I like Windows 11, but there are a few features I like to see gone. Microsoft is not going to do it, so we have to.
- Taskbar clutter
- Remove extra taskbar click
- (Don’t) confirm your actions (UAC)
- Stop multitasking suggestions
- Stop suggested actions
- Stop recommendations
- Stop search results from the Web
- Ditch all widgets
To get rid of some taskbar clutter, I suggest turning off some taskbar options. Click <Windows> | Settings | Personalization, then Search = Hide, Task view = Off, Widgets = Off, Chat = Off.
I’m not fond of clicking the ^ in the taskbar to see my important System Tray icons, so I right-click the taskbar, choose Taskbar settings, go to Other system tray icons, and turn on the icons I always want to see.
To get rid of that annoying greyed-out screen asking “Do you want to allow …”, click <Windows> and type UAC to find User Access Control, turn it to its lowest setting, and click <OK>.
To get rid of some annoying multitasking suggestions, click <Windows> | Settings | System | Multitasking | Snap windows, then uncheck the three options that start with “Show”.
To get rid of annoying “suggested actions” when you copy a date, time, or phone number, click <Windows> | System and turn off “Suggested actions”.
To get rid of annoying recommendations for tips, shortcuts, new apps, and more, click <Windows> | Settings | Personalization turn off “Show recommendations …”.
To stop getting web results when you are searching your Start menu, click <Windows> | Settings | Privacy & security and turn off “Microsoft account” and “Show search highlights”.
And the one that bothers me the most is Widgets. You turned them off in #1, but they’re still there! Click <Windows>-W to see them in all their ugliness. To completely get rid of them, you need to run a command at an elevated prompt: right-click <Windows> and choose Terminal (Admin), then at the C:\> Prompt type ‘winget uninstall “windows web experience pack”‘ (without the single quotes, but with the double quotes), then hit <Enter>. It will take a few seconds, and maybe a reboot, but then the widgets are GONE!
There are more, but those are the main ones.