Microsoft Begins Testing Windows 11’s New Fully Customizable Start Menu (A Look at the Options)

Added: 2026-06-02

[00:00:00]Hi, Britec, here. Where tech is made simple.

[00:00:04]So, on the channel, we've been talking about Microsoft fixing Windows 11 this year in 2026 as part of its K2 initiative where it's going to be addressing pain points in the operating system.

[00:00:17]And one of those pain points is the start menu.

[00:00:20]Where as we have spoken about previously, Microsoft is going to be making start menu adjustments like being able to resize the start menu and remove individual sections from the start menu as I have posted previously.

[00:00:34]Now, in regards to this, late last week in my part of the world, Microsoft rolled out the latest experimental preview build 26,300.8553 which is in effect the same build that's going to be bundled with 26H2.

[00:00:51]26,300 series are builds for 26H2 which is going to be this year's annual feature update.

[00:00:59]And the experimental channel was previously known as the dev channel. So, that's just a bit of a quick backstory.

[00:01:05]Now, just to let you know that in that latest build in the inside program, Microsoft now has started testing and working on and making changes to the start menu.

[00:01:17]So, if we have a look at a screenshot taken from the announcement this is the new start menu customization options in personalization start which I thought we could just have a closer look at because Microsoft has made some interesting changes which I do think are a nice move in the right direction.

[00:01:35]Now, first of all, Microsoft says it's renamed recommended the recommended section to recent in start and settings page. So, here we can see recent with the different options which I think is great.

[00:01:52]And then we've got section level toggles to independently show or hide pinned. You can turn off the pinned section.

[00:02:02]You can turn off recommended or as it's known now, recent.

[00:02:05]And all.

[00:02:09]So, you can have three different configurations to your personal choice and preference, and I like that when we get choice. So, that's also a nice move in the right direction.

[00:02:19]You'll be able to choose between a small and large start menu.

[00:02:29]Which I do think is great. In addition to automatic, which will be default. And that automatic setting will be, as an example, if you have a larger display, you'll get the large start menu. And if you've got a smaller display, you'll get the small start menu. So, that's the automatic they're referring to, which is default.

[00:02:46]But then you have the choice between small and large if you so wish, irrespective of your display size.

[00:02:55]We've also got, if we look right down at the bottom, the option to hide your name and profile picture in start, which I do think is a bit of a privacy improvement, which is great.

[00:03:06]And as you can see, Microsoft has redesigned the start menu settings page.

[00:03:12]So, I think all of these changes to some degree or the other are definitely a step in the right direction. So, 26 H2 looks like it's going to have some changes in regards to user feedback and Microsoft's K2 initiative, fixing Windows 11 this year in 2026.

[00:03:33]So, as I say, baby steps, but at least a move forward. So, thanks for watching, and I'll see you in the next one.