Microsoft is testing a revamped Start Menu for Windows 11, starting in the Canary Channel for Insiders. It’s much larger than the previous design, and it will hopefully require less scrolling or searching to find the apps you need.
Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27965 is now rolling out in the Canary Channel, with a new iteration of the Start Menu’s big redesign. The blog post explains, “We’re making it easier for you to launch your apps with our updated, scrollable Start menu. With ‘All’ now on the top-level, apps are easily accessible without having to navigate to a secondary page. In addition, we’re introducing two new views to browse and launch your installed apps in the ‘All’ section: category and grid view.”
Microsoft was previously testing this redesign back in April, and it officially arrived in Insider builds later in June. This latest version is a bit more refined, though it’s now fashionably late for Windows 11 25H2, which started rolling out on October 1st. Presumably, this will be an update for 25H2 (and maybe even 24H2) whenever it’s finally done.
The update feels like a partial return to the full screen Start Menu from Windows 8, and the expanded height menu on Windows 10. The new Start Menu doesn’t take up the entire display, but it uses more vertical space to highlight your pinned apps, recommended apps and files, and the ‘All’ list.
The Phone Link sidebar is also still present, showing contacts, notifications, and other status indicators for whichever phone you have connected to your PC. It can be toggled on or off with the phone button next to the search box.
Microsoft also said, “The new default Category view automatically groups your apps by category for quick access to your most used categories and apps. So, if your most used apps are Outlook and Solitaire, you can expect those apps to bubble up to the top in their respective categories. Categories are formed when there are at least 3 apps in each respective category. Otherwise, they will remain in the ‘Other’ category.
The menu is also more customizable, with new options in the Start Menu section of the Windows Settings. There are settings to show or hide recently added apps, most used apps, recommended files, websites from your browsing history, and “recommendations for tips, shortcuts, new apps, and more.”
This seems to be an improvement for Windows 11, but it’s still a far cry from the customization available in Start11 and other third-party replacements. You also still have to turn off recommendations for apps and services, most of which probably won’t be relevant to most people. No, Microsoft, I’m not installing LinkedIn. Leave me alone.
It’s not clear when the new Start Menu will roll out to all Windows 11 PCs. It will probably stay in the Insider channels for at least a few weeks, while bugs are discovered and fixed, before Microsoft starts rolling it out to more computers.
Source: Windows Insider Blog
