Microsoft risks annoying Windows 10 users by testing even more ads in the Start menu
If you’re sticking with Windows 10 because you don’t like Microsoft’s way of loading Windows 11 with ads, we’ve got some bad news for you. It looks like the company is going to do the same thing to Windows 10’s Start menu.
The tech giant is currently testing the ‘Microsoft account manager’ flyout menu in a number of different layouts for the Start menu. This will allow Windows 10 users to manage their Microsoft accounts in a number of ways, including switching between different accounts, changing account settings, or signing out of them entirely.
If that were the whole story, this would be pretty innocuous, but it appears that Microsoft Account Manager could be used to encourage users to sign up for Microsoft’s own products and services, such as Microsoft 365, a subscription service for apps like Word, Excel, and OneDrive.
Windows Latest explains that Windows 10 users may see more notifications and prompts reminding you (or as some are calling it, nagging you) that your Microsoft account actually exists, that you should set up a recovery plan, and that you need to know more about Microsoft 365. Apparently, this problem isn’t going away even if you’ve subscribed to the basic Microsoft 365 subscription.
More bad news: it looks like you can’t get rid of it
As reported by Windows LatestMicrosoft appears to be toying with a few different designs for this account manager feature. In screenshots from Windows Latest, you can see the dedicated button in various parts of the left sidebar of the Start menu, and while it’s not fully functional at the moment, it does seem like it could make it easier to jump to account management (if that’s what you want).
I don’t manage my Microsoft account that often myself, so this wouldn’t mean much to me. Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear that there’s an easy way to disable this feature if you want to remove it.
I’ve gone through cycles of frustration with Microsoft, and it’s a shame that this intrusive method of pushing its own services seems to be the new norm. It also wants to convert its Windows 10 userbase to Windows 11, even if users are reluctant to do so. However, Microsoft is also peppering the Windows 11 UI with ads, so it seems like there’s no easy escape from these kinds of interruptions — unless you switch to another, non-Microsoft operating system, like macOS 15 Sequoia or Linux.
Of course, Microsoft understandably wants more people to subscribe or buy its products and services, but there is a real danger that this clumsy approach could do more harm than good. For example, in these financially uncertain times, many people will want to downgrade their subscriptions and they will not like the feeling that they are being encouraged to sign up for more.