The Start Menu Advertisements
The Windows 11 Start Menu is designed to be the central hub for launching your installed applications. However, Microsoft frequently uses this prime real estate to push their own cloud services. Under the guise of “Account-related notifications,” Windows will often inject a bright, unavoidable warning badge on your profile picture in the Start Menu. When you click it, instead of a critical security warning, you are presented with a blatant advertisement urging you to sign up for a paid Microsoft OneDrive subscription or back up your files to their cloud. If you want a clean, professional Start Menu free of Microsoft’s upselling tactics, you must disable these notifications.
How to Turn Off Account Notifications
You can strip the promotional badges from your profile icon via the Start Menu settings.
- Click the Start Menu and type Settings, or press the Windows Key + I.
- In the left-hand sidebar, click on Personalization.
- In the main window, click on Start.
- Look for the toggle switch labeled “Show account related notifications occasionally.”
- Toggle this switch to the Off position.
A Professional Hub
The change is instantaneous. The warning badges and colored dots will completely vanish from your profile picture. The Start Menu will return to being a strictly utilitarian application launcher, completely ignoring your OneDrive subscription status and allowing you to work without constant interruption.