Microsoft provides a ton of documentation for developers on ways to customize your Windows 11 Start Menu. However, there is not much information on how to customize the Start Menu on Windows 11 for the everyday user. Luckily for you, we have a helpful guide on how to customize your Windows 11 Start Menu.
For those that liked the look and feel of the Windows 10 Start Menu, the Windows 11 Start Menu is completely different. It’s centered by default, there are no more Live Tiles, and there are likely more general layout changes coming soon in future Windows 11 builds.
Here’s a look at how you can customize your Windows 11 Start Menu in the best way.
Windows 11 Start Menu
Bringing up the Windows 11 Start Menu is pretty easy; all it takes is press of the Windows key. Alternatively, you can also click the Start Menu icon on the Windows 11 taskbar to also summon the Start Menu. After you press the Windows key, the Start Menu will pop up and you can see your recently added apps, most used apps, and recently opened items in Start, Jump Lists, and File Explorer.
In Start Menu settings, you can also add your own folders that you want to appear in the Start Menu. If you want to reach Windows settings directly, you can click the gear icon in the lower right of the Start Menu as shown.
Remember these steps to get to the Start Menu options in Windows Settings.
1. Go to Settings (Windows key + I)
2. Go to Personalization
3. Go to Start
4. Customize your Start Menu how you want
As you can see, there are not many options available to configure in the Windows 11 Start Menu, although future Windows 11 builds may add and/or remove options as they become available. We’ll keep you posted.
Be sure to check out OnMSFT’s YouTube channel and hands-on with Windows 11 Build 22000.51 video where we go through all the changes below.
Be sure to check out our weekly OnMSFT OnPodcast with Kareem Anderson and Arif Bacchus as they talk about the latest Microsoft news and stories for the week. They recently hit a milestone with recording their 40th episode last week! Stay tuned for next week where they try to host next week’s podcast using Microsoft Teams’ Together Mode, it should be fun!
What options would you like to see available in the Windows 11 Start Menu? Let us know in the comments!
