According to the latest update, while an evolution on the Start menu is sorely welcome, there’s been widespread criticism of its fresh look and behavior, including the fact that it’s simply too big and takes up too much screen space. Microsoft revamped the Windows 11 Start menu design last year, a redesign that’s still gradually rolling out to users on versions 24H2 and 25H2.
According to the latest update, so maybe it’s no surprise to hear that Microsoft is planning yet another redesign of the Start menu for later this year, having taken the criticism to heart and moving forward with another iteration that will hopefully be better received—and more in line with its Windows goals.
Industry observers note that according to an Insider build of Windows 11 (spotted by Windows Current), several changes to the Start menu are already being tested, going “considerably further than what reached regular users in 2025.”.
The report highlights that one big change will be the option to resize the Start menu, with a Large preset that shows more pinned apps and bigger category sections, and a Small preset that shrinks down for a more compact view that’s better suited for smaller resolution screens.
In a fresh development, you’ll also be able to hide your account name and profile image. Another change will be additional toggles that let you hide the pinned section, apps list section, and recommended section.
Industry observers note that the once-more-revamped Start menu will come with some performance boosts as well, helped in part by the fresh Low Latency Profile capability that revs up the CPU when performing certain repetitive tasks (like opening the Start menu), but also in part due to Microsoft rebuilding the Start menu with native WinUI. And it’s not just visual changes.
According to the latest update, these Start menu changes and benefits are expected to arrive when Windows 11 26H2 drops in October of this year.
As part of the ongoing story, this article originally appeared on our sister publication PC för Alla and was translated and localized from Swedish.
The report highlights that he has previously worked with Macworld, but today mainly writes for our sister sites PC för Alla and M3. Mikael has a firm grasp on which gadgets are dropped, and what is happening with the streaming services and the most recent AI tools. Mikael writes news across all our consumer tech categories.