Question How do I get rid of this bloat/Copilot/Microsoft Start? (Windows 11)

[Turbonium]

I get all this news feed crap when I hit Start then go to the search bar on the top.

I've tried everything from uninstalling News to disabling feeds to registry tweaks and group policy editing.

Windows is hot garbage btw.

 

[mikeymikec]

I have this registry tweak that I do on all Win10/11 installs to disable web search results in the Start menu, I wonder if it might help:

; Disable web searching on Start menu
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search]
"CortanaConsent"=dword:00000000
"BingSearchEnabled"=dword:00000000

I added this in response to the Start menu stopping working because Bing was down a few years ago. The mind boggles that Windows doesn't (or didn't) have code to handle that eventuality!

I found another suggestion on the Internet:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows
DisableSearchBoxSuggestions=dword:00000001

I imagine you'll need to log out and back in again before it takes effect.

 

[Turbonium]

I think it's related to some garbage called "Microsoft Start" which I can't seem to locate, let alone disable.

 

[Tech Junky]

Boot from a Linux USB and then delete the folder for it. That's how I got rid of the security center bs that I didn't want.

 

[lantis3]

Open Shell Menu to replace Windows Start menu

GitHub - Open-Shell/Open-Shell-Menu: Classic Shell Reborn.

Classic Shell Reborn. Contribute to Open-Shell/Open-Shell-Menu development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

 

[mikeymikec]

Open Shell Menu to replace Windows Start menu

GitHub - Open-Shell/Open-Shell-Menu: Classic Shell Reborn.

Classic Shell Reborn. Contribute to Open-Shell/Open-Shell-Menu development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

Is the search function on that Start menu at least as good as Windows's? I seem to remember seeing problems if one tries to search for a Metro/UWP app in this one.

 

[lantis3]

I hardly use the Windows or Open Shell Menu's search function to search programs. I also don't use any Microsoft Store Apps, probably the only one is the Weather and News on the task bar.

The best of Open Shell Menu is that it let you customize the menu. You can also pin about anything to the menu. If something can't be pinned directly, control panel items for example, I'll create a shortcut, pin the shortcut to the menu, then delete the shortcut.

If I need to search files or folders, I'll use Everything.

If I need search something on internet, I'll use Chrome.

 

[lantis3]

I'll create a folder on a USB drive where I store shortcuts only, within that folder I'll create subfolders that contain shortcuts to commonly used programs into different categories.

When I format the drive, I don't have to recreate all the shortcuts, I just pin that folder back to the Start menu using re-installed Open Shell Menu.