Solved Use ViVe Tool GUI To Remove 'Recommended' Section On Start Menu

I've already got the vive tool gui tool installed on my desktop computer, previously I used the explorer patcher app to remove the 'recommended' section on the start menu. But ever since I updated to the latest windows 11 insider developer version the explorer patcher app doesn't function properly. That's why I'm wondering if there's a modification in the vive tool gui app that lets a user remove the recommended section from the start menu ? Thanks in advance for any help provided, also I'm wondering if there's a list of item's that can be modified while using that tool.
David

Have you tried this?



I have nothing in the Recommended section of the Start Menu. Sadly, I don't remember how I did it.
I did do an In-Place Upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11, so that brought a lot of tweaks along for the ride.





Don't know if any of this helps... but it's all I have.
I have a list of Vive tweaks, but nothing on there about the Recommended section.

I don't use Explorer Patcher.
But I have seen some recent updates for Explorer Patcher, to fix various things.

Ghot said:

Have you tried this?

Add or Remove Recommended Websites on Start Menu in Windows 11 Tutorial

This tutorial will show you how to add or remove recommended websites on the Start menu for your account, specific users, or all users in Windows 11. The Start menu is comprised of three sections: Pinned, All apps, and Recommended. Starting with Windows 11 build 23451 (Dev), Microsoft is...

www.elevenforum.com

I have nothing in the Recommended section of the Start Menu. Sadly, I don't remember how I did it.
I did do an In-Place Upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11, so that brought a lot of tweaks along for the ride.

View attachment 57840 View attachment 57841



Don't know if any of this helps... but it's all I have.
I have a list of Vive tweaks, but nothing on there about the Recommended section.

I don't use Explorer Patcher.
But I have seen some recent updates for Explorer Patcher, to fix various things.

Click to expand...

Hi Ghot,
As always, thanks so much for taking the time to reply to my question, I'm enclosing a screenshot of what I'm currently seeing when I pull up the start menu.
David

hi
the ExplorerPatcher 22621.1413.54.5 works fine with Windows 11 Home 22621.1555
Taskbar (right click) > Properties > Start menu > Disable the "Recommented" section
the Recommended section disappears

Hey Davy,
Guys, the OP stated he was using a dev. build and that Explorer Patcher was NO longer working to remove the word 'Recommended' and the line below it from the Start menu.

I have only one suggestion for you, at this point, you can remove the word 'Recommended' by 'For You' using vivetool.
However, nothing else is currently available for the dev/canary builds to get rid of those useless pesky lines while keeping the original Win11 look. UPDATE (See posts further down for Start11)

The following works on Canary, don't know about dev.

vivetool /enable /id:42533185
A system restart is needed for this one.

Start11 removes the reserved space entirely..

mart44 said:

Start11 removes the reserved space entirely..

Click to expand...

@mart44
Thank you for your post.
Does it work on Dev/Canary builds?

Update: Never mind. Tried it. It does work in Canary builds.
But Start11 does not support grouping items into one like the current Win11.
However It does remove the useless bit, so thanks for that.

If you hold the shift key down while dragging one shortcut on top of the other, they should group.

mart44 said:

If you hold the shift button down while dragging one shortcut on top of the other, they should group.

Click to expand...

Thank you.
I guess I need more time to tinker with it.
I have been using DeskScapes from Stardock but I will have to see within 30 days if this one is worth it.
Thanks again.

Hi,
Thanks so much for all of your replies, I'm really hoping that the developer of explorerpatcher will be offering a updated version that will work with my version of the insider version of windows that I'm currently using (23435.1000).

OAT said:

Hey Davy,
Guys, the OP stated he was using a dev. build and that Explorer Patcher was NO longer working to remove the word 'Recommended' and the line below it from the Start menu.

I have only one suggestion for you, at this point, you can remove the word 'Recommended' by 'For You' using vivetool.
However, nothing else is currently available for the dev/canary builds to get rid of those useless pesky lines while keeping the original Win11 look. UPDATE (See posts further down for Start11)

The following works on Canary, don't know about dev.

vivetool /enable /id:42533185
A system restart is needed for this one.

View attachment 57846

Click to expand...

I entered this ID # using the vivetool gui application but the recommend section is still showing there.

Davy49 said:

I entered this ID # using the vivetool gui application but the recommend section is still showing there.

Click to expand...

Please re-read what I wrote. I never stated it would remove the 'Recommended' section.

If it wasn't for the Recommended section and that very useful Get Started app I would switch to Linux in a heartbeat. I'm so glad that MS knows what we want and/or need better than we do.

Winuser said:

If it wasn't for the Recommended section and that very useful Get Started app I would switch to Linux in a heartbeat. I'm so glad that MS knows what we want and/or need better than we do.

Click to expand...

LOL

Winuser said:

If it wasn't for the Recommended section and that very useful Get Started app I would switch to Linux in a heartbeat. I'm so glad that MS knows what we want and/or need better than we do.

Click to expand...

I would like to get better advice on energy efficiency using laptop so I can save 50p over a year on my electricity bill.

Who remembers the days of the 70's big increases when the public was advised to share baths. This probably led to more unplanned births and an increase in energy usage as more energy used to look after the babies lol.

re. the recommended section, my biggest gripe is as a Pro user (using it for business), I cannot remove it but a "pesky" student can. You would have though a student needs more recommendation than a professional business person?

batch_file_to_remove_recommended_section_of_start

Have a read, it works

CornishRattler said:

batch_file_to_remove_recommended_section_of_start

Have a read, it works

Click to expand...

I was going to try it until I saw it was for the Dev Channel only.

CornishRattler said:

batch_file_to_remove_recommended_section_of_start

Have a read, it works

Click to expand...

I read it. It's a year old. cdb.exe is no longer a part of the X64 debugging package. It was in X86.
The path points to "%programfiles(X86)%\Windows Kits\10\Debuggers\x64\cdb.exe" but there is no such path. (it ends at 10\)
The debugger itself is now in C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.WinDbg_1.2303.30001.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe but no cdb.exe.
The script was tested last on version 22xxx, we are now at 25xxx using explorer as a UWPA.

Thanks but no thanks.

Well, I was going to say "Only in Dev, you say? Pity!"

But now I understand why the bat hasn't become a wildfire-popular file among users of W11. If it did the trick for us, we'd know about it a lot sooner than this.

As soon as somebody finds the way to get rid of Recommended (and Get Started) that really works, the word will spread faster than a major virus.

Thanks, @OAT. And thanks for your well-intentioned post, @CornishRattler.

Even with recommended section disabled in group policy one still sees this. If GPO won't get rid of it, I do not think any other native windows tweak will. For me, third party apps that alter the GUI are more trouble than they're worth. Since I rarely work from Start, it's so minor in the grand scheme of things I can overlook it.