How to put the Windows 11 Start menu back in its place

When moving from Windows 10 to Windows 11, one of the first things you can do is ask yourself, where the hell is my Start menu? Traditionally, the Windows Start menu was in the lower left corner of the screen, but when your new version of Windows appears, you’ll find the Start icon among a group of icons in the center of your taskbar at the bottom of the screen. the screen.

Click on the start menu icon and things will be very different too. Instead of the large square tiles that appeared before, you’ve got a much more modest app icon set, mostly showing Microsoft-related apps pinned to the main page. Click on “All apps” in the upper right corner (just below the search box) and you get the familiar A-Z list of apps. But no tiling.

Look under the app icons and you’ll find a “Recommended” section, which features apps that Microsoft thinks you should try (such as Teams), and if you click the “More” button, some of the files or apps you may have used recently.

By the way, this search box? Click on it and the Start menu will open, giving you immediate access to File Explorer, Settings, and other apps.

While some may appreciate this more puritanical version of the Start menu, others who have become accustomed to the more configurable version of Windows 10 may want to know how to revert to the more familiar and personal version.

You can access it by dragging the centered apps to the left of the taskbar:

• Right click on the taskbar and click on “Taskbar settings”
• Select “Taskbar Behaviors”
• Look for “Alignment of the taskbar” and click on the button to the right where it says “Center”. Instead, select “Left”.
• Close the settings window and you will see that the app icons in the taskbar have moved to the left, with the Start menu icon in the corner.

While this will put the Start menu back where you expected it to be, it won’t restore the one you are used to. To retrieve this, you will need to go to a third-party app.

At the time of writing, there was already at least one available. Stardock, a company whose Start10 app lets Windows 10 users keep their beloved Windows 7 menu UI, has already released a beta version of its Start11 app, which it says will bring back the Start menu. classic Windows 10. Applications cost $ 5.

So far, Start11 is the only app we’ve found that claims to restore the Windows 10 menu system. It’s definitely not the last, however – there were several apps that catered to Windows 7 fans. when Windows 10 was released, and you can bet there will soon be other alternatives for the Windows 10 “look”. part during Microsoft’s beta cycle.)

If a better solution presents itself, we’ll be sure to let you know.