14 DAY TRIAL // One of the criticized changes implemented into Windows 10 is the Start menu app suggestion system, which is often described as a way to introduce apps and bring them on our desktops.
Basically, Microsoft is showing app recommendations in the Windows 10 Start menu not necessarily to promote some specific store apps, but rather to help users discover the benefits of the new operating system and move the focus from the desktop to the store as much as possible.
While options to disable these suggestions are also offered, users are now asking Microsoft to stop displaying ads in the Start menu, pointing to the “Get Office” and “Get Skype” apps pre-installed in Windows 10 as two such examples.
These aren't necessarily ads, but shortcuts to the main apps, but users still consider them unwanted content and would rather Microsoft removed them from the very beginning. Especially when they do not make sense, as is the case of Office 365 subscribers who can't “Get Office” anymore.
“Please stop installing ads in my Start menu. I don't need an ad to 'Get Office' when I am an Office 365 subscriber,” a trending suggestion posted in the Windows 10 Feedback app reads.
How to get rid of these “ads”
While neither the first nor the second example is an ad, there's actually a way to disable app suggestions from showing up in the Windows 10 Start menu.
All you need to do is fire up the Windows 10 Settings screen, go to Personalization > Start, and uncheck the option that says “Occasionally show suggestions in Start.”
On the other hand, if you wish to remove the Get Office and Get Skype apps, it's all just a matter of clicks. Again launch the Windows 10 Settings screen, but this time go to System > Apps & features and look for the two apps on the list. Click them one at a time, hit the uninstall button, and you're good to go.
