Do you remember the infamous blue screen pop-ups that invade your screen on Windows 10? Those reminder screens are back as Microsoft has again resorted to its aggressive tactic of promoting services like Office 365. We’ve noticed an increase in these unwanted promotions since installing the Windows 10 March Update ( KB5023696).
After installing the latest March 2023 Update, we encountered prompts on several PCs asking us to “finish up setting up your PC” and “get even more out of Windows” by subscribing to the Microsoft 365 service. Microsoft even offered us a month free trial. The same prompt also appeared on devices that already use Microsoft 365 subscriptions.
The pop-up resembles the first Windows 10 boot experience, and Microsoft uses it to highlight several services offered in the operating system, such as Windows Hello, Phone Link, Microsoft 365, and OneDrive. Previously, the company also advertised Cortana, but those ads have been removed as Microsoft has all but abandoned its digital assistant.
It should be noted that these full-screen pop-ups are not new and have been around since 2018. This “feature” was first added to Windows 10 with Microsoft’s May 2018 Update as an experience of unique post-update configuration. Initially, the idea was to display this screen at the first start of a new device or after the clean installation of Windows 10.
However, these plans have now changed and Microsoft has started using these “notifications” or recommendations to help users experience more Windows 10 features. instant”, it will reappear after a few days.
The best way to deal with these prompts is to go through all the slides and ignore Microsoft’s recommendation on the last page.
In some cases, you may be able to circumvent it entirely by going to Windows 10 Settings > Notifications & actions and unchecking the “Suggest ways to finish setting up my device to get the most out of Windows” option.
Several users have informed us of the sudden increase in these alerts. One user described the experience as terrifying as these screens ominously resemble the first boot experience, leading many to believe the device has been reset.
It should be noted that these fullscreen nags are present on Windows 11, and Microsoft has also used fullscreen notifications to push Windows 11 upgrades to Windows 10 users.
