The Recommended part throughout the Windows 11 Start menu has at all times been just like the drain filter on your sink, catching information and photographs earlier than they swirl away to the depths of your laborious drive. Well, now Start will acquire much more: web sites, including to its assortment of digital detritus.

Let’s simply be clear: Some individuals might discover the Recommended part of Start to be helpful — or simply Start usually. I’ve at all times had a love-hate relationship with it: I discover it’s a lot simpler to easily sort the Windows key + the identify of the app I want to launch, and go from there. Others might merely faucet the Windows key to open the Start menu and click on their most popular app. That’s positive.

But usually, I’ve by no means discovered Start all that helpful, apart from searching down an app I’ve forgotten the identify of.

Unfortunately, the brand new adjustments are coming to Start, prefer it or not. Windows Insider construct 22621.2359 provides the brand new adjustments to Start. And it’s a part of the Release Preview Channel, which means that Microsoft is on the cusp of rolling it out to the group at giant.

Here’s what Microsoft has to say concerning the new characteristic — which, fortuitously, you may flip off.

“This update introduces websites to the Recommended section of the Start menu,” Microsoft says. “These websites will be personalized for you and come from your browsing history. This gives you quick access to the websites that are important to you. You can remove any website URL from the Recommended section using the shortcut menu. To turn off the feature, go to Settings > Personalization > Start. You can adjust settings for all recommended content on the Start menu on this Settings page. Commercial customers can manage this feature using a policy.”

To be truthful, it’s good of Microsoft to focus on that this new characteristic may be turned off. If you haven’t already, take a second to dig by way of the Start personalization options that Microsoft highlights above: The Show lately opened gadgets in Start, Jump Lists, and File Explorer is the toggle to show off the whole lot of the Recommended part.

Mark Hachman / IDG

It doesn’t appear doubtless that Microsoft will allow you to decide and select which file varieties to incorporate in Recommended — you’ll simply have the choice to show the entire thing on and off.

Will ‘recommended’ web sites drive you to make use of Edge?

Of course, there’s one other angle: Edge. Microsoft doesn’t say whether or not it’s going to protect your browser alternative when opening up the Recommended websites, and the corporate has come beneath hearth for sneakily encouraging you to make use of Edge. In reality, Microsoft rolled out adjustments in 2021 to permit you to switch to a third-party browser, then do it in one click, after which, in August, preserve browser choice when using a Windows system component. It’s value noting that the latter change was launched within the Insider Dev Channel, and solely applies to EU customers — U.S. customers shall be directed to Edge, as a substitute. Are these new Recommended websites thought-about to be a system part? We don’t know.

Most browsers preserve a persistent historical past of tabs you’ve visited, with the choice to re-open lately closed tabs. Maybe Microsoft is attempting to be useful, nevertheless it looks like they’re overthinking it.

If you’re fed up with the Start saga, you may at all times use the Start personalization choices listed above, or contemplate using a third-party resolution just like the Start11 app. Either manner, the saga continues.