Please help me make Windows 11 suck less

[Phorm The Vixdjinn]

So, months ago, I put together a brand new computer. I pieced together the hardware. I ran tests for stability. And then I just... left it unplugged in the corner, and went back to using my old, well-tuned Windows 10 machine.

Because I'm going to be honest: I really, really don't like Windows 11.

I don't like the right-click menu. I don't like what they've done to the file explorer or start menu. I don't like the ads in the notifications. I don't like the ads in the start menu. I don't like the ads in the settings menu (insane thing to have). I don't like being tied to a Microsoft account. I don't like OneDrive silently holding your files hostage. I don't like CoPilot, Recall, or any of the AI horsehockey they've crammed into the OS.

And I really, REALLY don't like the fact that if you go through your settings and turn most of this stuff off, the next Windows Update will just turn it all back on!!

Now, I very much know that there are options to smooth all of this stuff over. However, a lot of those options are very much... uh... sketchy? A lot of "Download and run this executable, trust me". Or else a lot of "Here's a script you can run in powershell that'll download and run things automatically, made by some guy you don't know and don't know what it's doing." Similarly, I know about things like OpenShell, StartAllBack, and Start11 - But again, these are very 'trust me *wink*' kind of options.

I have high security concerns about all of these options, mostly because they tend to get flagged by security software. But also because a lot of these options dig into some really sensitive and important parts of the OS! And it feels like there's a chance that these things can completely break the OS if Microsoft just wants to spite them.

With that in mind, I'm really hoping anyone might have the experience or know how to help me safely de-crapify Windows 11.

At present I do have the Pro version of Windows 11, and I've managed to install it without a Microsoft account (local account only). However, there's still a lot I don't know how to do, and specifically, ensure that these changes stick and don't get rolled back. I know group policies can help somewhat here, but I don't know exactly how.

In particular, I'm hoping to do the following:

• Kill all ads dead. Every ad, everywhere, in the OS. Start menu, settings, and ABSOLUTELY notifications.
• Eliminate all pre-installed crapware and keep it gone. I do not want Candy Crush on the machine, and I know if I just use the uninstaller, it'll come back.
• Forcibly remove any and all AI from the OS, forever.
• Expel OneDrive, and keep it gone - I want all files local.
• Disable telemetry and spying.
• Change Start Menu to not absolutely be useless. Preferably also allow for search that doesn't suck and doesn't search the internet!

I know that this is a lot and I am babbling on and on about this, but I do admit that whenever I think about approaching this I just freeze up. Any help would be incredibly appreciated.

Thank you!!

[hanalei]

Indeed, the defaults are absolutely not sensible in recent versions of Windows. Some options to turn things off are hidden behind a right-click menu, others are in the Settings panel, and it's all annoying.

Similarly, I know about things like OpenShell, StartAllBack, and Start11 - But again, these are very 'trust me *wink*' kind of options.

Do you fear Classic Shell because it might be ... dangerous? Do you have a specific fear of what Classic Shell might do to your system? I use it all the time, works fine for me. It's an essential add-on for Windows nowadays in my opinion. And it is straightforward to uninstall.

Caveat: I've actually only used Classic Shell, not OpenShell per se. I should make the switch.

Caveat: I've not actually installed Windows 11 anywhere yet. All my modern Windows boxes run 10.

[Enbyeon]

I've used this to remove Windows Recall at least: https://bsky.app/profile/ziyan.wtf/post/3lnnu4fyuak2v

And I've used this method to make right click work like Win 10: https://www.reddit.com/r/sysadmin/comme ... t_menu_in/

I haven't dug deeper than that though sadly.

[Micolithe]

I think I wanna make kind of a blanket statement on this: The very concept of using software is wink wink trust me bro unless you wrote it yourself.

For powershell scripts, yeah okay sure don't run one without knowing what it does but there's only so many powershell commands, you could google your way to understanding what it's doing command by command if you really had to. I can personally vouch for OpenShell (FKA ClassicShell).

Your list of grievances could probably mostly be solved by a Windows Ameliorated Playbook. Though, in my opinion? The best way to avoid the jank of Windows 11 is to install Windows 10 instead.

If you want a search function on Windows that actually fucking works, there's a program called Everything you can try out, and inevitably someone on Linux is going to read this and this note is for you: the linux equivalent is called FSearch.

[Phorm The Vixdjinn]

Do you fear Classic Shell because it might be ... dangerous? Do you have a specific fear of what Classic Shell might do to your system? I use it all the time, works fine for me. It's an essential add-on for Windows nowadays in my opinion. And it is straightforward to uninstall.

A number of things, at least from my experience. The first is that it has been flagged as malware for me on more than one occasion. The second is that, from what I recall, in the not-too-distant past Microsoft did something where any changes made to the system from something along the lines of Classic/OpenShell completely prevented that system from updating - With a message that the system was compromised, or had something wrong with them? It seemed like it was a targeted shot at the users, more than a legit concern, but it's hard to separate one from the other.

I've used this to remove Windows Recall at least: https://bsky.app/profile/ziyan.wtf/post/3lnnu4fyuak2v

And I've used this method to make right click work like Win 10: https://www.reddit.com/r/sysadmin/comme ... t_menu_in/

Thank you!!! These are pretty precisely the kind of tweaks I'm looking for. I really appreciate this help!!

I think I wanna make kind of a blanket statement on this: The very concept of using software is wink wink trust me bro unless you wrote it yourself.

For powershell scripts, yeah okay sure don't run one without knowing what it does but there's only so many powershell commands, you could google your way to understanding what it's doing command by command if you really had to. I can personally vouch for OpenShell (FKA ClassicShell).

Your list of grievances could probably mostly be solved by a Windows Ameliorated Playbook. Though, in my opinion? The best way to avoid the jank of Windows 11 is to install Windows 10 instead.

If you want a search function on Windows that actually fucking works, there's a program called Everything you can try out, and inevitably someone on Linux is going to read this and this note is for you: the linux equivalent is called FSearch.

I'm not going to lie: You're absolutely correct. Even after thinking about it more deeply, it does all come back to who can you trust and why do you trust them? I feel like Microsoft has eroded their trust considerably, but despite that, it doesn't mean that trust in complete strangers and their unsigned code goes up. It's a real conflict and conundrum! Who on Earth can you actually trust these days? It seems like just about everything is a tremendous risk.

That being said, thank you for the resources! Ameliorated seems like something well worth digging into deeper, and Everything may be a solution to the search challenges.

Thanks everyone for your help and feedback so far! I super appreciate it.