Windows 11 Start Menu: How to Make it Look Like Windows 10
We know things get evolved so as the technologies, they keep on evolving and improving year by year. Windows has also made many updates in its version since starting. So there can be lots of reasons to upgrade your previous version of Windows 10 to the preview version of Windows 11, but that does not mean at all that you have to face the discomfort of being a new user.
If you think that you are very familiar with the Windows 10 version then you can make Windows 11 look like Windows 10. For example, if you don’t like the new Windows 11 Start Menu because it takes up so much space or if you hate the fact that File Explorer is missing a ribbon menu or that right-click menus only hold 7 options and force you to click “Show more options” to see them all and many more new features.
But the good news for those people who feel more comfortable in the feel of Windows 10 is that with a combination of registry tweaks, third-party apps, and some different artwork, they can get some of the looks and feel of Windows 10 back in Windows 11. But with the good news, the bad news is that Microsoft doesn’t seem to want you to go back to a previous UI so it may disable any registry hacks you use in future updates. And the hacks which we are about to tell are hacks for a frequently changing beta OS.
So, you may run into bugs, there is no guarantee of a bug-free process. So, if you are ready to take risks on your own and proceed then you are welcome. Now let’s start. If you’re uncomfortable or unhappy about the new design of Windows 11, then this article will help you learn how to make Windows 11 start menu look like Windows 10. The most common ways brought in execution are:
- By using a simple tweak in the Registry, you can simply switch back to the old Start menu.
- You have an intuitive option in the Settings also to move the centered icons to the left.
- You can also use a dedicated, third-party app, which can be used to customize your Taskbar as you wish.
What’s New in the Windows 11 Start Menu
The Windows 11 Start menu appears to be a bit different from the menu in Windows 10. For example, you can see that through an All apps button, pinned items are displayed at the top with all the other accessible items. You will see the Recommended and recent items on the bottom half of the screen. To make the computer sleep, shut down, or restart we need to press the power button in Windows 11.
If you want to make your start menu work as it was working previously in Windows 10, then you will need to follow some registry tweaks that are described below. After applying these steps you will find that your computer’s start menu will approximately work the same as it was in Windows 10 and many more other features. So let’s see those registry tweaks :
How to Change the Start Menu Back to ‘Normal’
Windows 11 is featured with a new Start menu. But you need not worry, only a small registry tweak can bring you back to the start menu which would be more like the classic Start menu of Windows 10 that you might prefer.
- Select the search option from the taskbar and type “Regedit”.
- A Registry Editor will appear, select “open”.
- Navigate here by expanding the folders from the left pane:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced
- Now, from the left pane Right-click “Advanced” and select “New > DWORD (32-bit) Value”.
- Enter the below-mentioned text as the new value’s name, and then save it by pressing “Enter”.
Start_ShowClassicMode
- Change the data to be “1” by double-clicking the same value, and then select “OK”.
- Now, restart your computer. The quickest way to reboot the computer is to restart it, and in Windows 11 it is done by right-clicking on the Start button, now choose “Shut down or sign out” > “Restart”. You can also opt for the second option which is Logging out and back in, this will also work.
If you want to restore the default Start menu of Windows 11 then it can be done simply by reversing this process. It is very easy to do so and you can either delete the value or change the data that you made in step 5. And in step 6 change the value from “1” to “0”. now, reboot or relog to enable the changes made by you and you will be done.
How to Customize the Windows 11 Start Menu
You can even opt for the feature of personalization in case you want to feel the start menu of Windows 10 on Windows 11 start menu. By using the personalization option you can customize the Start menu in your own desired way. To Get to the personalization setting you need to search for Settings and then navigate to Personalization > Start.
With the help of this setting, you can show or hide recently added apps, most used apps, and recently opened items according to your convenience. You can also choose which folders should appear on Start, it also lets you toggle the visibility of folders like File Explorer, Settings, Documents, Network, Downloads, and more so if you don’t want to see them just turn it off or if you want them, turn it on.
It also facilitates you to customize the Pinned and unpinned Start menu items and rearrange them accordingly. In both cases, either in the default or classic Start menu, you can unpin the pinned item from the Start menu by doing a right-click on the item. You can arrange the things according to how you want them to appear by clicking and dragging, or by right-clicking on the Start menu to find the Move to top option.
Get a More Windows 10-Like Start Menu
Although we are using several tricks such as a combination of registry tweaks, third-party apps, and some different artwork, doing this can only provide you an approx feel of Windows 10. They can not provide you with the exact Windows 10 Start menu. However, you can install one of at least three third-party utilities that can give you a menu design that’s similar to Windows 7, which is in a way much closer to the looks of Windows 10’s menu, depending on how you customize it.
And for those who need to change the start menu back to Windows 10 then there is one more option but for that, you will firstly need to choose which Start menu utility to install. The three main choices are:
- Open-Shell: it is a free and open-source utility and does not require any registry hacks to work with its shell-shaped Start button. You will need to use the classic taskbar registry hack of this utility in case you want the Windows 10 icon for your start button.
- StartIsBack++: this utility looks more polished than Open-Shell. It needs a classic taskbar hack to work properly. Although it is not free as Open-Shell as it costs $3.99 it has a 30-day trial, after which it works with some diminished functionality.
- Start10: this utility is the most polished looking among all the three mentioned, but again it is also not free to use and it’s a bit more expensive than StartIsBack++, it costs $4.99 and has a 30-day trial also and requires a registry hack to work at all.
Why would you change back the Start menu to the previous looks?
As for the normal nature of human beings, we embrace the changes and we’re excited about the new looks but that doesn’t mean that everyone will have the same openness to welcome such modifications or even that it is also not possible that everyone will like the same changes as different people have different perspectives to see things.
The same is the case for changes made in Windows 10 and Windows 11, some of us can like those changes while some can not. It can happen that although you would like to benefit from the other performance improvements, you may not want to change that familiar look that you’re accustomed to, at least not yet.
So, if you are happy with the advancements made in the features but want that familiar look of Windows 10 back in Windows 11 start menu, then it’s not a big deal you can simply try using some tricks like a combination of registry tweaks, third-party apps, and some different artwork, they can get some of the looks and feel of Windows 10 back.
Conclusion
In this article, we have mentioned a few steps by which you can have a Windows 11 start menu interface that looks and feels a lot more like Windows 10. There are different methods mentioned above like a combination of registry tweaks, third-party apps, and some different artwork. But let me remind you again that there is no guarantee that all of these hacks keep working for always as new preview builds come out. We hope that this article will help give you back the feeling of Windows 10 while operating Windows 11.