With the exception of old-school energy customers who reside within the Run command, and the trendy sort who swear through equipment like PowerToys Command Palette and Raycast, the Get started menu, and the taskbar are the 2 maximum interacted-with issues in Home windows 11. So Microsoft used to be completely of their proper thoughts once they determined to make those extra non-public.
Each the Get started menu and the taskbar have confronted relentless complaint since Home windows 11 introduced. The taskbar has precipitated backlash as a result of it may well’t be repositioned anymore, not like in Home windows 10. Microsoft additionally gave causes for taking away that serve as.
Then there’s the MSN feed that swings through each time you hover over the elements widget, and the loss of a real compact mode within the Taskbar.
We additionally discovered a computer virus when clicking the Activity Supervisor from the taskbar, which might cause a replica Activity Supervisor that slowed down background processes. Thankfully, it used to be fastened after our record.
As for the Get started menu, customers hated the loss of customization, the over the top dimension, and the deficient efficiency. Our detailed trying out confirmed how the brand new Get started menu takes up numerous area, totally dominating vertical display screen actual property.
On the other hand, Microsoft is not that corporate, and they’re in spite of everything doing the whole thing to mend Home windows 11 from the bottom up. Simply 3 weeks in the past, the instrument massive laid out a roadmap for those portions of the OS that in spite of everything recognizes what customers had been announcing for years, and the adjustments to the taskbar and Get started menu are coming quickly.
New options coming to the Home windows 11 taskbar
The headline function is one who Tim Sweeney and Elon Musk famously requested for on X, and one who Microsoft’s personal Comments Hub has had pinned on the most sensible for years, and no issues in guessing, it’s indubitably the talent to transport the taskbar.
Local taskbar repositioning is in spite of everything arriving in Home windows 11. You’ll be capable of position the taskbar on the most sensible, left, or proper of the display screen, with icon alignment choices that adapt accordingly. In our trying out, the Get started menu and flyouts all paintings as anticipated. After all, this wouldn’t be sudden in case you’re nonetheless the usage of Home windows 10. Microsoft is bringing the movable taskbar after 5 years!
When the taskbar sits at the left or proper, you’ll align icons to the highest or heart. When it’s at the most sensible, you get left-aligned or targeted icons.
And for many who like their open apps categorized and ungrouped, a vertical taskbar with “By no means mix” enabled makes every window straight away identifiable.
To transport it, head to Settings > Personalization > Taskbar > Taskbar behaviors. Microsoft continues to be operating on auto-hide make stronger, contact gestures, and seek containers in exchange positions, so the ones gained’t be a part of the primary rollout.
A real smaller taskbar could also be coming, which is once more every other function that Home windows 10 had. Microsoft prior to now “decreased” the taskbar dimension through best shrinking the icons, which didn’t in fact give again any display screen area.
The brand new “Display smaller taskbar buttons” toggle, when set to All the time, reduces each icon dimension and the bodily peak of the taskbar itself. For the ones folks who use 14” laptops, a smaller taskbar is a significant acquire in vertical actual property.
Whilst each those options are these days reside within the Insider Experimental channel, we predict them to reach on all PC in the following few weeks.
On the other hand, a function this is already rolling out (steadily) to all PCs which were up to date with the Might 2026 Not obligatory Home windows 11 KB5089573 (construct 26200.8524) is the Shared Audio function.
The AirPods-style audio sharing function is one thing that Apple customers are already aware of, and I, for one, have all the time sought after it for my Home windows pc. On the other hand, the function wishes and makes use of Bluetooth LE audio to let two pairs of headphones concentrate to the similar PC concurrently, with a devoted gadget tray indicator at the taskbar to control each streams.
It’s a distinct segment function for some, nevertheless it’s truly helpful while you’re looking at a film with a chum, and your pc audio system don’t minimize it. You’ll even trade the volumes of the 2 headsets for my part. We’ve got already examined Shared Audio on our PC, and it really works flawlessly.
And in spite of everything, the standard of lifestyles development within the taskbar is that Microsoft is in spite of everything addressing the Widgets board. Quickly, by accident brushing the nook of your display screen will not cause an enormous panel stuffed with tabloid information and intrusive advertisements.
As we reported previous this month, Microsoft will quickly be turning off the MSN feed in Home windows 11 Widgets through default. The corporate is pushing a “quieter” taskbar enjoy and fully disabling the irritating “Open on hover” conduct proper out of the field.
Microsoft could also be killing taskbar badging. The working gadget will not show frustrating crimson notification dots or cycle thru animated inventory marketplace indicators until you intentionally engage with the board first.
Clicking the Widgets icon now prioritizes your exact pinned mini-apps. You’ll see your calendar, native climate, and gadget stats in advance as an alternative of going through an instantaneous bombardment from the MSN Uncover feed.
Forcing the MSN feed to take a again seat proves Microsoft is in spite of everything prepared to sacrifice advert earnings to construct an working gadget that respects consumer consideration.
What’s new within the Home windows 11 Get started menu
The Get started menu adjustments are similarly vital, and so they cope with proceedings that we at Home windows Newest had been masking for some time, together with the Get started menu taking over an excessive amount of display screen area and the deficient customization choices.
Segment-level toggles are probably the most sensible addition to the Get started menu. You’ll be capable of independently cover or display the Pinned, Contemporary, and All Apps sections. One toggle in step with segment, no buried settings.
If you need a Get started menu with simply pinned apps, flip off Contemporary and All. If you need the whole thing, go away it on.
Microsoft could also be solving a long-standing annoyance. Turning off Beneficial in Get started these days wipes out your Record Explorer bounce record historical past, too. With the brand new trade, a separate keep an eye on for record suggestions method you’ll disable the Get started feed with out affecting fresh recordsdata somewhere else.
The most efficient function for me is that now I will in spite of everything resize the Get started menu. You’ll now make a selection Small (6 app columns) or Huge (8 app columns), as an alternative of depending solely at the computerized structure that made the Get started menu really feel too huge on smaller displays.
There’s additionally a privateness mode that hides your account title and profile image from the Get started menu floor, helpful while you’re presenting, display screen sharing, or streaming with out short of your Microsoft account main points on show.
“Beneficial” is being renamed to “Contemporary”, which is one thing that in truth will have to had been the title from day one. The segment presentations lately put in apps and lately used recordsdata, now not customized suggestions in any significant algorithmic sense. I believe the rename is extra truthful, and Microsoft says record relevancy is being stepped forward along it, so what presentations up will optimistically replicate what you’ve been operating on.
The customization choices within the Get started menu have reached some extent the place you’ll successfully flip off the whole thing:
The largest development to the Get started menu is coming quickly
I’m in my opinion having a look ahead to the Get started menu’s entire transfer to WinUI. Microsoft is losing the versioned “WinUI 3” title in desire of simply WinUI, constructed on a brand-new modular engine. The corporate additionally discussed this at Construct 2026, and it’s precisely what is going to give the Get started menu the responsiveness overhaul it has desperately wanted since release.
We’re already seeing the efficiency groundwork laid out for this transition. The Low Latency Profile CPU spice up, which prioritizes the Get started menu engine to cut back micro-stutters, already arrived with the Might not obligatory replace, and the function is formally rolling out to all PCs this week as a part of the June Patch Tuesday replace.
On the other hand, the WinUI replace is the type of foundational repair that makes the whole thing else to your PC really feel sooner. For a corporation that has spent the easier a part of two years being closely criticized for injecting bloatware whilst neglecting the fundamentals, this actual dedication to getting the basics proper is probably the most encouraging sign we now have observed in a very long time.
