How to get the old Start menu back on Windows 11?

Hello everyone.....

I think the solution is ► At this link ► See the bottom of the page to restore the old Start menu ...

Cheers

Hello,

Another participant might have a positive response to your request, but as far as I remember, the user interface (notably the Windows button in the middle, which gives access to the list of applications) hasn't changed since the beginning (aside from a few minor changes that I would struggle to specify).

Are you not confusing it with Windows 10 (Windows button at the bottom of a left column)?

Unless it’s a new ergonomics (announced), not yet applied to all users.

Hello,

On my side, I had been waiting for quite a while for the new Start menu, not specifically for its layout but to be able to juggle with the smartphone.

==► This famous new W11 Start menu

As for going back to the old W11 Start menu, it might be possible that a Windows registry key to delete or modify could achieve that, or perhaps a CMD or Powershell command, or some software (haven't found any without really looking), and without installing an alternative like StartIsBack or Open Shell.

Hello, I had the same reflex, but I spent a few minutes on it. I think it was designed to be more "simple" with all these icons that we want to ignore; a bit of pride, after all. It was meant for beginners, and we need to memorize the poorly translated categories from English, I agree.

Best regards

"Donkeys change their minds, not idiots"
Please remember to mark your message as "resolved" if that's the case.

Hi,

The display of the new Start menu (on 25h2) is larger than the old one, which is significant with its choice of layout (Category, Grid, List), but will cause issues on 4K screens.

The downside is that for now, the right side dedicated to mobile cannot be disabled; I believe Microsoft will correct this because currently there are no options in the settings, and not everyone uses Connected Mobile.

For categorization, Microsoft will likely add sections or even change names (Productivity, Creativity, Entertainment, Utility, etc.).

Even if it's classified like this, it's not entirely accurate regarding the placement of certain applications.

For example, Firefox in private browsing:

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I did not suggest 'vivetool' that I know for certain reasons.

Info 'vivetool' :

Valid both ways Enable/Disable.

 Enforcing activation puts your computer in an unsupported state, and many things have multiple flags or variables, and you can create conflicts with other functions. I've already seen posts where people force the activation of something, which makes something else crash, and then they complain that MS is crap and all. Moreover, forcing functional changes can cause other functions to never activate properly, even after they have been deployed to everyone. I have confirmation from Microsoft that it complicates their job in resolving bugs and other issues too, because it pollutes telemetry data. Like, if you're in the "old start menu group", forcing the new start menu, and it starts crashing, it requires more work to find the underlying issue. They deliberately deploy things like this, slowly and progressively, to be able to monitor and fix problems that may arise before they spread.

 Do not forget that using vivetool to enable/disable elements will interfere with the telemetry your device sends to Microsoft. This will pollute feedback and may indicate incorrect results, for example. This means that using vivetool may have a negative impact on users over time. With that in mind, please take steps to truly identify and prevent telemetry from being sent if you use vivetool, or simply do not use it.

Source

I also did not suggest a reg file to enable or disable the new Start button.

For the simple reason that the content of the .reg file is not the same at all, meaning that certain registry keys are unavailable compared to when the Start menu is installed or delivered by Windows Update and Microsoft Store components.

For my part, I find this new menu very interesting and practical, even though it will improve over time with Windows Update fixes, but also with updates to Microsoft Store components.

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