clear former employer from Windows menu?

[expatCanuck]

Greetings.
New to the forum. Not new to Windows.

For the past year, I've been using my personal laptop for work. I had two Office365 Profiles -- personal, and work.
I've deleted the work profile, and have scoured the Registry for every instance of my former employer's name, and have removed it.

However, in the windows menu, my former employer's name, and its recommendations, still show up (image below).
Since the data isn't in the Registry (that I can detect), I'm guessing that it's in my MS Windows profile somewhere.

Can one of you clever souls tell me how the exorcise the ghost of employers past?

 

[ChatGPT]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

It seems like you have already made some progress in removing your former employer's name from your laptop. However, it seems like there might still be some remnants of it in the Windows menu.

One possible reason for this is that the Windows menu often shows recently used and recommended apps based on your activity, even if you have removed certain profiles or applications. To further troubleshoot this issue, I would suggest the following steps:

1. Clear Recent Activities:
- Right-click on the taskbar and select "Taskbar Settings."
- Scroll down until you find the section called "Notification area" and click on "Turn system icons on or off."
- Make sure the "Recent activities" option is turned off.

2. Clear File Explorer History:
- Open File Explorer (Windows key + E) and click on "View" in the top menu.
- Click on "Options" and go to the "General" tab.
- Under the "Privacy" section, click on the "Clear" button to remove the File Explorer history.

3. Clear Cortana Search History:
- Open the Start menu and click on the search bar.
- Click on the three-dot menu icon in the top-right corner and select "Settings."
- Scroll down to the "Permissions & History" section and click on "Clear" under "Clear device search history."

4. Rebuild the Windows Search Index:
- Open the Start menu and search for "Indexing Options" and open it.
- Click on the "Advanced" button on the bottom-right of the window.
- In the "Advanced Options" window, click on the "Rebuild" button under the "Troubleshooting" section.

Performing these steps should help remove any traces of your former employer's name from the Windows menu. If the issue persists, please let me know and I can provide further assistance.

 

[Mike]

Greetings.
New to the forum. Not new to Windows.

For the past year, I've been using my personal laptop for work. I had two Office365 Profiles -- personal, and work.
I've deleted the work profile, and have scoured the Registry for every instance of my former employer's name, and have removed it.

However, in the windows menu, my former employer's name, and its recommendations, still show up (image below).
Since the data isn't in the Registry (that I can detect), I'm guessing that it's in my MS Windows profile somewhere.

Can one of you clever souls tell me how the exorcise the ghost of employers past?

View attachment 42680

Hello and welcome to the forum!

It seems like you have already made some progress in removing your former employer's name from your laptop. However, it seems like there might still be some remnants of it in the Windows menu.

One possible reason for this is that the Windows menu often shows recently used and recommended apps based on your activity, even if you have removed certain profiles or applications. To further troubleshoot this issue, I would suggest the following steps:

1. Clear Recent Activities:
- Right-click on the taskbar and select "Taskbar Settings."
- Scroll down until you find the section called "Notification area" and click on "Turn system icons on or off."
- Make sure the "Recent activities" option is turned off.

2. Clear File Explorer History:
- Open File Explorer (Windows key + E) and click on "View" in the top menu.
- Click on "Options" and go to the "General" tab.
- Under the "Privacy" section, click on the "Clear" button to remove the File Explorer history.

3. Clear Cortana Search History:
- Open the Start menu and click on the search bar.
- Click on the three-dot menu icon in the top-right corner and select "Settings."
- Scroll down to the "Permissions & History" section and click on "Clear" under "Clear device search history."

4. Rebuild the Windows Search Index:
- Open the Start menu and search for "Indexing Options" and open it.
- Click on the "Advanced" button on the bottom-right of the window.
- In the "Advanced Options" window, click on the "Rebuild" button under the "Troubleshooting" section.

Performing these steps should help remove any traces of your former employer's name from the Windows menu. If the issue persists, please let me know and I can provide further assistance.

Unfortunately the bot cannot see screenshots or know whats going on after September 2021.

Your work laptop, or whatever this, is likely still hybrid Azure AD joined or Azure AD joined with their Microsoft tenant. Go to Search -> Work -> Email & accounts . You should see your company account there. You want to remove it from there.

You could also open up a command prompt as Administrator -> Search -> cmd (right-click to run as Administrator):

dsregcmd /leave

 

[ChatGPT]

Unfortunately the bot cannot see screenshots or know whats going on after September 2021.

Your work laptop, or whatever this, is likely still hybrid Azure AD joined or Azure AD joined with their Microsoft tenant. Go to Search -> Work -> Email & accounts . You should see your company account there. You want to remove it from there.

You could also open up a command prompt as Administrator -> Search -> cmd (right-click to run as Administrator):

dsregcmd /leave

I apologize for the misunderstanding. Thank you for providing additional information.

If your laptop is still connected to your former employer's Azure AD or Microsoft tenant, removing your account from there should help in removing your former employer's name from the Windows menu. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Open the Start menu and search for "Work" or "Email & accounts".
2. Click on "Work" or "Email & accounts" to open the settings.
3. In the "Work" or "Accounts" section, you should see your company account listed. Click on it.
4. Look for an option to remove the account or disconnect from the organization. It may be labeled as "Disconnect", "Remove", or "Unjoin". Click on it and follow the prompts to remove the account.

Alternatively, you can try using the command prompt as an administrator to remove your device from the Azure AD:

1. Open the Start menu and search for "Command Prompt".
2. Right-click on "Command Prompt" and select "Run as administrator".
3. In the command prompt window, type the following command:

```
dsregcmd /leave
```

4. Press Enter to execute the command. This will disconnect your device from the Azure AD.

Once you have removed your account or disconnected from the organization, restart your computer and check if your former employer's name and recommendations are still showing up in the Windows menu.

I hope this helps! Let me know if you need any further assistance.