Microsoft’s growing reliance on advertising has become difficult to ignore, and the latest example is the company’s own PC Manager app. Ads have already crept into multiple areas of the Windows experience—including the Start menu, Copilot AI assistant, and Surface app—and now even the utility that’s supposed to optimize your computer is showing signs of commercial clutter.
As reported by Windows Latest, the PC Manager app, which is free on the Microsoft Store for both Windows 10 and 11, has started displaying ads. The app’s primary goal is to streamline routine tasks like clearing storage, managing startup apps, and boosting system performance. But Microsoft has now chosen to insert promotions, currently centered around Microsoft 365, directly into this once-uncluttered experience.
For now, the advertising seems limited to Microsoft’s own products, suggesting it’s more about nudging users toward paid services than partnering with outside advertisers. However, that may not hold forever. In regions like the EU, where tech company practices are heavily scrutinized under competition law, Microsoft could face pressure to either tone down self-promotion or make space for third-party advertising to avoid legal trouble.
What was once a straightforward system maintenance tool is now another example of Microsoft’s ad-centric mindset. As more core apps are converted into marketing channels, users may find themselves wrestling not only with junk files and system lag but also with an increasingly noisy user experience.