Update 3.15.22, 2:45 pm: Microsoft said in a statement that the File Explorer ads were never meant for the public’s eyes: “This was an experimental banner that ...

This week, early testers spotted Windows 11 ads within File Explorer. Microsoft has now said those ads were “an experimental banner that was not intended to be published externally and was turned off.

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Microsoft has begun testing promotions for some of its other products in the File Explorer app on devices running its latest Windows 11 Insider build. The new Windows 11 "feature" was discovered by a ...