Hide the Start "Recommended" section by policy — via Microsoft Learn

Group Policy

Open gpedit.msc (Pro, Enterprise and Education only) and go to:

User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Start Menu and Taskbar > Remove Recommended section from Start Menu

Registry equivalent

Double-click a .reg file and confirm to merge it. Right-click → Edit first if you want to read it, which is always a good idea with any .reg file from the internet.

Apply

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

; Oddbyte.Me: Hide the Start "Recommended" section by policy

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer]
"HideRecommendedSection"=dword:00000001

Undo

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

; Oddbyte.Me: undo Hide the Start "Recommended" section by policy

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer]
"HideRecommendedSection"=-

Same thing from a command prompt

Run in a normal (non-admin) Command Prompt or Terminal.

reg add "HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer" /v "HideRecommendedSection" /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

Undo:

reg delete "HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer" /v "HideRecommendedSection" /f

Also available under Computer Configuration (HKLM) for all users. Microsoft's policy reference lists Pro, Enterprise and Education, but results on Pro vary: some users report the section is only emptied rather than removed, and Winaero's guide pairs it with an extra Education-mode registry flag (not recommended here, as it's unsupported). If your PC ignores it, use the Settings toggles in the entry above.