explaingit

xm4ddy/ofgb

7,463C#Audience · generalComplexity · 1/5Setup · easy

TLDR

A small Windows 11 desktop app that removes Microsoft-added advertisements from File Explorer and the Start Menu by toggling the relevant Registry settings through a simple graphical interface.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((OFGB))
    What it does
      Remove Windows 11 ads
      Toggle Registry keys
      Graphical UI
    Affected areas
      File Explorer
      Start Menu
    Tech stack
      C# and WPF
      .NET 8
    Audience
      Windows 11 users
      Privacy-conscious users
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Code map

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Things people build with this

USE CASE 1

Remove promotional ads Microsoft added to Windows 11 File Explorer with a few clicks.

USE CASE 2

Disable built-in Start Menu advertisements on Windows 11 without editing the Registry manually.

USE CASE 3

Build or inspect the source code to understand which Registry keys control Windows 11 promotional content.

Tech stack

C#WPF.NET 8

Getting it running

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 5min

Download the release executable and run it, no installation needed. Building from source requires Visual Studio and .NET 8 SDK.

In plain English

OFGB, short for "Oh Frick Go Back," is a small Windows desktop program that removes the advertisements Microsoft added to Windows 11 in an April 2024 update. That update quietly introduced promotional content in places like File Explorer and the Start Menu, built directly into the operating system. OFGB gives users a straightforward way to turn those off. The program works by changing specific entries in the Windows Registry, which is the database Windows uses to store system and application settings. Rather than making users hunt through the Registry manually, OFGB provides a graphical interface where you can toggle these settings with a few clicks. It is written in C# using a Microsoft UI framework called WPF, which is a standard way to build desktop apps on Windows. To use it, you download the latest release directly from the GitHub releases page. No installation is required beyond running the downloaded file. If you want to build the program yourself from its source code, you need Visual Studio and the .NET 8.0 software development kit, both of which are available for free from Microsoft. The project was inspired by a script written by a Windows community member named Shawn Brink, who identified the relevant Registry keys and explained what each one controls. The dark visual theme used in the app draws from a separate open-source project called DarkNet. The author credits both of these contributions in the repository. The author notes that GitHub is the only official source for this program and does not endorse copies distributed elsewhere. Contributions such as bug reports and feature suggestions are welcome through the GitHub issues and discussions pages.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
I want to remove ads from Windows 11 File Explorer. Show me how to download and run OFGB to turn them off.
Prompt 2
Which Windows Registry keys does OFGB modify to disable Start Menu and File Explorer ads in Windows 11?
Prompt 3
How do I build OFGB from source using Visual Studio and .NET 8 so I can inspect or modify what Registry keys it changes?
Prompt 4
Are the ad-removal changes OFGB makes reversible, and how do I undo them if a Windows update resets them?
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