Other than old-school energy customers who stay within the Run command, and the trendy type who swear by instruments like PowerToys Command Palette and Raycast, the Begin menu, and the taskbar are the 2 most interacted-with issues in Home windows 11. So Microsoft was completely of their proper thoughts once they determined to make these extra private.
Each the Begin menu and the taskbar have confronted relentless criticism since Home windows 11 launched. The taskbar has triggered backlash as a result of it might probably’t be repositioned anymore, not like in Home windows 10. Microsoft additionally gave causes for eradicating that operate.
Then there’s the MSN feed that swings by each time you hover over the climate widget, and the shortage of a real compact mode within the Taskbar.
We additionally discovered a bug when clicking the Activity Supervisor from the taskbar, which might set off a replica Activity Supervisor that slowed down background processes. Happily, it was fastened after our report.
As for the Begin menu, customers hated the shortage of customization, the extreme measurement, and the poor efficiency. Our detailed testing confirmed how the brand new Begin menu takes up lots of area, utterly dominating vertical display screen actual property.
Nevertheless, Microsoft is not that firm, and they’re lastly doing every part to repair Home windows 11 from the bottom up. Simply three weeks in the past, the software program large laid out a roadmap for these components of the OS that lastly acknowledges what customers have been saying for years, and the changes to the taskbar and Start menu are coming quickly.
New options coming to the Home windows 11 taskbar
The headline function is one which Tim Sweeney and Elon Musk famously requested for on X, and one which Microsoft’s personal Suggestions Hub has had pinned on the high for years, and no factors in guessing, it’s undoubtedly the skill to maneuver the taskbar.
Native taskbar repositioning is lastly arriving in Home windows 11. You’ll be capable of place the taskbar on the high, left, or proper of the display screen, with icon alignment choices that adapt accordingly. In our testing, the Begin menu and flyouts all work as anticipated. In fact, this wouldn’t be shocking should you’re nonetheless utilizing Home windows 10. Microsoft is bringing the movable taskbar after 5 years!
When the taskbar sits on the left or proper, you’ll be able to align icons to the highest or middle. When it’s on the highest, you get left-aligned or centered icons.
And for many who like their open apps labeled and ungrouped, a vertical taskbar with “By no means mix” enabled makes every window immediately identifiable.
To maneuver it, head to Settings > Personalization > Taskbar > Taskbar behaviors. Microsoft continues to be engaged on auto-hide help, contact gestures, and search containers in alternate positions, so these gained’t be a part of the primary rollout.
A real smaller taskbar can also be coming, which is once more one other function that Home windows 10 had. Microsoft beforehand “lowered” the taskbar measurement by solely shrinking the icons, which didn’t truly give again any display screen area.
The brand new “Present smaller taskbar buttons” toggle, when set to All the time, reduces each icon measurement and the bodily peak of the taskbar itself. For these of us who use 14” laptops, a smaller taskbar is a significant achieve in vertical actual property.
Whereas each these options are presently stay within the Insider Experimental channel, we count on them to reach on all PC within the subsequent few weeks.
Nevertheless, a function that’s already rolling out (regularly) to all PCs which were up to date with the Could 2026 Elective 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 accustomed to, and I, for one, have at all times needed it for my Home windows laptop computer. Nevertheless, the function wants and makes use of Bluetooth LE audio to let two pairs of headphones hearken to the identical PC concurrently, with a devoted system tray indicator on the taskbar to handle each streams.
It’s a distinct segment function for some, however it’s actually helpful while you’re watching a film with a buddy, and your laptop computer audio system don’t minimize it. You possibly can even change the volumes of the 2 headsets individually. We’ve already examined Shared Audio on our PC, and it really works flawlessly.
And at last, the standard of life enchancment within the taskbar is that Microsoft is lastly addressing the Widgets board. Quickly, unintentionally brushing the nook of your display screen will not set off an enormous panel full of tabloid information and intrusive advertisements.
As we reported earlier this month, Microsoft will quickly be turning off the MSN feed in Home windows 11 Widgets by default. The corporate is pushing a “quieter” taskbar expertise and utterly disabling the irritating “Open on hover” conduct proper out of the field.
Microsoft can also be killing taskbar badging. The working system will not show irritating crimson notification dots or cycle by animated inventory market alerts until you intentionally work together with the board first.
Clicking the Widgets icon now prioritizes your precise pinned mini-apps. You will note your calendar, native climate, and system stats upfront as a substitute of going through an instantaneous bombardment from the MSN Uncover feed.
Forcing the MSN feed to take a again seat proves Microsoft is lastly prepared to sacrifice advert income to construct an working system that respects consumer consideration.
What’s new within the Home windows 11 Begin menu
The Begin menu adjustments are equally vital, they usually deal with complaints that we at Home windows Newest have been protecting for some time, together with the Begin menu taking on an excessive amount of display screen area and the poor customization choices.
Part-level toggles are probably the most sensible addition to the Begin menu. You’ll be capable of independently cover or present the Pinned, Latest, and All Apps sections. One toggle per part, no buried settings.
If you would like a Begin menu with simply pinned apps, flip off Latest and All. If you would like every part, depart it on.
Microsoft can also be fixing a long-standing annoyance. Turning off Advisable in Begin presently wipes out your File Explorer bounce listing historical past, too. With the brand new change, a separate management for file suggestions means you’ll be able to disable the Begin feed with out affecting latest information elsewhere.
The perfect function for me is that now I can lastly resize the Begin menu. Now you can select Small (6 app columns) or Giant (8 app columns), as a substitute of relying completely on the automated structure that made the Begin menu really feel too massive on smaller screens.
There’s additionally a privateness mode that hides your account identify and profile image from the Begin menu floor, helpful while you’re presenting, display screen sharing, or streaming with out wanting your Microsoft account particulars on show.
“Advisable” is being renamed to “Latest”, which is one thing that truthfully ought to have been the identify from day one. The part exhibits not too long ago put in apps and not too long ago used information, not personalised suggestions in any significant algorithmic sense. I really feel the rename is extra trustworthy, and Microsoft says file relevancy is being improved alongside it, so what exhibits up will hopefully mirror what you’ve been engaged on.
The customization choices within the Begin menu have reached some extent the place you’ll be able to successfully flip off every part:
The most important enchancment to the Begin menu is coming quickly
I’m personally trying ahead to the Begin menu’s full transfer to WinUI. Microsoft is dropping the versioned “WinUI 3” identify in favor of simply WinUI, constructed on a brand-new modular engine. The corporate additionally talked about this at Construct 2026, and it’s precisely what’s going to give the Begin menu the responsiveness overhaul it has desperately wanted since launch.
We’re already seeing the efficiency groundwork laid out for this transition. The Low Latency Profile CPU increase, which prioritizes the Begin menu engine to scale back micro-stutters, already arrived with the Could non-compulsory replace, and the function is formally rolling out to all PCs this week as a part of the June Patch Tuesday replace.
Nevertheless, the WinUI replace is the sort of foundational repair that makes every part else in your PC really feel quicker. For a corporation that has spent the higher a part of two years being closely criticized for injecting bloatware whereas neglecting the fundamentals, this explicit dedication to getting the basics proper is probably the most encouraging sign we’ve got seen in a very long time.