Microsoft wants to make this unpopular Windows 11 Start menu feature slightly less hated
Microsoft is considering a change to Windows 11 that would clean up some of the interface in the Start menu.
The adjustment has currently only been applied during testing build 23575 implemented on the developer channel and relates to the Recommended panel in the Start menu.
What Microsoft has done, like Windows Latest reports, is to introduce a grouping system for the recently added apps that appear in this featured section.
As it is now, these apps appear as separate entries, but the new interface places them all in a “Recently Added” folder within the section, reducing clutter.
Streamlining this part of the Start menu is certainly a useful addition, but keep in mind that the rollout of this to testers is in phases, meaning only some of those in the developer channel will see it initially.
Elsewhere in build 23575, Microsoft fixed a number of bugs, including crashes with File Explorer, issues with some PC games, and an issue where Copilot disappeared from the taskbar (an AWOL AI, if you will).
Analysis: More customization options please, Microsoft
Hopefully we see this move forward from the developer to the beta channels and eventually the release version of Windows 11, as it’s certainly a useful addition to the Recommended section. Ultimately, Microsoft may organize other parts of this panel through grouping into folders.
However, there are broader concerns about the Recommended section. In its article, Windows Latest also points out a post on Microsoft’s Feedback Hub titled: βI would like to be able to disable the Recommended section in the Start menu and make the entire area disappear in Windows 11.β
The idea of ββremoving the feature from the Start menu entirely has now been upvoted almost 10,000 times on the hub. Most people would appreciate the ability to further customize all parts of Windows 11’s user interface where possible, and we couldn’t agree more.
If Microsoft feels this makes things more complicated, any customization options could be hidden somewhere so that only advanced users would bother to track them down.
We’ve been raising concerns about the Recommended section for a while, specifically about marking websites as suggestions for Windows 11 users to visit β and where the lines can be drawn in terms of nudging and advertising. It seems like these suggestions will be released, even though it’s an area that Microsoft has experimented with and then abandoned in the past.
All in all, the Recommended panel is one of the parts of Windows 11’s interface that we think could definitely use some work, although the potential change coming with this new preview build certainly makes things better.