Windows 10 File Explorer ads cause major community disruptions

3 min. read

Published on March 9, 2017

published on March 9, 2017

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Ads are something that will always cause controversy simply because it’s a matter of how useful they are to some in comparison to how useless and annoying they are for others. While there are many ways to combat ads so that everyone is free to choose what they see or do not see on their screens at any given time or on any page, something new has come along that makes things more complicated.

Microsoft has a serious in-house ad problem

Since Microsoft’s Windows 10 was released, there have been countless complaints about the ads that pop up. The worst thing is that they don’t pop up on a webpage which can be simply closed but on the desktop itself. As a result, people have reported that these ads invade their privacy and disrupt local computer usage.

Here’s how to get rid of the ads

Some might think it’s as easy as bringing this to Microsoft’s attention, then waiting for the problem to be solved. Unfortunately for those that are completely annoyed by these ads, it’s not that easy. There is, however, a way to make these ads go away and it can be done without depending on Microsoft at all. To do so, users have to navigate to the operating system’s Options under View in File Explorer then click View once again. This will open a new tab which will feature different things. The setting that will deactivate the ads is Show Sync Provider Notifications. Those that don’t like ads need to turn this one off.

There might be a permanent solution on the way

The future of ads in the File Explorer is clouded at the moment. While File Explorer itself won’t be getting rid of this feature with the release of Microsoft’s Creators Update, it is possible that users will see a different app/service. This other app would perform similar tasks and would act as a sort of clone or alternative to File Explorer. This alternative might be coming without ads.

It is obvious that users aren’t very happy about Microsoft’s File Explorer ad campaign, but would be more appreciative of ways to deal with it rather than complain. It remains to be seen how Microsoft reacts and if there will be any significant, currently unannounced changes to these ads.