Windows 10: turn off ads in File Explorer
Microsoft's Windows 10 operating system differs in several regards from previous versions. It is the last version of Windows according to Microsoft, was offered as a free upgrade to existing license holders, and its core powers not only desktop PCs but also the company's Xbox, mobiles, and other devices.
Advertisement in Windows is not an entirely new concept, but it is being pushed in Windows 10 like never before.
Ads have been spotted on the lockscreen, the start menu, the share menu, and the taskbar already. Not all users see all the ads all the time, and it is quite possible that some users may have seen them in only some locations, or even none at all.
Note: Microsoft calls these suggestions and not ads.
Ads serve several purposes. First, to get users to use Microsoft software, for instance Edge instead of Firefox or Chrome. Second, to get users to use the Windows Store, for instance by highlighting third-party apps in the start menu. Third, to get users to sign up for other Microsoft services, e.g. OneDrive.
Windows 10: turn off ads in File Explorer
The newest location of Windows 10 where you may be exposed to advertisement is File Explorer. Yes, the renamed Windows Explorer application that most Windows users use to navigate their system.
A user on Reddit, see the original thread here, noticed the ad when he opened File Explorer on a Windows 10 Home machine which he upgraded from Windows 8.1.
It advertised an Office 365 subscription to the user:
Get the best deal on your cloud storage with OneDrive
For $6.99 a month, an Office 365 subscription gets you 1 TB (1000 GB) of OneDrive cloud storage as well as Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
Funny side note of the incident is that the user already has an Office 365 subscription.
The advertisement is displayed on top of the file pane in File Explorer. You can dismiss it, but there is a chance that other ads, or even the same, may be shown again.
Turning off the ads
Microsoft makes it difficult to turn off all ads in Windows 10. Ads are not controlled using a single preference, as controls are scattered around.
What makes this even more difficult is that the preferences don't necessarily reveal that they control advertisement (or suggestions) at all.
To turn of the ads in File Explorer for instance, you have to do the following:
- Open File Explorer on the Windows 10 machine.
- Select File > Options at the top.
- Switch to the View menu when the Folder Options window opens.
- Scroll down until you find "show sync provider notifications".
- Uncheck that box.
- Click ok.
The name of the feature suggests that the "notifications" are limited to file sync services such as OneDrive, and not just limited to OneDrive.
Using the Registry
You may toggle the setting using the Windows Registry as well (thanks Into Windows).
- Tap on the Windows-key to open the Start Menu, type regedit.exe, and hit the Enter-key on the keyboard afterwards.
- Confirm the UAC prompt.
- Navigate to the following value: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced
- Locate the ShowSyncProviderNotifications on the right-side.
- Double-click on it to change its value.
- If you set its value to 0, the feature is turned off. If you set it to 1, the feature is turned on.
The preference should exist, but if it does not, you may create it with a right-click on the Advanced value on the left-side, and selecting New > Dword (32-bit) Value. Name it ShowSyncProviderNotifications, and set its value either to 0 (off) or 1 (on).
Now you: have you seen ads on Windows 10?
What mental age of reader are you targeting with the first sentence? 10?
Why not write an article on how to *avoid* upgrading from W10 to W11. Analogous to those like me who avoided upgrading from 7 to 10 for as long as possible.
If your paymaster Microsoft permits it, of course.
5. Rufus
6. Ventoy
PS. I hate reading these “SEO optimized” articles.
I used Rufus to create an installer for a 6th gen intel i5 that had MBR. It upgraded using Setup. No issues except for Win 11 always prompting me to replace my local account. Still using Win 10 Pro on all my other PCs to avoid the bullying.
bit pointless to upgrade for the sake of upgrading as you never know when you’ll get locked out because ms might suddenly not provide updates to unsupported systems.
ps…. time travelling?
written. Jan 15, 2023
Updated • Jan 13, 2023
This happens when you schedule a post in WordPress and update it before setting the publication date.
Anyone willing to downgrade to this awful OS must like inflicting themselves with harm.
I have become convinced now that anybody who has no qualms with using Windows 11/10 must fit into one of the following brackets:
1) Too young to remember a time before W10 and W11 (doesn’t know better)
2) Wants to play the latest games on their PC above anything else (or deeply needs some software which already dropped W7 support)
3) Doesn’t know too much about how computers work, worried that they’d be absolutely lost and in trouble without the “”latest security””
4) Microsoft apologist that tries to justify that the latest “features” and “changes” are actually a good thing, that improve Windows
5) Uses their computer to do a bare minimum of like 3 different things, browse web, check emails, etc, so really doesn’t fuss
Obviously that doesn’t cover everyone, there’s also the category that:
6) Actually liked W7 more than 10, and held out as long as possible before switching, begrudgingly uses 10 now
Have I missed any group off this list?
You have missed in this group just about any professional user that uses business software like CAD programs or ERP Programs which are 99% of all professional users from this list.
Linux doesn’t help anyone who is not a linux kid and apple is just a fancy facebook machine.
Microsoft has removed KB5029351 update
only from windows update though
KB5029351 is still available from the ms update catalog site
1. This update is labaled as PREVIEW if it causes issues to unintelligent people, then they shouldn’t have allowed Preview updates ot install.
2. I have installed it in a 11 years old computer, and no problems at all.
3. Making a big drama over a bluescreen for an updated labeled as preview is ridiculous.
This is probably another BS internet drama where people ran programs and scripts that modified the registry until they broke Windows, just for removing stuff that they weren’t even using just for the sake of it.
Maybe people should stop playing geeks and actually either use Windows 10 or Windows 11, but don’t try to modify things just for the sake of it.
Sometimes removing or stopping things (like defender is a perfect example) only need intelligence, not scripts or 3rd party programs that might mess with windows.
Windows 11 was a pointless release, it was just created because some of the Windows team wanted to boost sales with some sort of new and improved Windows 10. Instead, Microsoft cannot support one version well let alone two.
Windows 11 is the worst ugly shame by Microsoft ever. They should release with every new W11 version a complete free version of Starallback inside just to make this sh** OS functionally again.
motherboard maker MSI has recently released a statement regarding the “unsupported processor” blue screen error for their boards using Intel 600/700 series chipsets & to avoid the KB5029351 Win11 update:
https://www.msi.com/news/detail/MSI-On–UNSUPPORTED-PROCESSOR–Error-Message-of-Windows-11-Update-KB5029351-Preview-142215
check out the following recent articles:
Neowin – Microsoft puts little blame on its Windows update after UNSUPPORTED PROCESSOR BSOD bug:
https://www.neowin.net/news/microsoft-puts-little-blame-on-its-windows-update-after-unsupported-processor-bsod-bug/
BleepingComputer – Microsoft blames ‘unsupported processor’ blue screens on OEM vendors:
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/microsoft/microsoft-blames-unsupported-processor-blue-screens-on-oem-vendors/
While there may be changes or updates to the Windows 10 Store for Business and Education in the future, it is premature to conclude that it will be discontinued based solely on rumors.
My advice, I left win 15 years ago. Now I’m a happy linux user (linuxmint) but there is Centos, Fedora, Ubuntu depending on your needs.
motherboard maker MSI has recently released new BIOS/firmware updates for their Intel 600 & 700 series motherboards to fix the “UNSUPPORTED_PROCESSOR” problem (Sept. 6):
https://www.msi.com/news/detail/Updated-BIOS-fixes-Error-Message–UNSUPPORTED-PROCESSOR–caused-BSOD-on-MSI-s-Intel-700-and-600-Series-Motherboards-142277
I try to disable the Diagnostics Tracking Service (Connected Devices Platform User Services) but it wont let me disable it, any help will be greatly appreciated.
Tank you for your help