Stardock Start11

Stardock Start11 v2.5.3.1​

Stardock Start11: Restore the Classic Start Menu in Windows 10 and 11.

Start11: The ultimate Start menu replacement for Windows 10 and 11. Restore the classic look and add new functionality.

www.stardock.com

Stardock Start11 2.5.5.4​

Stardock Start11: Restore the Classic Start Menu in Windows 10 and 11.

Start11: The ultimate Start menu replacement for Windows 10 and 11. Restore the classic look and add new functionality.

www.stardock.com

Stardock Start11 2.5.6.3​

• This addresses an issue on multiple monitor setups with 25H2 when using certain Start11 settings causing it to become confused about which screen was which.
• Resolves an issue with the background image on a tab/group not always loading up correctly initially
• Adds in support for small taskbar icons mode that 25H2 adds in so when in small taskbar mode it will make the OS search etc buttons small too (note you need to reset small mode from S11 settings for this)
• Resolves an issue stopping pinned websites from being saved inside a folder in the start menu.
• Resolves having center for taskbar buttons on (which impacts horizontal taskbars only) causing no buttons to paint on a secondary taskbar sometimes.
• Resolved a crash with picking a custom background image, but then clicking onto other windows whilst the open dialog was still open
• Resolved issue with some custom background images being the wrong way up depending on how the image has been saved (mostly Apple)
• Resolves a crash issue with taskbar painting
• Fixes an issue with centered mode on the taskbar on Win11 not instantly applying sometimes
• Resolves vertical taskbar thumbnails being clipped sometimes.

• Should address the issue with not being able to open the network window quickly in explorer with 2.55

Stardock Start11: Restore the Classic Start Menu in Windows 10 and 11.

Start11: The ultimate Start menu replacement for Windows 10 and 11. Restore the classic look and add new functionality.

www.stardock.com

Stigg said:

I hope they can fix the download issue. I can't download it. It starts, then fails.

Click to expand...

https://flexihost.net/Start11v2_Setup_sd_v2.5.6.3.zip

antspants said:

Their servers have always been really slow and complicated.

If you want it, I have added it to my server for a couple of days for you.

Code:

https://flexihost.net/Start11v2_Setup_sd_v2.5.6.3.zip

Click to expand...

Stigg said:

I just went over to another computer that has Internet Download Manager on it, and the installer downloaded fine using that.

Thanks for the offer.

Click to expand...

antspants said:

I have a license for that, also. I have to use it with Stardock.

Glad you got it.

Click to expand...

Stigg said:

Even the Stardock forum is slow for me.

Others are having problems with downloads too.
Slow Download Speeds | Stardock Forums

Click to expand...

Start11 v2.60 Beta​

Version​

Changes​

• Polish translations updated, Credit: FadeMind - Overview
• Fixed typo in en-us.lng file
• Resolved issue with filter bar in search still showing internet option when internet search link disabled
• Tweaked autohide code to resolve issue with a black line when using left or right taskbars on Win11
• Tweaked search filter bar to filter by file type rather than category for images / docs / music files
• Added registry key to hide all signout etc options from shutdown menu. HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Start8\S11_HideAllSignoutItems = "1"
• Resolved issue with all apps search field showing incorrectly in some menu styles
• Made text on all apps search in dark mode less dark
• Tweaked text colour detection logic for start menu when in dark mode for system but not apps
• Resolved issue with taskbar not picking up correct colour when using a forced start menu colour sometimes
• Resolved painting issue on top of rounded top of Win11 style menu
• 10) Tweak to how clicking on taskbar buttons when using enhanced taskbar in combine mode handles switching between open windows in certain situations
• Resolved issue with taskbar thumbnails sometimes causing maximized mode to be detected and likewise language picker from the taskbar
• Resolved issue where viewing a taskbar thumbnail could cause an extra taskbar button to appear briefly.

Download Start11 2.71 - MajorGeeks

Start11 enables users to fully customize the Start menu in Windows 10 and 11 with unique designs/features and restore classic functionality from previous versions of Windows. Start11 enhances the taskbar with new functionality that makes it faster to access files and folders. Users can now pin...

www.majorgeeks.com

Start11 2.6 Release Now Available​

(with Additional Controls for Deployments)​

Start11 v2.60 Changelog (Released 01/28/2026)​

Date​

Version​

Changes​

• Adds one new string to the lng file
• Extends S11 backups to include MMTaskbarMode and TaskbarAl OS values
• Adds support for the OS DisableContextMenusInStart value
• Adds in registry key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Start8\S11_DisableAllAppsButton="1" which disables access to the all apps button
• Adds in registry key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Start8\S11_RDPShowSignout="1" which allows RDP clients to see the signout option
• Adds in registry key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Start8\S11_HideShutdownOption="1" which hides the shutdown entry from the power menu for Win10+ styles
• Adds in registry key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Start8\S11_RDPShowReboot="1" which allows RDP clients to see the reboot option
• Adds in registry key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Start8\S11_DisableMenuResizing="1" which stops the user from being able to resize the menu.
• uk.lng localization updated, credit: velorom - Overview
• de.lng localizations updated. Credit: thomaskelso - Overview
• All other tooltip localizations updated
• Resolved issue with enhanced taskbar becoming slow to respond if a very large file transfer was in progress (there may have been other triggers too)
• Added registry key to force disable the OS thumbnails window on the taskbar. It can be made to show holding down Ctrl before hovering on the taskbar button). Key is HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Start8 name is S11_HideTBPopups and should have a value of "1"
• Added reg key to force S11 to believe SAB is running. This may help with an incompatibility report if the issue was due to a detection issue, though we do not know if thats the case HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Start8\S11_FORCESABOptOut = "1"
• Tweaked tooltips on quick access shortcuts list to show name rather than original tooltips for menu styles where no text label is shown.
• Added those tooltips to the en.lng file as they had been missing
• Polish translations updated, Credit: FadeMind - Overview
• Fixed typo in en-us.lng file
• Resolved issue with filter bar in search still showing internet option when internet search link disabled
• Tweaked autohide code to resolve issue with a black line when using left or right taskbars on Win11
• Tweaked search filter bar to filter by file type rather than category for images / docs / music files
• Added registry key to hide all signout etc options from shutdown menu. HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Start8\S11_HideAllSignoutItems = "1"
• Resolved issue with all apps search field showing incorrectly in some menu styles
• Made text on all apps search in dark mode less dark
• Tweaked text colour detection logic for start menu when in dark mode for system but not apps
• Resolved issue with taskbar not picking up correct colour when using a forced start menu colour sometimes
• Resolved painting issue on top of rounded top of Win11 style menu
• 10) Tweak to how clicking on taskbar buttons when using enhanced taskbar in combine mode handles switching between open windows in certain situations
• Resolved issue with taskbar thumbnails sometimes causing maximized mode to be detected and likewise language picker from the taskbar
• Resolved issue where viewing a taskbar thumbnail could cause an extra taskbar button to appear briefly.

Start11 v2 v2.7 Beta​

Date​

Version​

Changes​

1. Resolved issue with Show recently installed apps not saving the setting for Windows 7/Modern styles when using Win10 style all apps list
2. Extended edit fields in Start11 to support Ctrl + backspace to delete the last word.
3. Custom icons are now used in groups, which are opened as a menu as well
4. Dark custom colours will make Win7-style menus use dark mode instead of light mode as before. This can be controlled by creating a value S11_ForceDarkMode in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Start8 of type String and giving it a 1 to force dark always, or 2 to force it to be light always (0 means auto)
5. Dark mode Win7 menus now respect the colour the user picked for the taskbar when in auto mode rather than defaulting to black
6. Everything search now respects the search filters built into S11 search
7. Fixed the recent docs list to filter out folders when the option to hide folders is enabled
8. Resolved an issue with some incorrectly saved pinned items with shell:appsFolder at the front of them in error
9. Added an option to hide shadows on the Start11 menu. This can be controlled by creating a value S11_HideShadows in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Start8 of type String and giving it a 1 to hide shadows or delete (or set to 0) for show shadows
10. Fixed issue with search window appearing too high on the screen when using a left/right taskbar on Win11 25H2
11. Resolved issue with combined taskbar buttons in enhanced mode not clicking on the right item when clicked sometimes on some machines.
12. Resolved issue with having enhanced taskbar autohide enabled and then switching back to non enhanced taskbar causing issues.
13. Resolved issue with thumbnails overlapping wider right-aligned vertical taskbars.
14. Resolved search on 25H2 with a right-aligned taskbar overlapping the taskbar slightly.
15. Resolved some desktop icon placement and dragging behaviours when the taskbar is at the top of the screen on Windows 11.
16. Resolved issue with right click menu on taskbar on the top when in autohide mode juddering a bit sometimes
17. Resolved taskbar not hiding in autohide mode on first run sometimes.
18. Resolved some tooltips on on top taskbars not showing correctly when used with an autohide taskbar.
19. Resolved some clipping of thumbnails on the taskbar in certain situations
20. Added Ctrl override for resizing Win11 etc style menus to allow menus to be a little smaller. So hold ctrl when resizing and it will be allowed to be a bit smaller than before.

Download Start11 2.71 - MajorGeeks

Start11 enables users to fully customize the Start menu in Windows 10 and 11 with unique designs/features and restore classic functionality from previous versions of Windows. Start11 enhances the taskbar with new functionality that makes it faster to access files and folders. Users can now pin...

www.majorgeeks.com

Start11 v2 v2.7.0.1 Beta​

Changelog​

Date​

Version​

Changes​

1. Resolved issue with Show recently installed apps not saving the setting for Windows 7/Modern styles when using Win10 style all apps list
2. Extended edit fields in Start11 to support Ctrl + backspace to delete the last word.
3. Custom icons are now used in groups, which are opened as a menu as well
4. Dark custom colours will make Win7-style menus use dark mode instead of light mode as before. This can be controlled by creating a value S11_ForceDarkMode in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Start8 of type String and giving it a 1 to force dark always, or 2 to force it to be light always (0 means auto)
5. Dark mode Win7 menus now respect the colour the user picked for the taskbar when in auto mode rather than defaulting to black
6. Everything search now respects the search filters built into S11 search
7. Fixed the recent docs list to filter out folders when the option to hide folders is enabled
8. Resolved an issue with some incorrectly saved pinned items with shell:appsFolder at the front of them in error
9. Added an option to hide shadows on the Start11 menu. This can be controlled by creating a value S11_HideShadows in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Start8 of type String and giving it a 1 to hide shadows or delete (or set to 0) for show shadows
10. Fixed issue with search window appearing too high on the screen when using a left/right taskbar on Win11 25H2
11. Resolved issue with combined taskbar buttons in enhanced mode not clicking on the right item when clicked sometimes on some machines.
12. Resolved issue with having enhanced taskbar autohide enabled and then switching back to non enhanced taskbar causing issues.
13. Resolved issue with thumbnails overlapping wider right-aligned vertical taskbars.
14. Resolved search on 25H2 with a right-aligned taskbar overlapping the taskbar slightly.
15. Resolved some desktop icon placement and dragging behaviours when the taskbar is at the top of the screen on Windows 11.
16. Resolved issue with right click menu on taskbar on the top when in autohide mode juddering a bit sometimes
17. Resolved taskbar not hiding in autohide mode on first run sometimes.
18. Resolved some tooltips on on top taskbars not showing correctly when used with an autohide taskbar.
19. Resolved some clipping of thumbnails on the taskbar in certain situations
20. Added Ctrl override for resizing Win11 etc style menus to allow menus to be a little smaller. So hold ctrl when resizing and it will be allowed to be a bit smaller than before.

1. On top taskbars now have the tray icon expansion arrow pointing down correctly instead of up
2. Resolves an issue with the brand new preview KB5086672 update where on top taskbars have the icons sitting under the taskbar sometimes.
3. Enables MS Edge pinned weblinks to use the icon from the webpage (note that these are low res so on large sizes they will not look perfect)
4. Resolved issue with Copilot not having the right pinned taskbar icon
5. Added a registry key S11_BLOCKMOSTTASK which when created as a string with value "1" will stop S11 doing much with the taskbar. This is for compatibility with some third party tools. This WILL disable enhanced taskbar, taskbar colour control, custom start button etc. The location is HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Start8 and you have to restart explorer after changing.
6. A /s (silent) unintall will not not pop the uninstall survey.

Download Start11 2.71 - MajorGeeks

Start11 enables users to fully customize the Start menu in Windows 10 and 11 with unique designs/features and restore classic functionality from previous versions of Windows. Start11 enhances the taskbar with new functionality that makes it faster to access files and folders. Users can now pin...

www.majorgeeks.com

This is the release version and is the same as the Beta version posted above.​

Start11 v2.7 Changelog (Released 04/22/2026)​

Date​

Version​

1. Resolved issue with Show recently installed apps not saving the setting for Windows 7/Modern styles when using Win10 style all apps list
2. Extended edit fields in Start11 to support Ctrl + backspace to delete the last word.
3. Custom icons are now used in groups, which are opened as a menu as well
4. Dark custom colours will make Win7-style menus use dark mode instead of light mode as before. This can be controlled by creating a value S11_ForceDarkMode in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Start8 of type String and giving it a 1 to force dark always, or 2 to force it to be light always (0 means auto)
5. Dark mode Win7 menus now respect the colour the user picked for the taskbar when in auto mode rather than defaulting to black
6. Everything search now respects the search filters built into S11 search
7. Fixed the recent docs list to filter out folders when the option to hide folders is enabled
8. Resolved an issue with some incorrectly saved pinned items with shell:appsFolder at the front of them in error
9. Added an option to hide shadows on the Start11 menu. This can be controlled by creating a value S11_HideShadows in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Start8 of type String and giving it a 1 to hide shadows or delete (or set to 0) for show shadows
10. Fixed issue with search window appearing too high on the screen when using a left/right taskbar on Win11 25H2
11. Resolved issue with combined taskbar buttons in enhanced mode not clicking on the right item when clicked sometimes on some machines.
12. Resolved issue with having enhanced taskbar autohide enabled and then switching back to non enhanced taskbar causing issues.
13. Resolved issue with thumbnails overlapping wider right-aligned vertical taskbars.
14. Resolved search on 25H2 with a right-aligned taskbar overlapping the taskbar slightly.
15. Resolved some desktop icon placement and dragging behaviours when the taskbar is at the top of the screen on Windows 11.
16. Resolved issue with right click menu on taskbar on the top when in autohide mode juddering a bit sometimes
17. Resolved taskbar not hiding in autohide mode on first run sometimes.
18. Resolved some tooltips on on top taskbars not showing correctly when used with an autohide taskbar.
19. Resolved some clipping of thumbnails on the taskbar in certain situations
20. Added Ctrl override for resizing Win11 etc style menus to allow menus to be a little smaller. So hold ctrl when resizing and it will be allowed to be a bit smaller than before.
21. On top taskbars now have the tray icon expansion arrow pointing down correctly instead of up
22. Resolves an issue with the brand new preview KB5086672 update where on top taskbars have the icons sitting under the taskbar sometimes.
23. Enables MS Edge pinned weblinks to use the icon from the webpage (note that these are low res so on large sizes they will not look perfect)
24. Resolved issue with Copilot not having the right pinned taskbar icon
25. Added a registry key S11_BLOCKMOSTTASK which when created as a string with value "1" will stop S11 doing much with the taskbar. This is for compatibility with some third party tools. This WILL disable enhanced taskbar, taskbar colour control, custom start button etc. The location is HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Start8 and you have to restart explorer after changing.
26. A /s (silent) uninstall will not pop the uninstall survey.
27. Some fixes to allow rounded corners to work better on vertical taskbars including a fix to stop the taskbar going onto a screen to the left of it in error
28. A fix for some flicker issues on the desktop icons when using a left aligned taskbar
29. A fix for toggling taskbar autohide status on the taskbar not always resetting the work area correctly
30. A fix for swapping between virtual desktops with an autohide taskbar and rounded taskbar on causing the taskbar to still be partially visible sometimes
31. Resolved an issue with vertical secondary taskbars not repositioning correctly when rounded and offset from the screen border
32. Worked around an issue on latest Win11 builds with the search box on vertical taskbars sometimes painting without an icon
33. Added in UI option to disable all taskbar functionality in S11
34. Fixed issue with vertical taskbar and some rounding options stopping the menu opening at all
35. Desktop icons did not always shift over correctly when you had vertical taskbars on the secondary display
36. German string edits, credit: Naxterra - Overview
37. Four new strings added
38. Fixes an issue with two search buttons showing on the taskbar on Windows 11 when one taskbar is vertical and one is not introduced in the last build
39. Resolves the click and thumbnails move issue