General Open Start Menu in Windows 11

This tutorial will show you how to open the Start menu in Windows 11.

Starting with Windows 11 build 26200.5641 (Dev 24H2) and build 26120.4250 (Beta 24H2), Microsoft introduced a new redesigned Start menu.

The new scrollable Start Menu is comprised of three sections: Pinned, All apps, and Recommended.

The Pinned section on the Start menu is where you can Pin to Start apps, and rearrange them in any order you want. You can customize your pinned apps on the Start menu by organizing them into folders with a custom folder name. You can add more apps to a folder, rearrange apps within a folder, and remove apps from a folder. You can select to Show more or Show less pinned apps on Start by default.

The All apps section on the Start menu shows all your installed apps in either a Category, Grid, or List view. With All now on the top-level, apps are easily accessible without having to navigate to a secondary page. The new default Category view automatically groups your apps by category for quick access to your most used categories and apps. So, if your most used apps are Outlook and Solitaire, you can expect those apps to bubble up to the top in their respective categories. Categories are formed when there are at least 3 apps in each respective category. Otherwise, they will remain in the “Other” category. Grid view is ordered alphabetically like List view but allows for better scanning of all your installed apps with more horizontal real estate. The Start menu will remember your last used view so you can reliably launch your apps with the view you prefer most.

The Recommended section on the Start menu shows a list of your recently added apps, recently opened items, and websites.

Microsoft is making better use of your screen real estate by adapting the size of the Start menu based on your screen size. Have a larger-screen device? You can expect to see a larger Start menu, by default, so you can see more of your apps and files. On larger devices, users can expect to see 8 columns of pinned apps, 6 recommendations, and 4 columns of categories in the Start menu. On smaller devices, you’ll see 6 columns of pinned apps, 4 recommendations, and 3 columns of categories.

Starting with Windows 11 build 26100.3915 (24H2) and build 22631.5262 (23H2), you can directly access content on your mobile device from the Start menu on your PC. Using this feature, you can view your device’s battery status and connectivity, access your voice messages, calls, and photos, and pick up where you left off with the latest activities on your device.

If you don't have the new Start Menu available yet in 24H2 or 25H2 and would like to try it now, then you can enable it using the command below with ViVeTool.

vivetool /enable /id:47205210


References:



Here's How:

1 Perform one of the following actions: (see screenshot below)

• Click/tap on the Start button on the taskbar.
• Press the Windows key on the keyboard.
• Swipe with one finger up from the bottom edge of your touch screen.

2 You can now open an item from the Pinned, All, or Recommended section on the Start menu.




That's it,
Shawn Brink