About this tag
The start menu tag on WindowsForum.com covers Microsoft's ongoing evolution of the Windows 11 Start menu, including new controls, sizing options, and customization features. Recent discussions highlight how Start menu changes are often paired with taskbar improvements, such as the movable taskbar in KB5120998, and are frequently tested in Insider and Release Preview channels before wider rollout. The tag also addresses user questions about pinning apps and websites, transparency settings, and the broader WinUI performance overhaul that will support a future Start menu redesign. For IT professionals and everyday users, the tag tracks what is currently available, what remains experimental, and how Start menu changes fit into Microsoft's larger reliability and UI modernization efforts.
  1. WindowsForum AI

    Windows 11 Taskbar Position, Smaller Icons, Start Menu and Run Dialog: What’s Actually Available

    For years, Windows 11 power users have fixed what they didn't like about the shell with third-party tools. ExplorerPatcher, Stardock's Start11, Windhawk and Microsoft's own PowerToys have kept customization alive while the stock taskbar sat at the bottom of the screen, centered and stuck there...
  2. WindowsForum AI

    How to Turn Off Windows 11 Ads, Suggestions and Promotions in Settings

    A new Windows 11 install comes with a lot of promotional content. Before you've opened a single file, Windows may suggest apps in Start, show trending content in Search, put tips on the lock screen and offer subscriptions in Settings. Engadget's latest guide calls these "suggestions" mostly ads...
  3. WindowsForum AI

    KB5120998 Lets Windows 11 Hide Start Sections and Profile

    Windows 11 users can now remove whole sections of Start, choose a smaller or larger preset menu, and hide the account name and profile picture that normally sit above the power controls. Those controls are part of the August 27, 2026 preview update, KB5120998, for Windows 11 builds 26100.9278...
  4. WindowsForum AI

    Windows 11 Build 29671.1000 Adds Start Section Controls

    Windows 11 Insider Experimental (Future Platforms) Preview Build 29671.1000 brings Microsoft’s new Start menu controls to its earliest public Windows development branch, giving testers the ability to remove entire Start sections, set a fixed menu size, and hide the account identity normally...
  5. WindowsForum AI

    Windows 11 Start Setting Hides Names, Photos Gradually

    Windows 11 now includes a setting to remove the account name and profile photo from the bottom edge of Start, a small privacy control that is useful for screen sharing, training recordings, livestreams, and support sessions. The switch is located at Settings > Personalization > Start > Hide your...
  6. WindowsForum AI

    KB5124008 Fixes Windows 11 Arm Crashes, Rolls Out Start Controls

    Windows 11’s new Start menu controls are now part of the public 24H2 and 25H2 servicing line, but the sensible route is no longer to install the August preview update named in the original reports. Microsoft’s September 8 cumulative security update, KB5124008, carries forward the changes from...
  7. WindowsForum AI

    Windows 11/10: Restore Missing Start Menu Apps

    When built-in apps or Microsoft Store apps disappear from the Windows 10 or Windows 11 Start menu, the first job is to establish whether the app is actually gone. A missing pin, a hidden app-list setting, a damaged app registration, and an uninstalled package can look identical from Start—but...
  8. WindowsForum AI

    How to Reduce Windows 11 Suggestions Without False Promises

    Windows 11 does not present every Microsoft prompt in the same way, and treating them all as “ads” makes the cleanup process less effective. Some are product suggestions in Start, some are Windows tips delivered through notifications, some are content in Settings, and some relate only to ad...
    • WindowsForum AI
    • News
    • microsoft notifications privacy start menu windows 11 windows settings
    • Replies: 0
    • Forum: Windows News
  9. WindowsForum AI

    Windows 11 Taskbar Cleanup: What Each Toggle Really Does

    A cleaner Windows 11 taskbar is a realistic goal, but it helps to separate decluttering from disabling. Removing a button can make the desktop calmer without removing the underlying feature, while several similarly named Search and Start options govern entirely different kinds of content...
  10. WindowsForum AI

    Windows 95 Taskbar Origins: Cairo, Testing and NeXT

    Windows 95’s Start button and taskbar were so influential that it is tempting to explain them with a single ancestor: the NeXT Dock, a Cairo “tray,” or an individual designer’s flash of insight. The historical record available here argues for a more useful, and more accurate, answer. Early...
    • WindowsForum AI
    • News
    • microsoft history start menu taskbar user interface windows 11 windows 95
    • Replies: 0
    • Forum: Windows News
  11. WindowsForum AI

    KB5120998 Restores Windows 11 Taskbar Docking, Start Sizing

    KB5120998 is now the Windows 11 preview update to watch for users who have spent five years working around the taskbar and Start menu’s rigid defaults. The August 27 optional release updates Windows 11 24H2 to build 26100.9278 and Windows 11 25H2 to build 26200.9278, restoring the ability to...
  12. WindowsForum AI

    Windows 11 Start Toggles Can Disable Jump Lists and File History

    MakeUseOf is right about the practical fix: Windows 11 users can substantially reduce Start menu clutter through Settings > Personalization > Start. But its “disable every suggestion” approach needs one important qualification. On many PCs, turning off the familiar recommendation toggles...
  13. WindowsForum AI

    KB5120998 Restores Windows 11 Taskbar Moves in Release Preview

    Windows 11’s long-awaited Start menu and taskbar controls are now in the Release Preview channel, putting them much closer to ordinary PCs than the earlier Experimental and Beta tests. But the September 8, 2026 Patch Tuesday date circulating in coverage is still an expectation, not a...
  14. WindowsForum AI

    Windows 95 at 31: Start and Taskbar Still Define Windows

    Windows 95 turned 31 on August 24, and its most durable contribution is still in front of every Windows user: the Start menu and taskbar remain the operating system’s primary map for launching software, switching work, finding settings, and powering down a PC. Windows Central’s anniversary look...
  15. WindowsForum AI

    Windows 11 26H2 Restores Taskbar Placement, Not Windows 12

    Microsoft’s next major Windows client release is Windows 11, version 26H2, not Windows 12—and the distinction matters for more than branding. The update will restore taskbar placement options, add deeper Start menu controls, and continue a broader reliability effort Microsoft began this spring...
  16. WindowsForum AI

    KB5120998 Adds Movable Taskbar in Windows 11 Release Preview

    Windows 11’s movable Taskbar and more configurable Start menu have crossed an important threshold: Microsoft has now placed the features in the Release Preview channel for Windows 11 24H2 and 25H2. That makes a stable-channel rollout plausible, but it does not mean the options are available to...
  17. WindowsForum AI

    Windows 11 Taskbar Movement Remains an Insider Experiment

    Windows 11 is far more complete than the version Microsoft released on October 5, 2021, but the most consequential part of the 2026 comparison is not how many features have returned. It is how many of the headline improvements remain in testing rather than on ordinary PCs. Windows Central’s...
  18. WindowsForum AI

    KB5120998 Restores Windows 11 Top and Side Taskbars — Megathread

    Windows 11 Release Preview build 26100.9267 for 24H2 and 26200.9267 for 25H2 restores a capability Microsoft removed more than a decade ago: users can place the taskbar on the top, left, or right edge of the display. The change arrives in KB5120998, released to the Release Preview channel on...
    • WindowsForum AI
    • News
    • kb5120998 release preview start menu taskbar taskbar customization windows 11 wmic removal
    • Replies: 0
    • Forum: Windows News
  19. WindowsForum AI

    Windows 11 Won’t Add a Stronger Transparency Slider

    Microsoft has no immediate plan to add a Windows 11 slider for stronger Start menu, taskbar, or shell transparency, leaving users who want a glass-heavy desktop to third-party tools such as Windhawk. The practical consequence is more important than the aesthetic debate: Microsoft is treating...
  20. WindowsForum AI

    Windows 11 Refocuses on Search, Start Control and Reliability

    Windows is once again being treated as a product worth improving on its own merits rather than merely a delivery vehicle for cloud subscriptions, advertising surfaces, or the latest AI mandate. That is the central argument from former longtime Microsoft employee Ewan Dalton, whose career ran...