What is ofgb?

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.