How to Find and Disable Ads in Windows 10: 6 Places to Look

We live in a world full of advertising, and Windows 10 is no exception. No one wants to see adverts cluttering up their operating system, so let’s walk through how to disable all the ads.

You’ll find ads on the lock screen, Start menu, taskbar, and many other places. While Windows 10 was originally free, you now have to pay for a license. You shouldn’t have to put up with ads in a paid product.

With that in mind, here’s how to remove adverts across Windows 10.

1. How to Remove Ads From the Lock Screen

The Windows lock screen is one of the first things you see when you turn on your computer, so you hardly want to see ads here.

If you use Windows Spotlight as your lock screen, a feature that displays high-quality images from Microsoft’s library, then you may occasionally find the oft-scenic photos replaced with something less appealing. For example, past egregious examples include images for the video game Rise of the Tomb Raider and the film Minions.

Windows spotlight also displays facts about the wallpaper, which usually links to a Bing search. Unfortunately, there’s no way to disable these when using Spotlight.

You either have to put up with these adverts or stop using Windows Spotlight entirely. If the latter option is for you:

1. Press Windows key + I to open Settings.
2. Navigate to Personalization > Lock screen.
3. From here, use the dropdown beneath Background to select either Picture or Slideshow. You can then customize as appropriate.
4. Slide Get fun facts, tips, tricks and more on your lock screen to Off.

Related: How to Find the Windows 10 Spotlight Lock Screen Images

The Start menu is one of the worst offenders for adverts, as they appear in two places.

Live Tiles

By default, the Start menu is full of tiles from pre-installed bloatware, or that advertise applications on the Microsoft Store.

It’s a nuisance but simple to deal with. For pre-installed apps, right-click the tile and select Uninstall. For Microsoft Store links, right-click the tile and select Unpin from Start. These won’t reappear once you’ve removed them unless a future update forces them back.

Related: The Best Way to Clean Windows 10: A Step-by-Step Guide

All Apps

When scrolling through your list of programs, you might come across applications that are listed as Suggested. These are placed by Microsoft, which bases the suggestions on other apps that you’ve downloaded.

If you see an app suggestion you want gone, right-click it and select Don’t show this suggestion or Turn off all suggestions.

Alternatively, if you want to be proactive and turn these off before even seeing them:

1. Press Windows key + I to load Settings.
2. Navigate to Personalization > Start.
3. Once here, turn Show suggestions occasionally in Start to Off.

3. How to Remove Placeholder App Ads

Never one to pass up an opportunity to promote its own products, Microsoft included several promotional apps within Windows 10. These include Get Office and Get Skype. You might already have the actual full app, but you’ll still see these.

Not only will you find these on your Start Menu, but you may also get notifications about them. To get rid of the notifications, press Windows key + I to open Settings, navigate to System > Notifications & actions, and slide the offending apps Off.

But let’s go one step further and remove these promotional apps completely.

Press Windows key + I and navigate to System > Apps & features. This will bring up a list of all apps installed on your system. Search for a specific app or scroll through them all (you might as well clear out the clutter while you’re here). Once you find an offending app, click it and select Uninstall to remove it.

4. How to Remove Ads From the Taskbar and Notification Center

You might have encountered ads in the taskbar or as notifications that end up in the Notification Center. These might be slightly helpful tips on how to use Windows 10 or outright ads for Bing’s point system.

To remove these, press Windows key + I to open Settings, then navigate to System > Notifications & actions. Slide the following options Off:

• Show me the Windows welcome experience after updates and occasionally when I sign in, to highlight what’s new and suggested
• Suggest ways I can finish setting up my device to get the most out of Windows
• Get tips, tricks, and suggestions as you use Windows

5. How to Remove Ads In Some Windows Games

Gone are the days when you could play a simple game of the long-running desktop game Solitaire. Now it includes adverts! Microsoft Solitaire Collection comes pre-installed with Windows 10 and serves up various adverts, from banner ads to full-screen videos. Minesweeper is available from the Store, and you’ll get similar treatment in that game too.

Sadly, to remove these adverts, you’ll have to pay and upgrade to a Premium membership. And it’s not cheap either: $1.99 per month or $14.99 for a year, per app. To do this, launch the game and go to Menu > Upgrade to Premium.

Alternatively, you could download similar applications from the Store, though they won’t be official Microsoft games, or play some free online games courtesy of Bing.

6. How to Remove Ads From File Explorer

Are you using a free word processor and not storing your files in the cloud? Microsoft is very keen that you change this behavior and sign up to Microsoft 365 and OneDrive. So much so that it displays ads for it in File Explorer.

To disable these:

1. Open File Explorer.
2. In the top menu, click View > Options.
3. Switch to the View tab.
4. Uncheck Show sync provider notifications.
5. Click OK.

How to Disable Advertisement Tracking in Windows 10

Windows gives you an ID which Microsoft uses to track you across apps and serve relevant adverts. Since you want to disable Windows 10 ads, you should also put a stop to this tracking.

To do this:

1. Press Windows key + I to open Settings.
2. Navigate to Privacy > General.
3. Slide Let apps use my advertising ID to make ads more interesting to you based on your app activity to Off.

Take Control of Your Windows 10 Privacy

When it comes to an operating system, ads are a pointless nuisance that clutter the screen and distract you from your task. Hopefully, you’ve successfully banished all ads from Windows 10!

To reduce the number of ads you see, always install apps from trusted sources, remove programs you don’t use, and keep everything updated. Those are all important security tips too.

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