Microsoft seems to be planning to overhaul the Start menu for Windows 11, consolidating the “All” menu with the “Pinned” page into a bigger scrollable layout, and it’ll finally allow you to turn off the “Recommended” section, but not in an intuitive way.
New Start menu for Windows 11
The new design includes a wider frame that can hold up to eight pins, up to three suggestions of files and apps, and up to eight apps or four groups in one row.
The “Pinned” section holds two rows of pins by default, and if you pin more apps, the section will show an option to expand all the pins.
If you want this section to show every pin at all times, you can turn on “Show all pins by default” on the “Start” settings page.
The “Recommended” section remains identical to the current version, but the system can now display up to six files or apps using two rows. You are not getting a collapsible button, but when you click the “Show more” button, you’ll be taken to another page listing all your recent files.
In this design, you can finally turn off the “Recommended” section to show only your pins and the “All” list by turning off the “Show recommended files in Start, recent files in File Explorer, and items in Jump Lists” toggle switch from the “Start” settings page.
In addition, you will have to turn off the “Show recently added apps,” “Show most used apps,” and “Show recommendations for tips, shortcuts, new apps, and more” toggles.
The “All” section is perhaps the most noticeable addition, which means that you will not have to jump to another page to view all your apps. Furthermore, you can also change the view to grid, list, and category.
The menu still supports groups and all the previous features.
As a result of this new design, Microsoft is also updating the “Start” settings page, which no longer includes options to change the layout since you can now see the default two rows or all the pins with the new “Show all pins by default” option.
Aside from the new customization option for pins, all the other settings remain the same.
It’s unclear when the company plans to roll out this new design. One thing for sure is that it’s still a work in progress since it has some design problems, and the new layout doesn’t match the Windows Search interface, so the transition from the Start menu to Windows Search isn’t perfect.
One way that Microsoft could fix the transition from Start to Search is to make results appear in the Start menu, as was possible on Windows 7 and Vista.
Enable new Start menu using ViveTool
The new Start menu design is available in the Dev and Beta Channels for Windows 11 build 26200.5518 and build 26120.3671 for version 24H2.
It’s important to note that Microsoft is still working on the feature, meaning that you will have to enable the feature manually with the ViveTool.
To enable the redesigned Start menu on Windows 11, follow these steps:
-
Download the ViveTool-vx.x.x.zip file to enable the new Start menu layout.
-
Double-click the zip folder to open it with File Explorer.
-
Click the Extract all button.
-
Click the Extract button.
-
Copy the path to the folder.
-
Open Start.
-
Search for Command Prompt, right-click the top result, and select the Run as administrator option.
-
Type the following command to navigate to the ViveTool folder and press Enter:
cd c:\folder\path\ViveTool-v0.x.x
In the command, remember to change the path to the folder with your path.
-
Type the following command to enable the Start menu design and press Enter:
vivetool /enable /id:49402389,49221331,47205210,48433719
-
Restart the computer.
Once you complete the steps, the new design for the Start menu will appear on your setup.
If you want to undo the changes, you can follow the same instructions outlined above, but in step 10, run the vivetool /disable /id:49402389,49221331,47205210,48433719 command.
Source link
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
