Boy I Don't Like the 'New' Start Menu

glasskuter · Jun 17, 2025

Marcus Vinicus said:
Am I the only one around here that hardly ever uses the Start Menu?

I won't go to the start menu more than once a month on average....if that. I have a folder on my desktop that has all my program shortcuts and power shortcuts in it and I then pinned that folder to taskbar.; my very own poor man's Quick Launch with no need for 3rd party tools..

FrancoDT · Jun 17, 2025

Alonzo Mosley said:
The Pinned is two rows - with an option to "Show All." The "All" - which used to be a click on the top - is now Icon List or Category based (their categories, not mine) - along fully half the bottom. To show all the Pinned, you have to click a drop down. So, two steps to see what you want to see, and zero steps to see the things you already made a conscious effort to hide.

Huzzah.

So did you go into settings/Personalization/Start and select the switch show all pins by default? Also the phone link flyout has a switch next to the start menu search bar to open and close it as well as an on/off switch in the settings. Also you have list, category, and grid view icon display options. I prefer grid view myself.

Alonzo Mosley · Jun 18, 2025

Marcus Vinicus said:
Am I the only one around here that hardly ever uses the Start Menu?

I also have a few frequently-used BAT files pinned to my Start Menu.

FrancoDT said:
So did you go into settings/Personalization/Start and select the switch show all pins by default? Also the phone link flyout has a switch next to the start menu search bar to open and close it as well as an on/off switch in the settings. Also you have list, category, and grid view icon display options. I prefer grid view myself.

I did not. The "Show All Pins" was helpful, thank you. (That was the help I needed before spiralling down the WindHawk hack hole...) But it still shows the app list below, I prefer not seeing any of that.

Stigg · Jun 18, 2025

People have been complaining about the Windows start menu for a long time.

Windows 7 is when I first noticed the complaints ramping up and third party start menu apps popping up.

When Windows 8 was released, the complaints and apps went through the roof. Also, Stardock ModernMix made an appearance.

Stardock ModernMix: Run Windows 8 Modern apps in a window

Run Modern apps in a window on your Windows 8 desktop with ModernMix.

www.stardock.com

Steve C · Jun 18, 2025

Alonzo Mosley said:
Recent update (beta channel) - forces ALL apps onto Start menu and condenses (expandable with dropdown) my curated list of apps.

They were curated for a reason!

Ugh. That is all.

[/rant]

I don't care since I use Open Shell!

TairikuOkami · Jun 18, 2025

Marcus Vinicus said:
Am I the only one around here that hardly ever uses the Start Menu?

I stopped using it around Vista and I remove it ever since, it only downloads junk in the background. These days, Insider is not so much about the latest Windows features, but about Copilot and Start. MS turned Start into a promotional platform. To me, it looks like:

Code:

start "" /wait C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe "Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers -PackageTypeFilter Bundle -Name "Microsoft.StartExperiencesApp" | Remove-AppxPackage -AllUsers"

takeown /s %computername% /u %username% /f "%WINDIR%\SystemApps\Microsoft.Windows.StartMenuExperienceHost_cw5n1h2txyewy\StartMenuExperienceHost.exe"
icacls "%WINDIR%\SystemApps\Microsoft.Windows.StartMenuExperienceHost_cw5n1h2txyewy\StartMenuExperienceHost.exe" /inheritance:r /grant:r %username%:F
taskkill /im StartMenuExperienceHost.exe /f
del "%WINDIR%\SystemApps\Microsoft.Windows.StartMenuExperienceHost_cw5n1h2txyewy\StartMenuExperienceHost.exe" /s /f /q

Stigg · Jun 18, 2025

TairikuOkami said:
I stopped using it around Vista and I remove it ever since, it only downloads junk in the background. These days, Insider is not so much about the latest Windows features, but about Copilot and Start. MS turned Start into a promotional platform.

How do you remove the start menu?

TairikuOkami · Jun 18, 2025

Stigg said:
How do you remove the start menu?

Spoiler above :shush:

Stigg · Jun 18, 2025

TairikuOkami said:
Spoiler above

Edwin · Jun 18, 2025

A condensed list on the left is all it needs to be.

jimbo45 · Jun 18, 2025

This is BONKERS -- Really BONKERS -- it's going back to that hideous W8 menu !!!! -- If you have something complex like photoshop you need a decent cascading menu system -- PLEASE (caps intended) PC's and desktops ARE NOT MJUST BIG MOBILE PHONES !!!!!!

Cheers
jimbo

FrancoDT · Jun 18, 2025

Alonzo Mosley said:
I also have a few frequently-used BAT files pinned to my Start Menu.

I did not. The "Show All Pins" was helpful, thank you. (That was the help I needed before spiralling down the WindHawk hack hole...) But it still shows the app list below, I prefer not seeing any of that.

Afraid there is no way to turn off the apps list but at least we can turn off the recommended items now. I guess with the three apps display choices most people will be satisfied with one and they like being able to scroll down the menu as one long page now. Kinda like the new Android UI 7 phone apps list now. The only thing I'm not sure about with this new start menu is the large size. I guess I need time to get use to that.

Alonzo Mosley · Jun 18, 2025

FrancoDT said:
Kinda like the new Android UI 7 phone apps list now.

Which I detest.

barreleye · Jun 18, 2025

Just a thought, but the thread would be more impactful for those not on the same channel if it included a screenshot of the changed Start menu. I understand what they've done based on the feedback(!) screenshot in post 2, but you know what they say about pictures.

FrancoDT · Jun 18, 2025

barreleye said:
Just a thought, but the thread would be more impactful for those not on the same channel if it included a screenshot of the changed Start menu. I understand what they've done based on the feedback(!) screenshot in post 2, but you know what they say about pictures.

Good point, here's a quick shot of my big start menu.

FrancoDT · Jun 18, 2025

With Grid view of apps

Levitate11 · Jun 18, 2025

garlin said:
PM's are entitled to ignore MS Feedback or common sense.

Alonzo Mosley · Jun 18, 2025

barreleye said:
Just a thought, but the thread would be more impactful for those not on the same channel if it included a screenshot of the changed Start menu. I understand what they've done based on the feedback(!) screenshot in post 2, but you know what they say about pictures.

Yeah, this kinda blew up. I figured this would be a quick "Hey, dummy, the Off switch is here" reply.

barreleye · Jun 18, 2025

FrancoDT said:
Good point, here's a quick shot of my big start menu.

To be clear, the Pinned section appears collapsed when you open the Start menu? It also appears there's no longer a Back button to return you from All to Pinned in the new scrolling design. This is brain-dead. It's like my mom rearranging furniture because she got bored one day. "Can you come help me move the china cabinet back?"

barreleye · Jun 18, 2025

Alonzo Mosley said:
Yeah, this kinda blew up. I figured this would be a quick "Hey, dummy, the Off switch is here" reply.View attachment 137211

Yeah, this is bad. I might expand All a couple times a year. It's just clutter, and it's a real blunder to sacrifice any of Pinned to anything.

Boy I Don't Like the 'New' Start Menu

aka Mama Glass

My Computers My Computers

At a glance

At a glance

Well-known member

Attachments

My Computers My Computers

At a glance

At a glance

Man of Action

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Well-known member

My Computers My Computers

At a glance

At a glance

Well-known member

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Microsoft 365 Basic

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Well-known member

My Computers My Computers

At a glance

At a glance

Microsoft 365 Basic

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Well-known member

My Computers My Computers

At a glance

At a glance

♦ ♦

My Computers My Computers

At a glance

At a glance

Well-known member

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Well-known member

My Computers My Computers

At a glance

At a glance

Man of Action

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Well-known member

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Well-known member

Attachments

My Computers My Computers

At a glance

At a glance

Well-known member

Attachments

My Computers My Computers

At a glance

At a glance

Well-known member

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Man of Action

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Well-known member

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Well-known member

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Similar threads

My Computers

My Computers

My Computer

My Computers

My Computer

My Computer

My Computers

My Computer

My Computers

My Computers

My Computer

My Computers

My Computer

My Computer

My Computers

My Computers

My Computer

My Computer

My Computer

My Computer