Disable Help Tips in Windows: Easy Guide

This guide shows you how to turn off the pop-up help tips and suggestions that Windows displays as you use the desktop, Start menu, and Settings app. These tips can be distracting on a new PC or after a major update, and disabling them takes only a few clicks in the Settings app. No additional software or administrator rights are required for most methods.

What You’ll Need

A Windows 10 or Windows 11 PC
An account with standard user permissions (admin rights are not required)

Step-by-Step

There are two main types of help tips: the general “Get tips and suggestions when I use Windows” setting, and the more specific “Show me suggestions occasionally in Start.” Both are controlled from the Settings app.

Open Settings. Press Windows key + I on your keyboard. This keyboard shortcut works in both Windows 10 and Windows 11.
Go to System settings. In Windows 11, click System in the left sidebar. In Windows 10, click the System icon (it looks like a laptop).
Open Notifications. In Windows 11, scroll down the System page and click Notifications. In Windows 10, click Notifications & actions in the left menu.
Turn off the tips. Look for a checkbox or toggle labeled “Get tips and suggestions when I use Windows.” In Windows 11, this is near the bottom of the Notifications page. In Windows 10, it is under the “Notifications” heading. Click the toggle or uncheck the box so it turns off (gray or off position).
Disable Start menu suggestions (optional). Go back to the main Settings window. Click Personalization, then Start (in both Windows 10 and 11). Find the toggle labeled “Show suggestions occasionally in Start” (Windows 11) or “Occasionally show suggestions in Start” (Windows 10). Turn this off as well.
Disable lock screen tips (optional). Still in Personalization, click Lock screen. In Windows 10, there is a toggle for “Get fun facts, tips, tricks, and more on your lock screen.” Turn it off. In Windows 11, this option is not directly visible; instead, look under Settings > Personalization > Lock screen for the “Status” dropdown and choose None to remove tips from the lock screen.
Close Settings. The changes save automatically. There is no “Apply” or “OK” button to press.

After completing these steps, Windows will stop showing the little pop-up bubbles that say “Try this” or “Did you know?” when you open apps or browse the interface. The changes take effect immediately, though some tips already displayed may stay until you dismiss them.

Common Mistakes

Turning off all notifications instead of just tips. The “Get tips” toggle is separate from the master notification switch. If you turn off “Notifications” entirely, you will also lose alerts from apps like email and calendar. Only disable the tips-specific option.
Looking in the wrong Settings page. Some guides point to “System > Notifications & actions” but forget that the Start suggestions live under “Personalization > Start.” Both must be disabled separately to stop all tip types.
Forgetting the lock screen. Tips can also appear on the lock screen. If you only disable the main tips toggle, you may still see “fun facts” when you wake your PC.
Using an outdated path. The exact wording of the toggles changed slightly between Windows 10 and Windows 11. If you cannot find “Get tips and suggestions,” search for “tips” in the Settings search box at the top of the window.

Tips

Use Settings search. Instead of clicking through menus, press Windows key + I, then type “tips” into the search bar at the top of Settings. Click the result that says “Notifications” or “Get tips and suggestions.”
Check after major updates. Windows feature updates (like the annual version updates) sometimes reset these settings to their default “on” position. After a big update, repeat these steps to re-disable the tips.
Use Group Policy for multiple PCs (Windows Pro and Enterprise only). If you manage several computers, you can disable tips via Group Policy: run gpedit.msc, go to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Cloud Content, and enable “Turn off Microsoft consumer experiences”. This is not available on Windows Home edition.
Registry alternative (all editions). For a more permanent fix, open Registry Editor (regedit) and navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ContentDeliveryManager. Set the DWORD value SubscribedContent-338389Enabled to 0 (zero). This is an advanced step; only do it if you are comfortable editing the registry.

Troubleshooting

Tips still appear after disabling them. First, confirm you turned off the correct toggle. The main one is under System > Notifications and is labeled “Get tips and suggestions when I use Windows.” If it is off but tips still show, restart your PC. Some tip notifications are cached and may appear once more before disappearing.

You cannot find the “Get tips” toggle. This happens if you are on an older Windows 10 build. Update Windows via Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update and check again. In very old builds, the toggle was located under System > Notifications & actions but with slightly different wording (“Show me tips about Windows”).

Tips return after a Windows update. This is expected. Windows feature updates sometimes reset personalization settings. After the update finishes, repeat the steps above. To reduce the chance of this happening, check the “Tips” section under Settings > Privacy > Diagnostics & feedback and ensure “Tailored experiences” is off, as this is a related setting that can re-enable suggestions.

You are on Windows 11 and the Start suggestions toggle is missing. In some Windows 11 versions, the “Show suggestions occasionally in Start” toggle was moved or removed. If you do not see it, it may have been replaced by a “Recommended” section in the Start menu that you cannot fully disable. In that case, only the main tips toggle under Notifications will work.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Will disabling help tips affect my notifications from apps like email or calendar?
A: No. The “Get tips and suggestions” toggle only controls Windows’ own tip notifications. Your app notifications remain unchanged.

Q: Do I need to be an administrator to change these settings?
A: No. These are per-user settings, so any standard user account can change them without admin rights.

Q: Can I re-enable tips later if I change my mind?
A: Yes. Just go back to the same Settings pages and turn the toggles back on. The changes are reversible at any time.

Q: Why does Windows keep showing a “Welcome” or “Get Started” app after I disable tips?
A: That is a separate app called “Get Started” or “Tips.” You can uninstall it from Settings > Apps > Installed apps (Windows 11) or Settings > Apps > Apps & features (Windows 10). Search for “Get Help” or “Tips” and uninstall it.

Q: Does this disable the little pop-up hints in File Explorer or the desktop?
A: Yes, the main toggle covers those contextual pop-ups. If you still see tooltips when hovering over icons, those are standard Windows tooltips and are not considered “help tips” – they cannot be disabled through this setting.

Q: Will this stop the “Did you know” notifications on the lock screen?
A: Yes, if you also disable the lock screen status or set it to “None” as described in Step 6. Without that step, lock screen tips may continue.

General steps for current mainstream versions; menus can differ by device and version. See the disclaimer or report an error.

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