Microsoft Testing Adjustable Taskbar, Start Menu In Windows 11

Microsoft is testing long-requested Windows 11 customization options, including a resizable taskbar, smaller taskbar buttons, and a more configurable Start menu that lets users reduce recommended content. BleepingComputer reports: Starting with Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26300.8493, the taskbar can now be configured to use smaller buttons and moved to the bottom, top, left, or right side of the screen. "The ability to move the taskbar to the top or sides of the screen has been one of the most requested features, and we are bringing it to Windows 11," said Diego Baca, partner director of Microsoft Design. "With this update, when small taskbar is enabled, you get smaller icons, a shorter taskbar, and more vertical space for your apps (see video below). No restart or sign-out is required."

[...] Microsoft is also rolling out changes to give Windows users more control over the Start menu, allowing them to toggle off recommended content and customize its size. "These controls are designed to work together. If you want a Start menu with just your pinned apps, you can turn off Recommended and All," Boca added. "If you want a full Start that shows everything, you can leave it all on. The goal is simple: it is your choice, and it should be easy to make." However, Microsoft will maintain a list of recently installed apps, as it is a key way for users to discover new applications alongside the Microsoft Store.

Furthermore, Microsoft is improving file relevance by adjusting how files are displayed and ordered to prioritize the most relevant items, and will also allow users to hide their name and profile picture from the Start menu. [...] In addition to taskbar and Start menu improvements, the company plans to reduce notifications, simplify Windows settings, and ensure that device setup on new Windows PCs requires fewer reboots. Microsoft is also working on improving Windows search, aiming for a more consistent experience across the Start menu, taskbar, File Explorer, and Settings.

"reduce recommended content" yeah, REDUCE

[MIPSPro]

I notice they say "reduce" not eliminate. This is your OS vendor, who's putting random advertisements (or maybe targeted ones too) on your Start Menu and probably other spaces they can try to distract your eyeballs. Think about that. You pay them like $100 for the OS tax then they stuff ads in your face, just for extra bonus / great justice. Thanks Uncle Microsoft. We love you buddy. Fuck us some more, please.

Disabling such content has always been available

[drnb]

I notice they say "reduce" not eliminate.

I noticed recommended content could be turned off in Win11 long ago. Maybe they are making it easier to do so, but its always been there.

Re:

[tbords]

I notice they say "reduce" not eliminate.

I noticed recommended content could be turned off in Win11 long ago. Maybe they are making it easier to do so, but its always been there.

This just means you'll receive generic advertisements instead of targeted ones

Most requested feature...that you removed

[PhantomHarlock]

Movable taskbar....putting a feature back in that's been there since windows 95, until you deliberately removed it for no good reason.

You can keep your ads and B.S., I will keep using Windows 10 as long as I can. It works great and doesn't harass me.

Re:

[tbords]

skill issue; i have never seen ads on my windows 11 installs, it's literally a google search and a single download away.

hell i've always had these start menu features on my win11 systems

so you can either complain for worthless feel good nerd cred (IE, about to be this entire fucking thread of people jerking eachother off about who can perform the linux humiliation ritual the most) or actually be a real user and make your system do what you want, the way users have made windows do what they want for decades

You mean, after paying for a company to bend you over and enter from behind before you do the work to get your system to do something remotely useful that they said was already done in the first place? Yeah, I'll stick my little "humiliation ritual" as you so call it.

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[omnichad]

until you deliberately removed it for no good reason.

They were doing a ground-up rewrite of the shell to eliminate technical debt and use newer graphical APIs that can handle things better like display scaling and acceleration.

That's fine. The problem is that the new standard is to introduce something new that's only half-finished while removing the old and then slowly over years add missing features back. It's the same problem with Classic vs "New" Outlook. For some reason, the Control Panel is still here after 10+ years of trying to get the Settings app t

Re:

[AcidFnTonic]

Pff I still remember being able to hold shift and select any number of taskbar entries at the same time, then right click close-all. That went away for no reason at all. Use groups they say. Well I was selecting things that were not part of a group, jerks.

Re:

[ambrandt12]

Same here.

"But, it doesn't get security updates anymore!" If you know how to secure a computer, that fills that gap, keeping it behind a good firewall, not clicking just any link or ad or downloading every single thing you see online.

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[Tablizer]

putting a feature back in that's been there since windows 95

Microsoft just keeps recycling both their good ideas and bad ideas in semi-cycles, kind of like fashion where jeans get skinny, then bell-bottom, back to skinny, etc. etc. etc.

Looking like they are innovative appears more important than being innovative, or at least easier to fool the masses with. Youngbies find disco new and fresh, yet I've seen it come in and out of style multiple times. Just give it a different name. It's not Clippy, it's Copilo

Re:

[Tablizer]

Re: "amazing that MS has been the main biz desktop OS for almost 40 years"

I was thinking Windows, but longer if you include DOS.

Now restore the quicklaunch feature as well

[PhantomHarlock]

I make heavy use of the quick launch feature on a double height taskbar in Win10, and no it's not the same as 'pinned apps'.

There are some workarounds and third party options to restore that functionality, but again, why did you take it out? When it's disabled it's not bothering anyone who doesn't want it.

Re:

[GonzoPhysicist]

What I miss about quick-launch was the ability to put folders in it and have them act like a sub-menu of links. You could just about build your own second start menu.

try explorerpatcher

[rta]

since win 10 was EOLed I switched to win11 with the free Explorer Patcher https://explorerpatcher.net/ [explorerpatcher.net]
to restore the taskbar to win 10 capabilities (multiple rows, small icon, don't combine)

I hope they throw the guy some dollars for making their crap livable. (ok and so should I)

What a time to be alive

[greytree]

"resizable taskbar, smaller taskbar buttons, and a more configurable Start menu that lets users reduce recommended content"

And to think some people say Microsoft has no new ideas.

Fix performance first

[rsilvergun]

Window 11 is painful to use. Things draw in like I'm on a Pentium 3 with 256mb of RAM.

If you can't spy on me without killing performance don't do it.

Re:

[Tablizer]

I find it odd that MS keeps adding NEW bugs to MS-Paint and changing shit around for no known reason. Digital entropy? WTF are they doing with it?

(I know, I shouldn't use MS-Paint, but old habits are hard to kick, and competitors make equivalent operations harder.)

Rearranging the deckchairs...

[YuppieScum]

...instead of stopping the ship sinking.

innovation 2026

[awwshit]

Microsoft Innovation in 2026, bring back features people actually wanted.

win 7

[groobly]

In other words, Microsoft needs to upgrade win 11 to win 7.