit ‘ in the Run dialog and hit Enter. Confirm by clicking Yes in the User Account Control prompt.

The Registry Editor will open. Navigate to the following path:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer

In the right pane, locate these two DWORD entries:

1. ShowCloudFilesInQuickAccess
2. ShowRecommendations

These DWORD entries determine the visibility of recommended files in File Explorer. To disable the Recommended section, double-click on each DWORD and alter their Value data to ‘ 0 '.

To re-enable this section, change their Value data back to ‘ 1 '. Remember to restart File Explorer after each adjustment.

1. The Quick Access and Recommended sections have interactions, especially in Windows 11.
2. When ShowRecommendations is set to 0, File Explorer will display only Quick Access or its default layouts. Conversely, when ShowRecommendations is set to 1, it will override Quick Access, instead showing recommendations for recent files.
3. Enabling Recommendations ( ShowRecommendations = 1 ) while having Cloud Files in Quick Access turned off ( ShowCloudFilesInQuickAccess = 0 ) will replace the Quick Access section with Recommended, excluding cloud files from display. To show cloud files in the Recommended section, you must set ShowCloudFilesInQuickAccess to 1 .

Additional Tips

• Before making changes in the Registry Editor, ensure you create a backup to prevent data loss.
• Regularly check for Windows updates to keep your system and its features functioning optimally.
• Explore other customization options in File Explorer settings for a more tailored experience.

Summary

This guide provided a detailed overview of how to enable or disable the Recommended section in Windows 11’s File Explorer. Options were illustrated using File Explorer Options and the Registry Editor, allowing for user customization to suit preferences. Key best practices and additional tips were shared to enhance user experience further.

Conclusion

With the ability to enable or disable the Recommended section, Windows 11 users can tailor File Explorer to their liking. Whether you prefer a more minimal interface or want to take advantage of personalized file recommendations, this guide has equipped you with the necessary steps to make those adjustments smoothly. Don’t hesitate to explore more settings and features for an optimized user experience.

FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)