Five Windows tweaks that make the system more usable (at least for me). The 3rd party apps aren’t required. Only (reversible) registry changes.

Important notes:

  • All of these tweaks work with Windows 11 Pro 26100.2605. But there are no guarantees for the future releases.

  • These tweaks require to edit the system registry. Do it carefuly and by your own risk!

Restart the device after tweeks are applied.

You can disable a new Gallery pinned icon by the following registry file:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\CLSID\{e88865ea-0e1c-4e20-9aa6-edcd0212c87c}]
"System.IsPinnedToNameSpaceTree"=dword:00000000

To enable it back use the following registry file:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\CLSID\{e88865ea-0e1c-4e20-9aa6-edcd0212c87c}]
"System.IsPinnedToNameSpaceTree"=dword:00000001

Remove Home from File Explorer

You can disable a new Home pinned icon by the following registry file:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\CLSID\{f874310e-b6b7-47dc-bc84-b9e6b38f5903}]
"System.IsPinnedToNameSpaceTree"=dword:00000000

Don’t forget to change the File Explorer startup location to This PC.

To enable it back use the following registry file:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\CLSID\{f874310e-b6b7-47dc-bc84-b9e6b38f5903}]
"System.IsPinnedToNameSpaceTree"=dword:00000001

Remove Home from Settings

You can disable a new Home Settings page if you don’t find it useful. This can be configured by Group Policy Editor or by the registry.

Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc, available only in Windows 11 Pro):

  • Select Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Control Panel;

  • Open Settings Page Visibility settings;

  • Set Enabled and print hide:home in the Settings Page Visibility field.

Registry file:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"SettingsPageVisibility"="hide:home"

To restore settings page just delete SettingsPageVisibility setting.

You can disable Bing search and limit the search to local files. To do this, use the following registry file:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search]
"BingSearchEnabled"=dword:00000000
"AllowSearchToUseLocation"=dword:00000000
"CortanaConsent"=dword:00000000

Fix Mouse Pointer Disappearing in Chrome/Edge

Sometimes the cursor may disappear in Chromium-based browsers. The following tweak may solve this problem:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Dwm]
"OverlayTestMode"=dword:00000005

Note: backup your the registry value before applying this tweak.

One more thing

If you swipe from the edge on touchscreen devices, you’ll see widgets, notifications, etc. I find it annoying. To disable edge swiping use the following group policy:

  • Select Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Edge UI;

  • Open Allow edge swap settings;

  • Set Disabled.