Microsoft drastically simplified the Start menu in Windows 11, discarding live tiles and targeting a sleek, rounded interface. Here's a quick look at what's new and different in Start compared to Windows 10.
It is centered by default
In Windows 11, the Start menu appears in the center of the screen when opened by default. This is because Windows 11 align the Start button and taskbar icons in the center of the screen.
It is feasible to make the menu open on the left side (like Windows 10) if you open Settings and navigate to Personalization> Taskbar> Taskbar behaviors and set “Taskbar alignment” on “Left”.
RELATED: How to move taskbar icons to the left in Windows 11
No more living mosaics
The Windows Start menu 10 presentaba Live Tiles, the rectangular widget-shaped icon boxes introduced in Windows 8. In Windows 11, Live Tiles are nowhere to be found. Instead, you will see lists of app icons in the Start menu. And when you pin apps to the Start menu, will appear as icons in an icon panel of 3 × 6 near the top that scrolls one page at a time to contain many overflow icons.
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General design changes
Unlike all the other Start menus above, the Windows Start menu 11 “fleet” on the taskbar, no longer next to the Home button. It also carries the theme of the rounded corners of Windows 11 usually.
To change account settings, lock your PC or log out, click on your account name in the lower left corner. By clicking the power button in the lower right corner, a small pop-up menu is displayed allowing you to sleep, shut down or restart your PC.
The list “All applications” take over
In Windows 11, if you click “All applications” in the upper right corner of the Start menu and start browsing the alphabetical list of “All applications”, the list occupies the entire menu, pressing pinned apps (and the “Recommended” area) off-screen. It's a more focused approach than Windows 10 which may be less visually confusing for some people.
Shortcuts to special folders Go to the bottom of the menu
If you open Settings and navigate to Personalization> Start> Folders, you can add special folder icons at the bottom of the Start menu. These include links to “This PC”, “Documents”, “Images”, “Red” and more than Windows 10 listed on the far left of your Start menu.
RELATED: How to add folder shortcuts to the left sidebar of the Start menu in Windows 10
A new area “recommended”
In Windows 10, Your most used applications and the most recent applications would appear at the top of the alphabetical applications list in the Start menu (unless you have disabled them). In Windows 11, a section called “Recommended” that occupies the lower half of the Start menu fulfills this function.
Fortunately, it's easy to disable in Settings, but it takes up a lot of screen space for a feature that some people prefer to disable. But who knows, things may change between now and the full release of Windows 11 at the end of this year.
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