Ads (sometimes prompting you to do things that benefit Microsoft, sometimes actual paid ads) are all over Windows 11. Start Menu ads will be rolling out to all users this month, in the form of "recommended" app installs you haven't used yet. Ads also briefly appeared in File Explorer, although this was apparently unintentional. There have long been calls for action on the lock screen and settings app. What a mess.
We've told you how to manually turn off all Microsoft ads in Windows 11, but it requires a lot of digging in the settings. If you don't want to do this, an application called OFGB can do it for you. This free, open source application can quickly change various registry settings to disable these ads - all you have to do is click on a few checkboxes.
First, just download the latest version from Github. There are two versions - a small version that is only available if you have .NET 8.0 installed, and a large version that comes bundled with .NET. Use the option you find easier.
Open the app and you'll see a bunch of checkboxes that allow you to disable different features. This includes the infamous ads in File Explorer, ads on the lock screen, "suggested content" in the Settings app, general tips and tricks that pop up when using Windows, the Windows "welcome experience", optional tracking tools, You can enable "more personalized" ads, a "Customized Experience" feature that tracks your site browsing to show product recommendations, and "Recommended" ads that appear in the Start menu.
Honestly, there are a lot of things that have to be disabled in order to get a clean operating system, but with this app, at least it's all in one place. Hey: It's easier to install a really clean version of Windows 11 than to wipe your computer, so that's a plus.
