Microsoft is reportedly making strides in enhancing the user experience of Windows 11 with a redesigned Start menu that promises to be both larger and more customizable than its predecessor. Renowned Windows leaker, known as phantomofearth, shared insights on the social media platform Bluesky, unveiling a video that showcases the new design found in recent builds of Windows 11.
In the shared video, the updated Start menu presents a more spacious layout, allowing users to finally disable the often-criticized recommended feed of files and applications. The leaker noted, “Hidden in today’s Dev/Beta CUs: a major update to the Windows 11 Start menu! It has a new, larger layout with everything on one scrollable page, with the ‘All’ list below recommendations – which can FINALLY be turned off! Pinned list is now limited to 2 rows, but can be expanded.”
According to a report from The Verge, Microsoft is currently testing this revamped Start menu within the 24H2 builds of Windows 11 and has also backported the feature to the 23H2 versions. This indicates that the new design is likely to be rolled out to all Windows 11 users in the near future.
How the new Windows 11 Start menu design can help users
The recommended feed in Windows 11 has been a common source of frustration for users transitioning from Windows 10, as it occupies considerable space on the Start menu and may not be beneficial for everyone. The redesigned Start menu aims to alleviate this issue by consolidating all elements into a single, scrollable page, enabling users to access their applications without navigating to a separate section.
The “All apps” view has been enhanced for user-friendliness, offering options to display applications in either a categorized or list format, catering to individual preferences. Additionally, the expanded Start menu accommodates more pinned apps—up to eight per row—eliminating the previous limitation of three rows.
