Windows 11: Customise the Start menu – how to personalise it

Windows 11 comes with a fresh design and a revised Start menu. In this practical tip, you will find out which options you have for personalisation and how you can edit the Start menu.

Windows 11: How to personalise your start menu

Compared to Windows 10, Windows 11 offers a new Start menu. While it no longer supports the well-personalisable tiles, you can still get the most out of the Start menu with new options

• Your apps are displayed at the top of the Windows 11 Start menu. You can select the apps that are displayed and the order in which they are displayed.

• Remove App: To remove an app from view, you can right-click on it and then select “Detach from ‘Start'”.

• Change order: You can right-click and select “Move to top” to move an app to the first position in the app overview. Alternatively, you can use drag and drop to grab an app, hold it and drag it to the desired position and release it.

• Add app: If a desired app does not appear in the Start menu, you must first search for the app using Search. Then right-click on the correct search result and select “Pin to ‘Start'”.

Change Start Menu Settings

Use the Start Menu options in Windows 11 Settings to decide which other apps and files to display in the Start menu

• Open the settings. You can find them in the Start menu, via the search or with the key combination [Windows key] + [I].

• Then click on “Personalisation” on the left and then on “Start”.

• Here you can decide which files and apps should be displayed.

• You can choose between “Recently added apps” and “Most used apps”.

• You can also view recently opened items such as documents or folders.

• The “Folder” settings also allow you to decide which folders you want to have DeepL access to in the Start menu.

• In addition to folders such as Documents, Downloads and Pictures, you also have the option to link to Settings and Network.

• You can find the selected folders in the start menu next to your user name.

• To change the colours of the Start menu, you need to change the Windows 11 theme.

Advanced App List Personalisation

If the personalisation options in the settings are not enough for you, you can use little tricks to personalise your app list even further

• If the app list is too confusing for you or many folders are displayed with only one app, you can easily personalise the list.

• Since the listed programmes can be found in the file system, you can edit the list there.

• In the following two folders you will find the listed programmes that were not installed via the Microsoft Store.

• Here you can edit the apps displayed, change names and icons or even delete them completely from the Start menu and app list.

• However, you should only carry out these adjustments with advanced Windows knowledge.