Fix Windows 11 Worst Features

Windows 11 rolled out with a sharp, modern look—sure, it’s got style—but a bunch of built-in features quickly wear out their welcome. You’ve got pop-up ads, a flood of notifications, and these cloud integrations that, honestly, just get in the way if you’re trying to keep things simple.

Instead of making life easier, some of these choices just add hoops to jump through and push stuff most people never asked for. If you’re tired of it, you can take back some control. A handful of tweaks, a few feature shut-offs, and picking the right software can really make Windows 11 feel more like yours again.

Key Takeaways

• Windows 11 defaults tend to push Microsoft’s own services ahead of what users might actually want or need
• Turning off startup apps, notifications, and those search highlights speeds things up and keeps distractions down
• Switching to a local account and using different browsers helps with privacy and dodges forced cloud stuff

Optimize Windows 11 Boot Performance

Supposedly, Windows 11 is all about quick startups, but a lot of folks notice their machines dragging their feet at boot. Most of the time, it’s because extra apps sneak into the startup routine and eat up resources before you even see your desktop.

All those background processes fighting for attention can really slow things down.

Turn Off Unwanted Auto-Launch Programs

If your PC’s taking its sweet time to start, it’s worth checking which apps are set to launch at boot. You can do this in the system settings—just poke around a bit and see what’s running.

Head to Settings, then Apps. You’ll see a list of everything installed and whether it’s set to run at startup.

Steps to disable startup programs:

1. Hit Win + I to open Settings
2. Click Apps on the left
3. Scroll through the startup list
4. Toggle off anything you don’t need right away
5. Usually, it’s safe to ditch stuff like media players, chat apps, or game launchers from the startup queue

Windows will show you which apps hit your boot time the hardest. If something’s marked “High impact,” that’s your cue—it’s probably worth disabling unless you really need it.

Stuff you can safely disable:

• Game launchers
• Streaming apps
• Photo editors
• Non-essential productivity tools
• Social media apps

Stuff to keep running:

• Antivirus
• Drivers
• Security tools
• Hardware utilities

After you make these changes, restart your PC and see if things feel snappier. Most people notice a real difference—sometimes shaving half a minute or more off boot time, depending on how much junk was loading before.

Stop Disruptive Windows 11 Notifications And Ads

If you’re like most people, Windows 11’s constant ads and notifications are just plain annoying. It’s like the OS is always trying to sell you something or pull your attention away. Microsoft calls them “helpful suggestions,” but let’s be real—they’re mostly just noise.

Disable System Notifications

You can shut most of this down in the settings. It’s a few clicks, but worth it.

Steps to disable notifications:

1. Open Settings, then click System
2. Pick Notifications
3. Turn off all notifications, or just pick and choose which apps can bug you
4. Expand Additional Settings
5. Uncheck tips, suggestions, and promo boxes

This lets you keep the important stuff and ditch the rest. No more random pop-ups about things you don’t care about.

Remove Suggestions And Promotions

Promos show up in a few different places, so you’ll need to hunt them down one by one.

Privacy and security settings:

• Go to Settings > Privacy and Security
• Click Recommendations and Offers
• Flip everything to Off

Search highlights removal:

The search bar loves to show you trending news, weird icons, or holiday graphics. If you just want a clean search box, here’s how:

1. Press Win + I
2. Head to Privacy and Security
3. Search for “search permissions” or find Search Permissions
4. Go down to More Settings
5. Toggle off Show Search Highlights

That’s it—the search bar goes back to being simple, without all the extra noise.

Eliminate Unwanted Search Highlights

The search box in Windows 11 is always cycling through icons, graphics, and random snippets—everything from news to politics. Sometimes it’s just a cutesy drawing; other times, it’s stuff you’d rather not see at all.

Honestly, it turns the search tool into an ad board, and political stuff especially can be off-putting if you’re just trying to get work done.

Turn Off Dynamic Search Box Content

You can turn all this off in the settings. It’s under privacy and security.

Steps to disable:

1. Press Win + I
2. Go to Privacy & Security
3. Click Search Permissions (or search for it)
4. Scroll to More Settings
5. Toggle off “Show search highlights”

Once you do this, the search box and start menu stop showing all that extra stuff. Just close out of settings and check—the interface should be clean again.

Bring Back The Traditional Right-Click Menu

With Windows 11, the right-click menu hides a bunch of old favorites behind “Show more options.” Now you’ve got to click twice for what used to take one. All for looks, really.

Modify The Windows Registry With Caution

If you’re comfortable poking around in the registry, you can get the classic menu back. Just be careful—messing this up can cause headaches.

Press Windows key + R, type “regedit,” and hit Enter. Then go to HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareClassesCLSID.

Right-click CLSID, pick New > Key, and name it: {86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2}.

Right-click that new key, do New > Key again, and call this one InProcServer32.

Double-click (Default) under InProcServer32, leave the value blank, and hit OK.

Return To Previous Context Menu Behavior

Close the Registry Editor. Open Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc), switch to Processes, find Windows Explorer, right-click, and restart it. The screen might flicker for a sec.

To check if it worked:

1. Open File Explorer
2. Right-click any file or folder
3. The old-school context menu should pop up right away

Now you’ve got all your right-click options back in one go—no extra click needed.

Disable Or Remove OneDrive And Microsoft Teams

Disable OneDrive Automatic Backup

OneDrive gets pushed hard in Windows 11, syncing your stuff to the cloud whether you want it or not. If you’re not into that, you can turn off the auto-backup.

1. Right-click the OneDrive icon in the system tray
2. Pick Settings
3. Click Manage Backup
4. Turn off any folders being backed up

This stops OneDrive from uploading your files in the background. It’ll still be there, just not doing anything without your say-so.

Remove OneDrive Completely

If you’d rather get rid of OneDrive altogether, you can uninstall it in the Apps section of Settings.

Steps to uninstall OneDrive:

1. Open Settings
2. Go to Apps
3. Find OneDrive in the list
4. Right-click OneDrive
5. Select Uninstall
6. Follow the prompts

That’s it—no more OneDrive, and no more surprise syncing.

Delete Microsoft Teams

Teams comes pre-installed, but unless you’re collaborating for work or school, it’s just taking up space.

To uninstall Teams:

• Use the same steps as for OneDrive
• Settings > Apps
• Find Microsoft Teams
• Right-click and uninstall

Now you’ve freed up resources and ditched another app you probably never wanted.

Convert To Local Account And Password

Convert Back To Local User Account

Windows 11 really wants you to use a Microsoft account for login, but you can still switch to a local account if you’d rather keep things offline and simple.

Go to the accounts section in Control Panel or Settings.

Click “sign in with a local account instead.” You’ll need your PIN to confirm.

Set up your username and password—these will replace the email login.

The system will let you know when you’re switched over. Note: Windows still nags you for a PIN even after this, which is a little annoying.

Remove Windows Hello PIN

If you want to get rid of the PIN too, go back to account settings, find sign-in options, and look for the Windows Hello section.

Click setup or manage, enter your password, and then hit remove. Confirm again, and enter your password one last time.

Now, you’ll just use your regular username and password to log in—no more PIN or biometrics unless you change your mind later.

Enhance Your Privacy With A Superior Browser

Microsoft Edge keeps tabs on what you do and fills your screen with ads you probably never asked for. Out of the box, the Windows 11 browser just isn’t great for privacy—there’s a lot of tracking and data collection going on behind the scenes.

Thankfully, you’ve got better options. Some browsers actually care about your privacy and can block annoying stuff for you, right from the start.

Download The Brave Browser

Brave’s a browser built for people tired of ads, weird tracking scripts, and those sneaky fingerprinting tricks—without making you hunt for extra plugins. Since it’s Chromium-based, it feels pretty familiar, just… less creepy and less bloated.

Key Privacy Benefits:

• Ads get blocked right out of the gate
• Tracking scripts don’t get to load
• Fingerprinting? Nope, Brave stops that too
• No need to mess with extra ad-blockers
• Feels like any other browser you’re used to

Installation Steps:

1. Head over to brave.com using whatever browser you’re on now
2. Find the Windows download button and click it
3. Open up the installer you just grabbed
4. Just follow the steps, nothing tricky

Honestly, it installs pretty quickly. You’ll be up and running with Brave’s privacy stuff turned on right away—no fuss.

Post-Installation Setup:

• Bring over your bookmarks from your old browser
• Pick your favorite search engine
• Maybe poke around the privacy settings if you’re curious
• Set Brave as your default if you’re ready to commit

Tracking elements get blocked automatically, so you don’t have to tinker or add anything extra just to get the basics working.