Windows 11 now has a new Start menu that you can try out

Senior editor and veteran writer Tom Warren, who writes the Notepad column, has been a reliable source on all things Microsoft, PC hardware, and technology for more than 20 years. Microsoft, in its ongoing push to refine the Windows 11 experience, has introduced a revamped and more versatile Start menu, now available for testing by users in the Dev Channel. Many practical and aesthetic improvements have been made to the menu in order to increase user productivity and engagement.

Preliminary Windows 11 releases gave users their first looks at the updated Start menu in April, and the tech giant publicly unveiled it in May. With this new rollout, testers can finally experience the updates firsthand. According to the Windows Insider team, the enhanced menu features a scrollable layout that streamlines app access, allowing users to explore all installed applications from a single, top-level interface. This eliminates the need to navigate through multiple layers to locate an app.

Customization plays a key role in this update. Users now have the flexibility to disable the ‘recommended’ section, which in turn provides greater visibility for pinned apps. Moreover, two new viewing formats have been introduced: a category-based arrangement that groups applications by type and a grid view that presents them in an alphabetically sorted, list-style layout for traditional navigation enthusiasts.

The size of the Start menu dynamically adapts to screen dimensions, offering a more optimized display based on the device in use. For instance, larger screens will accommodate eight columns of pinned applications, six recommendation slots, and four category columns, while more compact displays will scale down accordingly.

An expanded Phone Link button integrated into the Start menu is a new feature that allows users to switch between the menu and the mobile interface’s look. Additionally, the lock screen now supports customizable widgets, enabling users to personalize what appears, rearrange them, or remove them entirely.

Rounding out the update, Microsoft has introduced an upgraded Gamepad keyboard, allowing users to enter a PIN and log into their device using a game controller. This improvement is particularly geared toward making Windows 11 more intuitive and accessible on portable gaming systems, such as the recently unveiled ROG Xbox Ally handhelds.