Microsoft says it’ll give you greater control over Start menu customization options in Windows 11 after years of criticism.
I’ve been using the new Start menu on Windows 11 for six months at this point, and I don’t hate it, but I’m not a big fan of how it looks huge on my screen unless I change my screen scaling settings. I also dislike that I cannot customize the ‘Categories’ generated by Windows.
It’s increasingly frustrating, but there’s a ray of hope, as Microsoft says it’s working on new customization options.
Recently, Windows Latest reported that Microsoft had experimented with at least five unique designs for the Start menu, and our story started to get attention on social media. Later, Microsoft’s design team shared another look at the experimental Start menu ideas that never made it to production.
And if you are out of the loop, here’s a closer look at all the Start menu designs that never went beyond the internal experiment stage:
Now, in a post on X, March Rogers, Partner Director of Design at Microsoft, confirmed that a major upgrade for Windows 11’s Start menu is in the works while sharing those designs.
Rogers noted that Microsoft will let you customize the Start menu and introduce new options beyond what’s already available.
“Some behind-the-scenes info on the new Start menu design. We listened to customers and made it easier to get to your apps,” March Rogers wrote in an X post. “We’re working on additional customization options right now.”
March Rogers did not share what’s coming next, but it does not look like Microsoft is planning a sweeping revamp of the Start menu. Instead, it’s likely to be a few new options to customize the existing layout.
Customizing the Start menu is a pain in Windows 11
Right now, you don’t have many options to personalize the Start menu, especially after Microsoft introduced the new Categories layout, which has been annoying some users.
In fact, one of the most upvoted recent feedback posts is about the ability to customize the categories’ layout. One user noted that they need the ability to define the categories. Without that, the feature feels like clutter.
“Normally, such a feature proposal would be reviewed by someone familiar with user-interface design who has the ability to anticipate typical use cases. It is shocking that this made it to production in its current state,” one user noted in a feedback post.
“This was an incredibly stupid oversight by the engineering team. How on Earth would you expect to keep up with proper app categorization (though it should be handled by the software dev) when so much can be omitted from an app’s final production code? Until you enforce meta information, including an app’s category as part of the Microsoft Store submission process, you can’t guarantee the app will have a category.”
The Start menu categories feature is far from perfect, and it’s understandable why some users are upset with it. For those unaware, the feature uses a 15MB JSON file to automatically group apps under predefined categories, and the Start menu does not make any calls to Microsoft’s servers.
The JSON file has IDs that point to categories such as Entertainment, Social, and Creativity. The Start menu identifies apps for their respective categories based on the package family name, but some apps may not get identified and end up in the ‘Others’ category.
If Microsoft does end up offering new customization options, I wouldn’t be surprised if it offers greater control over the Categories layout.
It’s also important to note that it’s not just about customization. Microsoft recently confirmed that it’s moving the Start menu to WinUI from React native, which should help reduce latency and improve overall performance.
In fact, there are plans to introduce new features as well. According to Zac Bowden, Microsoft could also allow you to manually resize the interface between small and large layouts. But at this point, we don’t know when these improvements will begin rolling out.
What is your wishlist for the Start menu? Let me know in the comments below.
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