Windows 11 is just around the corner, and a leaked build has given us a glimpse of Microsoft’s next-gen operating system ahead of its official launch next week. A new change with Windows 11 is a redesigned Start menu with a floating centered UI. Well, if you’re not a big fan of the new Windows 11 Start menu, you’ve come to the right place. Just follow the steps below to recover old Windows 10 Start menu in Windows 11.
Return to Windows 10 Start Menu in Windows 11 (2021)
As of this writing, you’ll have to rely on the Registry Editor to restore the old Windows 10 Start Menu with Live Tiles, and Microsoft MVP Rafael Rivera was the the first to report this possibility. That said, we might expect Microsoft to add a toggle in the Settings app to simplify this process for Windows 11 users. We’ll update this post if/when Microsoft adds this toggle. Until then, you can follow the Registry Editor method to resurrect the old Windows 11 Start menu.
Return to Windows 10 Start Menu Using Registry Editor
1. Search “Regedit” from Windows Search under Windows 11 and click “Open”. You can also use Windows keyboard shortcut “Ctrl+R” to open Run and type “regedit” to open Registry Editor in Windows 11.
2. When the permission prompt appears, click “Yes” to open the registry editor.
3. Once you are in Registry Editor, navigate to the following path:
HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerAdvanced
4. Right click anywhere in the empty space and Choose New -> DWORD Value (32 bit).
5. Now you need to define the name of the new DWORD value. Set it like “Start_ShowClassicMode” and press Enter.
6. Double-click on the new “Start_ShowClassicMode” DWORD you created, set its value data to 1, and press OK. If you want to return to the new floating Start menu in the future, change this value to 0.
7. Once you have done this, restart your Windows 11 PC. You will find the restart option in the lower right corner of the new Start menu.
8. And that’s it. You will now get the old Windows 10 start menu with Live Tiles in Windows 11. If you prefer to move taskbar icons to the left edge to match the classic Windows 10 aesthetic, see the next section.
Move taskbar to left edge in Windows 11
You might not like how the taskbar is centered by default in Windows 11. However, you can easily change this from the Settings app. Here’s how:
1. Open the Settings app and go to the “Personalization” settings from the home screen. Keep in mind that you will likely see a slightly different Settings app with a tabbed layout in future versions of Windows 11. The image below is from a leaked version of Windows 11 and follows the Settings UI which has been around for a while in Windows 10 Insider builds.
2. Under personalization settings, switch to the “Taskbar” tab on the left sidebar to see a new “taskbar alignment” option at the top. Click on it and choose “Left” from the drop-down menu.
2. You will immediately notice that the taskbar has moved to the left edge, as you would expect on Windows 10. The result looks like this:
Why would anyone want the old Start menu?
Now that you know how to restore the classic Windows 10 Start menu, you might be wondering why anyone would want to go back to the old layout. And the answer to that question comes down to your personal preferences and Live Tiles.
Although most of us aren’t a big fan of Live Tiles, some people really like this feature, which is probably why Microsoft didn’t remove the old Start Menu code. Knowing Microsoft, backward compatibility is something the company strives to achieve so as not to leave its loyal user base indifferent.
Personally, I love the new Start menu. It looks modern, sports cool new animations, and has a “Recommended” section for quick access to recent apps and files. If you don’t like the new Start menu, we hope this article helped you get back to the Windows 10 Start menu you know and love.
Get Windows 10 Start Menu with Live Tiles in Windows 11
This is how you can go back to the old Windows 11 Start menu if you are missing Live Tiles. If you haven’t tried Windows 11 yet, check out our dedicated Windows 11 article to learn all about the new UI redesign, new startup sound, release date, and key operating system features. .
