For anyone who has used Windows 11, the Start menu has long been a point of contention. When Microsoft completely overhauled it—moving it to the center of the screen and stripping away the highly customizable live tiles of the Windows 10 era—it sparked a wave of debate. Things only got more complicated when a subsequent update nearly doubled the size of the menu, leaving users scratching their heads over a massive block of real estate dominated by system-generated "Recommended" files.
Thankfully, Microsoft has been listening. In a major move to hand control back to the users, the tech giant has begun rolling out an array of deeply requested customization features for the Windows 11 Start menu and taskbar. If you’ve ever wanted to shrink the menu, hide the algorithms, or put your taskbar back where it belongs, your wish is finally being granted.
Giving Users Control of Their Digital Desktop
The new features are currently hitting the Experimental channel for Windows Insiders. The headline addition is a brand-new sizing toggle: users can now choose between a "Small" or "Large" version of the Start menu. Best of all, Microsoft has ensured that whichever size preference you pick will remain completely consistent across multiple displays, fixing a common multi-monitor headache.
But the customization doesn't stop at just resizing the window. Microsoft is introducing granular, section-level toggles for the three pillars of the modern Start menu: Pinned, Recommended, and All.
If you're tired of seeing random PDFs, cloud documents, or suggested apps taking up half of your screen, you can completely deactivate the Recommended and All sections. This transforms your Start menu into a clean, distraction-free grid dedicated entirely to your pinned applications. For the privacy-conscious, a separate setting allows you to turn off file recommendations specifically, ensuring that sensitive documents aren't accidentally put on display.
Privacy for Streamers and the Return of the Moving Taskbar
Speaking of privacy, Microsoft is addressing a very modern computing issue: screen sharing. Remote work, Zoom presentations, and live streaming mean our desktops are exposed to coworkers and audiences more than ever. To protect your identity during these sessions, Windows 11 will now let you completely hide your name and profile picture from the bottom of the Start menu.
Perhaps the most unexpected and exciting throwback feature in this update is the liberation of the taskbar. Since Windows 11 launched, users have been forced to keep the taskbar pinned strictly to the bottom of the screen. This update shatters that restriction, allowing you to reposition the taskbar to any edge of the screen—top, bottom, left, or right.
To complement this flexibility, Microsoft is adding sophisticated alignment controls:
- If you move your taskbar to the left or right edges, you can align your app icons to the top or center.
- If you keep it at the top or bottom, you can opt for the classic left-aligned layout or the modern centered look.
A Welcome Shift to User-Centric Design
This update marks an important philosophical pivot for Microsoft. In the early days of Windows 11, the company seemed determined to push a unified, curated aesthetic centered around AI and cloud recommendations. However, the persistent pushback from the user base proved that when it comes to productivity, flexibility always wins.
By allowing users to strip away the algorithmic bloat and reposition core UI elements, Microsoft is bringing back the spirit of power-user customization that made legacy versions of Windows so beloved, all while maintaining the sleek, modern architecture of Windows 11.
If you want to test these features out right now, you can register your Microsoft account with the Windows Insider program. This gives you early access to preview builds, letting you tweak your desktop while helping Microsoft iron out the bugs before the official, worldwide public rollout.
How do you like your desktop configured? Are you moving your taskbar back to the top of the screen the first chance you get, or have you grown to love the centered look? Let us know your ultimate setup in the comments!
Originally featured on: Dataconomy
