Remove Ads From Cortana Search Box
How to block them:
Luckily, you are able to remove most of the ads from Windows 10 to enhance user experience.
How to fix when the Windows 10 taskbar is not working:
Disable Site Notifications In Chrome
If that doesnt stop the pop-ups, the ads might be adware, or they could be coming from Windows itself. Heres how to stop them.
Did you find it helpful?YesNo
Dont Miss: Can You Use A Tablet As A Laptop
Stop File Explorer Ads
Here’s how to stop seeing ads for OneDrive or Microsoft 365 as you browse files and folders on your Windows 10 computer.
Press Win+E on your keyboard to open the File Explorer window.
Click the View tab.
Select Options and choose Change Folder and Search Options. The Folder Options dialog box opens.
Choose the View tab.
Scroll through the list of options in the Advanced settings section.
Clear the Show sync provider notifications check box.
Select Apply and OK.
Read Also: Can Airpods Connect To Hp
Turn Off Personalized Ads In Windows Apps
If you don’t want to see personalized ads in Windows apps or Windows devices :
1. Open Settings. You can do this from the Start menu in Windows.
3. Turn off “Let apps use my advertising ID for experiences across apps.”
Note that even after opting out of the settings above Microsoft and Windows apps can still collect data about your online activity unless you use an ad blocker or other privacy tools. The settings above, however, will prevent the ads you from drawing on your search history or sites you’ve recently visited.
How To Disable Ads On Your Windows 10 Lock Screen

Chris Stobing
Chris Stobing is a writer and blogger from the heart of Silicon Valley. His work has appeared in PCMag and Digital Trends, and he’s served as Managing Editor of Gadget Review. Read more…
If youre like me, you might have opened up your Windows 10 laptop today only to see a giant ad for Square Enixs Rise of the Tomb Raider plastered across your login screen. This is the work of the Windows Spotlight feature in your Personalization settings, and thankfully, you can turn it off for good.
Side note: Even if youre a Tomb Raider fan, you probably shouldnt buy it from the Windows Store as your lock screen would suggest.
To remove Windows 10s lock screen ads, click on your Start menu, and open up the Settings app:
From here, choose the Personalization setting, and then navigate to the Lock Screen tab.
Once this is open, find the field that reads Windows Spotlight, and click on the box. You can switch this to display either a Picture or a Slideshow, depending on your personal preference.
This will disable Microsoft from automatically pushing ads to your login screen without your permission.
Lastly, once youve selected the new style of login screen, be sure to un-check the option for Get fun facts, tips, tricks, and more on your lock screen.
This guarantees you wont have to deal with unexpected sales pitches for Tomb Raider the next time you try to log in.
Also Check: Free Faxing Software For Mac
To Remove All Types Of Malware From Windows Follow These Steps:
Click on the Start button, then click on Control Panel.
When the Control Panel appears, click on Uninstall a Program from the Programs category.
Find the malicious program and uninstall it.
The Programs and Features screen will be displayed with a list of all the programs installed on your computer. Scroll through the list until you find the malicious program, then , then click the Uninstall button that appears on the top toolbar.
Look out for any suspicious program that could be behind all the drama anything you dont remember downloading or that doesnt sound like a genuine program.
Here are some known malicious programs: PDFPoof, BatBitRst, MessengerNow, SearchAd, MyPrintableCoupons, Reading Cursors, ProMediaConverter, PDFOnline-express, See Scenic Elf, Clickware, Easy Speedtest, or WebDiscover.
The malicious program may have a different name on your computer. If you cannot find any malicious programs on your computer, you can continue with the next step from this guide.
Follow the on-screen prompts to uninstall the program.
In the next message box, confirm the uninstall process by clicking on Yes, then follow the prompts to uninstall the program. Make sure to read all of the prompts carefully, because some malicious programs try to sneak things in hoping that you wont read closely.
Read Also: How Can I Get Wifi Anywhere On My Laptop
Disable Notifications For An App Directly From The Notification Pop
You can disable notifications for the concerned app using the current notification itself. Lets take a look at the procedure.
Once found, click on the 3-dot menu icon.
Now click on Turn off all notifications for app where is the name of your app.
And thats it! All notifications for the concerned app will now be disabled on your system.
Recommended Reading: Can My Airpods Connect To My Laptop
New Hp Laptop New Download Of Firefox Same Norton Security Set To Block Pop Ups I Get A Page Full Of Pop Ups W/every Webpage Wtf
- 9 replies
I continue to get a page full of non stop pop ups despite blocking sites,& setting the Pop Up Blocker to BLOCK. I get ads that overlap, and open multiple tabs with a touch on ANY Part of the page. Ie I search in google, find a website click on it, and six windows or total shit advertising, dating sex sites, and offers for web security, some that simply seem to download themselves, in addition, the one or two sites I don’t get pop ups on i get continuous notifications as in with every click, from norton that they have blocked attempted “intrusion” WTF is going on. I have never had this much shit crap to deal with and don’t plan to much longer, Im ready to take this thing back and say fuck it. Pardon my tone, but this is bull shit, any suggestions. Of course I find it absolutely wrong that you can’t actually get help from anyone at Firefox, like Sprint, and other Tech companies, they push the complaints and user issues to other customers. So thanks to those of you who do what you can to help.
Chosen solution
After the above,Adblock Plus Blocks annoying video ads on YouTube, Facebook ads, bannersand much more. Adblock Plus blocks all annoying ads, andsupports websites by not blocking unobtrusive ads by default .
Adblock Plus Pop-up Addon Adblock Plus Pop-up Addon extends the blocking functionality ofAdblock Plus to those annoying pop-up windows that open on mouseclicks and other user actions.
Firefox On A Computer
Read Also: How To Wipe Clean Hp Laptop
How To Stay Safe Online
Its important to use ad blocker applications such as AdGuard to protect your PC from malicious web-sites. Most security experts says that it is okay to block ads. You should do so just to stay safe! And, of course, the AdGuard may to block misleading and other unwanted webpages.
Get Rid Of Nagging Taskbar Pop
RELATED:How to Disable Windows 10’s Taskbar Pop-up Notifications
Windows 10 displays taskbar pop-up ads, which Microsoft calls tips, tricks, and suggestions. These tips have included recommendations to use Microsoft Edge for better battery life, and an encouragement to use Microsoft Edge so you can earn Microsoft Rewards points.
If youd like to just use your own preferred applications without Microsoft nagging you, youll need to disable these tips. To do so, head to Settings > System > Notifications & Actions and disable the Get tips, tricks, and suggestions as you use Windows option.
Don’t Miss: Unblocking School Computers
Stop Microsoft Edge Pop Ups
Microsoft Edge is the default internet browser in Windows 10. You can prevent ads from popping up in Microsoft Edge through the following steps:
Step 1: Open Microsoft Edge and click the Settings and More ellipsis at the right end of the toolbar.
Step 2: Click Settings near the bottom of the drop-down menu.
Step 3: Select Privacy and Security and then switch Block Pop-ups to On. In some versions, you need to click View advanced settings to find Block Pop-ups toggle switch.
Also Check: What Brand Of Laptop Is Best For Students
Remove Ads From Windows 11s Start Menu

In Windows 11, just like in Windows 10, Microsoft promotes apps in the Start Menu. These are apps that arent part of the operating system, but when you install Windows 11, the company decides by itself to automatically add them to your PC even if you didnt ask for them. They just pop out of nowhere on the Start Menu.
Windows 11 advertised apps on the Start Menu
Some of the promoted apps are actually installed on your PC, while for others, Windows 11 only pins shortcuts to their pages from the Microsoft Store. Either way, if you want to get rid of the Windows 11 Start Menu ads, you can. Open the Start Menu on your PC, locate the promoted app you want to remove, and unpin or uninstall it. To do these things, you can right-click on that app and then select Unpin from Start or Uninstall from the contextual menu.
Remove advertised apps from Windows 11
Unfortunately, we dont have an automated way of doing this for all the advertised apps, as Microsoft doesnt provide any list of them. They probably change regularly, depending on the advertising contracts they have with the developers of those apps.
Also Check: Best Computer To Play Ark Survival Evolved
Turn Off Personalized Ads In Your Browser And Microsoft Account
1. Navigate to in your web browser.
2. Toggle off “Personalized ads in this browser”. This forces Microsoft to show generic ads when you’re on sites like MSN.com, Outlook.com, Bing search, and other Microsoft-related sites and partners, including those owned by AOL.
3. Toggle off “Personalized ads wherever I use my Microsoft account.” This disables personalized ads for any site or app you sign on with your Microsoft account, such as Xbox, Windows, and Windows phone.
Ad Blocker Testing Methodology
When researching the best free ad blockers, we looked for the following criteria:
- Always free, without a paywall for important features
- Good user ratings
- Do not require an account to use services
- Recently updated
- Readily available as a plugin for at least one browser or operating system
- Blocks display ads
- Blocks streaming video ads
Google still allows interstitials for a select few reasons, such as cookie usage notifications and age verifications. Where relevant, we identified ad blockers that block interstitial ads, although its not a separate rating criterion.
We tested each ad blocker using the same list of sites to and pages to ensure consistency with results. Examples of sites we used for testing include Forbes.com, Fark.com, YouTube, Tubi, and OrlandoSentinel.com. We focused on sites that utilize a variety of ads to ensure we gathered a broader understanding of each ad blockers effectiveness.
We scored each ad blocker a 0-7 score based on those 7 testing criteria.
See also:How to stop your internet provider tracking your activity
Read Also: How To Cast Your Phone To Your Computer
Hide App Suggestions In The Share Pane
Windows 10s Creators Update added a new Share pane to File Explorer. Click the Share tab on the ribbon and click the Share button to open it and share a file to an installed app.
Expect to see Microsoft add more advertising to Windows 10 in future major updates. Windows 10s Anniversary Update turned more of the default tiles on the Start menu into sponsored tiles, for example.
Microsoft Edge On A Computer
Recommended Reading: How To Reboot Hp Laptop To Factory Settings
See A Site By Turning Off Chrome’s Ad Blocker
You won’t see ads on websites that have poor ad experiences, like:
- Too many ads
- Annoying ads with flashing graphics or autoplaying audio
- Ad walls before you can see content
When these ads are blocked, you’ll see an “Intrusive ads blocked” message. Intrusive ads will be removed from the page.
Learn more about why Chrome blocks ads in the .
How To Remove Ads From Windows 11s Settings App
By now, youre probably already beginning to understand just how many ads Microsoft pushes in Windows 11. So you wont be surprised to hear that the Settings app is also a victim of advertising. Although we didnt see any ad yet in the Settings app on any of our Windows 11 devices, there is a switch in it that says we all can see ads at some point. To ensure you dont get ads in Settings, open it, select Privacy & security on the left sidebar, enter General on the right panel, and turn off the Show me suggested content in the Settings app switch.
Remove ads from Windows 11’s Settings
Furthermore, if youre already here, you might want to also harden your privacy a bit more by making sure Microsoft doesnt create a personalized advertising profile of you. To do that, disable the switch that says Let apps show me personalized ads by using my advertising ID.
Stop Microsoft from showing personalized ads
Recommended Reading: How Do I Screen Record On My Hp Laptop
Prevent Notification Ads From Appearing
RELATED:What’s New in Windows 10’s Creators Update
In the Creators Update, Microsoft added new suggestions that appear as notifications. These ads inform you about various Windows features and appear as normal desktop notifications. For example, you might see a notification telling you to set up Cortana. Like other notifications, theyre also stored in the Action Center so you can see them later.
To disable these suggestions that appear as notifications, head to Settings > System > Notifications and set Show me the Windows welcome experience after updates and occasionally when I sign in to highlight whats new and suggested to Off.
Disable All Notifications And Action Center Using The Registry Editor

If youre a Windows 11 Home user, then you can use the Registry Editor to disable notifications completely on your system. Follow the steps below to help you along with the process.
Note: Just like the Group Policy Editor, these changes will also disable Action Center on your system. You can use third-party widgets on your desktop to restore quick access functionality or access these options directly from the Settings app.
Press Windows + R on your keyboard, type in the following, and press Enter on your keyboard.
regedit
Now navigate to the following path using the left sidebar. You can also copy-paste the same in the address bar at the top of your screen.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows
Now right-click on an empty area and select New. Ensure that Windows is selected in the sidebar.
Select Key.
Name the new key as Explorer.
Now select DWORD Value.
Name your new DWORD value the following.
DisableNotificationCenter
Double click on the same and set its Value data: to 1.
Close the registry editor and restart your PC for good measure. Once restarted, notifications and the Action Center will be disabled on your PC.
Don’t Miss: How To Change Keyboard Color On Laptop
How To Allow Pop
When Chrome blocks a pop-up from a website, it displays an icon with a red X in the corner of the Omnibox.
If you suspect this is an error and want to see pop-ups from this website, click on the icon to see site-specific options, select Always Allow Pop-ups and Redirects and then click Done.
After you click Done, refresh the page to save your choice and see any intended pop-ups on this website.
Alternatively, if you just want to see a pop-up one time, click the blue link in this window and youll be redirected to the pop-up that was initially blocked.
RELATED:How to Make Chrome Stop Offering to Save Credit Card Data
How To Block Adult Websites On Your Window Pc
As with many good things, one of the bad sides of the Internet is the wide availability of adult websites. More often than not, this NSFW sites can easily distort a kids minds and have some grave implications in the long term. Not to mention, the Trojan, Virus and other Malware threats from these dubious sites that can compromise your financial and personal identity.
While you can always using a browser extension to block adult content on a specific browser, but they can be easily bypassed with a proxy or using another web browser. To help you with that, here are some of the best ways to block adult sites on Windows, with and without the use of any software. Lets begin.
Also Read: How To Block Adult Content on Android
Recommended Reading: How Much Does It Cost To Lease A Laptop