Office Recommended for You - how to turn off?

Sorry for late reply, for some unknown reason I don't get notified when people reply to my posts.

I have shrunk this as you suggested. But I have zero interest in even seeing it. Win 11 continues Microsoft's trend of adding junk and not allowing us to get rid of. At least we can move the Start button back to the left, but we can't get rid of Home in File Explorer, Recommended for You, or even those annoying "Got it" notifications w/out hacking the registry (which my company's IT dept does not allow us to do).

I haven't found anything in Win 11 that makes it better than Win 10. Overall, it was a big step backwards for me.

i COMPLETELY agree with the person who can't find a single "imporvement" in Windows 11. It's full of uneccessary and distracting GARBAGE. Let the user decide what they want to see and not see. Some people still have brains of their own and choose to use them.

Thanks for explaining the acronyms. But I still can't share with Microsoft how much time I've wasted dealing with all their unnecessary and unhelpful "improvements". I would always find somethings in each new version that were cool. But not one with Win11, not one. I'm shocked that Win 11 is still this bad after what, 3 years? And now I can't even give feedback to microsoft.

Thanks. Clicked on the "Open feedback" button and was taken to a blank page, clicked the back arrow, and eventually a screen popped up "You have been blocked. Community feedback is currently supported for MSA, as well as AAD users in commercial clouds."

No idea what "MSA" means (I'm guessing its not Master Service Agreement) and "AAD". But certainly seems that Microsoft isn't interested in what we think (if the dreaded Spill "function" is any indication, they definitely aren't interested).

The "Recommended for You" section in Microsoft Office (or Office.com) shows recent or relevant files shared by others or ones you've accessed. If you'd like to turn this off, you can do so on both Office.com and within Office apps (like Word or Excel). Here’s how:

Turn Off "Recommended for You" on Office.com

1. Go to Office.com and sign in with your Microsoft account.
2. Click on Settings (gear icon) at the top right corner.
3. Choose Settings > Privacy Settings.
4. In Privacy Settings, locate the Documents section and turn off Show Recommended Documents.

Turn Off "Recommended" in Office Apps

Unfortunately, most desktop Office apps don’t offer a specific toggle to turn off recommendations directly. But you can adjust your privacy settings to limit recommendations:

• Open Word, Excel, or another Office app.
• Go to File > Account > Account Privacy > Manage Settings.
• Disable options under Connected Experiences and Optional Connected Experiences (like Insights or Suggestions).

This will reduce how much recommended content appears, though it may not eliminate it entirely.

Use "Start" Page View for Fewer Recommendations

In Office apps, you can adjust the Start page to reduce content shown under "Recommended":

• Go to File > Options > General.
• Under Start up options, uncheck Show the Start screen when this application starts.

This takes you directly to a blank document instead of a Start page with recommended files.

These steps should help minimize or remove the "Recommended for You" suggestions.