Microsoft’s Windows 11 Start menu has been rebuilt from the ground up in the November 2025 update, and the change is more than cosmetic: the new Start is a single, vertically scrollable launcher that surfaces the full All‑apps inventory on the main page, offers three distinct browsing modes (Category, Grid, List),
remembers your preferred view, and folds tighter Phone Link integration and personalization toggles into the primary launcher — all delivered as part of the KB5067036 preview and staged rollout model.
Background / Overview
Windows’ Start menu has long been the operating system’s central control panel for launching apps, finding files, and accessing account and power settings. Windows 11’s original Start prioritized a centered, minimal aesthetic but left a number of power‑user pain points — chiefly the split between pinned shortcuts and a separate All‑apps page. Microsoft’s November 2025 redesign restores a single surface model familiar to many long‑time Windows users while adding modern layout options and device-aware behaviour. The redesign is packaged in the KB5067036 optional preview (build families 26100.7019 and 26200.7019) and is being enabled via a staged, server‑side rollout rather than as a simple binary toggle. This article explains what changed, verifies the update details, walks through exactly how to use the new Start (including hands‑on steps), highlights practical tips and keyboard workflows, and provides a frank assessment of benefits, operational risks, and migration guidance for both consumers and IT teams. Recommendations are grounded in Microsoft’s release notes and reporting from independent outlets; any claims that couldn’t be independently verified are flagged.
What’s new in the redesigned Start menu
The Start menu redesign focuses on three core objectives:
discoverability,
flexibility, and
responsiveness. The principal changes are:
- Single, vertically scrollable Start surface — Pinned, Recommended (or For You), and All apps now appear on one continuous canvas so you no longer have to jump into a separate All‑apps page.
- Three All‑apps views — Choose between:
- Category view (default): apps are grouped into system-generated functional buckets (Productivity, Games, Creativity, Communication, etc. and frequently used apps are surfaced within groups.
- Grid view: an alphabetized, denser icon grid optimized for quick horizontal scanning.
- List view: the classic A→Z list preserved for keyboard centric or power‑user workflows. The OS remembers your last selected view.
- Responsive layout — The Start canvas adapts to screen size and DPI: larger displays get more pinned columns and category columns, while small screens compress gracefully.
- Phone Link integration — A mobile device button appears near Search; clicking it expands a collapsible Phone Link panel inside Start that surfaces messages, calls, photos, and quick phone actions from a paired Android or iPhone.
- Stronger personalization toggles — New switches in Settings → Personalization → Start allow you to hide the Recommended area, disable recent files/web suggestions, and control whether recently added or most‑used items appear. Disabling all recommendations yields a minimalist pinned + apps view.
- Taskbar and UX polish — Small but useful taskbar refinements ship alongside Start: improved thumbnail animations, a redesigned battery icon capable of always showing percentage, and other UI micro‑interactions.
These are the visible changes; under the hood Microsoft is using a server‑gated rollout (A/B testing) to flip the feature on for groups of devices after the servicing bits are published. That means installing the KB is often necessary but not always sufficient to see the new Start immediately.
Verify the technical details (what Microsoft says)
Microsoft’s official preview notes for KB5067036 list the redesigned Start menu and describe the exact behavioural changes: the scrollable All section, Category and Grid views, remembered view state, responsiveness to display size, and the ability to hide Recommended content via Settings. The update is packaged as a non‑security preview for Windows 11 versions 24H2 and 25H2 (builds 26100.7019 and 26200.7019). These specifics are confirmed in Microsoft’s KB documentation. Independent reporting from Windows Central and other outlets corroborates Microsoft’s claims and provides early hands‑on observations about layout defaults, the new Phone Link toggle, and the staged distribution strategy. When multiple independent outlets and Microsoft’s documentation align on the same technical claims, that raises confidence in the accuracy of the details listed above. Caveat: several behaviour interactions were flagged during early rollouts — for example, hiding Recommended via the new toggle also affects File Explorer’s Recent items and Jump Lists. That relationship was surfaced by independent testing and should be regarded as an operational tradeoff rather than a bug-free improvement.
How to get the new Start menu (official, supported method)
- Open Settings → Windows Update → Check for updates.
- Look for the optional preview update (KB5067036) under “Optional updates available” and select Download & install. Reboot if prompted.
- After installation, sign out and back in or reboot. Wait — Microsoft may enable the new Start via server‑side flags. If the Start doesn’t appear immediately, the binary is present but the feature may still be staged for your device.
- To manually confirm you have the servicing bits, press Windows+R, type winver, and check for the build number (26100.7019 or 26200.7019 or later).
Alternative: download the MSU from the Microsoft Update Catalog for manual installation in lab and imaging scenarios. This is fully supported but still subject to Microsoft’s phased feature enablement. Important operational note: this preview is non‑security and optional. Enterprises should pilot the update with a small cohort before broad deployment; the staged model means behaviour may change as Microsoft flips flags.
How to enable the Start menu unofficially (unsupported, caution)
Enthusiasts have used community tools such as ViVeTool to toggle features early. This method can expose the UI before Microsoft enables it for your device, but it is unsupported, carries upgrade/rollback risk, and can break future servicing expectations. Do not use community enablement tools on production machines or corporate devices. If you choose this route for testing, use isolated test systems and full backups. Multiple community writeups and forum threads document the necessary IDs and steps, but these are unofficial and not recommended for most users.
Step‑by‑step: using the redesigned Start menu
The new Start is designed to be intuitive, but here are explicit steps and tips to make the most of it.
1. Open Start and choose a view
- Press the Windows key to open Start (the classic behaviour remains).
- Look for the All section at the top of the Start surface. Use the view toggle (Category / Grid / List) to switch presentation modes.
- The Start menu will remember the last view you used so your preference persists across sessions.
2. Pin, unpin, and rearrange
- Right‑click any app to Pin to Start or Unpin.
- Drag and drop pinned items to reorder them. Larger displays show more columns; you can arrange pins into multiple rows for quick access.
3. Create folders inside Start
- Drag multiple icons together to create a Start folder (similar to mobile launchers). This reduces visual clutter for heavy pin collectors and groups related shortcuts into a single tile. (Behavior confirmed during preview testing.
4. Use Category view for task‑oriented discovery
- Category view groups apps into functional buckets (for example Productivity, Games). Use this when you don’t remember an app’s name but know the task you want to accomplish. The OS surfaces frequently used apps inside those categories.
5. Use Grid view for visual scanning
- Grid view preserves alphabetical ordering but spaces icons horizontally to speed visual scanning—particularly useful on ultrawide and high‑DPI monitors.
6. Search and keyboard navigation
- Press Windows and start typing to search apps, files, settings, and web suggestions. Arrow keys, Enter, and context menus work as before; the new Start keeps classic keyboard flows intact for power users.
7. Phone Link panel
- If you have Phone Link paired (Android or iOS support varies by region and device), click the phone icon near Search to open a Phone Link sidebar inside Start. It shows recent calls, messages, photos, and quick phone actions without switching to the standalone app. Toggle the mobile panel via the new top‑right control when available.
8. Hide Recommended (minimal mode)
- Open Settings → Personalization → Start and disable the Recommended options (Show recently added, Show most used, Show recommended files). When all are off, the Recommended area disappears and your pinned apps and All apps occupy the Start surface. Note: this setting also influences Recent files in File Explorer and Jump Lists; disabling Recommended may turn off those features. Consider the tradeoff before switching it for all users.
Power‑user and accessibility tips
- Use the Windows key plus first letter typing to jump quickly to an app; the search box is active immediately when Start opens.
- For keyboard purists who prefer the classic compact list, set List view and turn off recommendations to preserve a deterministic, A→Z browsing flow.
- On large monitors, take advantage of the greater column density to create multi‑row pinned layouts that surface the most used tools without extra scrolling.
- Use the new Start settings page to lock down Recommended content in shared or kiosk environments to reduce accidental data exposure.
Enterprise and IT considerations
- Pilot before broad deployment. KB5067036 is a preview packaged for optional installation — test compatibility with management tools (MDM, Group Policy), imaging workflows, and user profiles in a representative pilot ring.
- Expect staged enablement. Installing the servicing bits may not immediately enable the UI for devices; Microsoft controls feature flags server‑side. Plan pilots accordingly.
- Policy and telemetry impacts. Hiding Recommended content also affects Recent files in File Explorer and Jump Lists; test for jump list dependencies in productivity workflows.
- Unsupported community tools. Avoid community enablement tools (ViVeTool) on production or managed endpoints. Use them only in isolated labs if necessary.
Strengths: why this matters
- Reduced friction — exposing All apps on the main canvas removes an extra click and reduces context switching for users with large application catalogs. This change materially improves launch efficiency.
- Flexible discovery models — giving users a choice between Category, Grid, and List matches diverse workflows (task‑oriented, visual scanning, keyboard centric). The remembered view preference is a small but meaningful usability win.
- Better use of modern displays — responsive defaults make Start more productive on ultrawide and high‑DPI setups where classic centered designs left empty space.
- Cross‑device continuity — Phone Link inside Start reduces context switching when you need quick phone access alongside desktop work.
Risks, trade‑offs, and known issues
- Staged rollout complexity — because Microsoft enables the UI server‑side, administrators and power users may install the update but not immediately see the change, complicating pilot scheduling and helpdesk triage.
- Feature coupling — hiding Recommended also disables Recent files in File Explorer and Jump Lists for some configurations, which could disrupt workflows that rely on quick access to recent documents. Test before changing defaults widely.
- Preview update risks — KB5067036 is an optional preview; preview releases can contain regressions or interact poorly with third‑party shell extensions. Exercise caution and keep machine backups.
- Early rollout bugs — post‑preview reporting has surfaced at least one serious issue (Task Manager duplication) that appears correlated with early KB installs; Microsoft and outlets are tracking this. Monitor known‑issues pages and block the preview in production until resolved.
- Unsupported enablement hazards — community tools can force the UI earlier but put machines into unsupported states that may complicate troubleshooting or future updates. Avoid on managed devices.
Recommended rollout plan for IT teams
- Establish a small pilot (5–10% of endpoints), including a mix of hardware (laptops, ultrawide monitors, tablets) and typical user roles.
- Deploy KB5067036 to pilot machines via your usual update channel or manually via the Microsoft Update Catalog.
- Validate key workflows: Start search, pinned application workflows, File Explorer recent items, Jump Lists, Phone Link pairing, and any custom shell extensions.
- Monitor for issues reported in Microsoft’s KB and reputable outlets (developers and community threads flagged early bugs). Hold on organization‑wide deployment until telemetry stays green for 1–2 cumulative update cycles.
- Communicate changes to users: highlight how to switch views, hide Recommended, and where to find Phone Link controls.
Practical checklist for end users (quick reference)
- Check your build: Windows+R → winver → confirm build 26100.7019 / 26200.7019 or later.
- Install KB5067036 via Settings → Windows Update → Optional updates or download the MSU from Microsoft Update Catalog.
- Open Start (Windows key) and use the view toggle to try Category, Grid, and List.
- Pin, unpin, or drag apps together to create Start folders.
- To hide Recommended: Settings → Personalization → Start → disable Show recently added, Show most used, Show recommended files (note the File Explorer consequence).
- Pair Phone Link to see the mobile panel inside Start (if needed).
Final assessment and practical verdict
Microsoft’s redesigned Start menu is a long‑overdue, practical refinement that restores fast, single‑action app discovery while modernizing the interface for large and touch devices. The addition of Category and Grid views gives users meaningful choices, and the memory of your last view is an understated but valuable convenience. From a user‑experience perspective, the redesign leans toward productivity-first decisions without abandoning the familiar flows power users expect.
That said, the staged rollout model introduces operational complexity and short‑term uncertainty: installing the KB may not immediately surface the change, preview builds can produce regressions, and some personalization toggles have consequences outside Start (notably File Explorer’s Recent items). For enthusiasts and early adopters, trying the preview in a lab or on a secondary machine is worthwhile; enterprises should pilot conservatively and wait for broader cumulative updates before mass deployment.
If you want the new Start now, follow the official KB installation path and be prepared to wait for Microsoft’s server‑side enablement. Avoid unsupported community tools on production machines, keep backups, and test the interaction between Start settings and your existing productivity workflows before rolling the change out to wider audiences.
The redesigned Start is a clear step toward a more discoverable, adaptable Windows 11 experience — a pragmatic fusion of mobile‑style launchers and desktop productivity that will matter most to people with large app libraries and mixed device workflows.
Source: Analytics Insight
How to Use the New Windows 11 Start Menu