If you miss the older design of the Task Manager in Windows 11, there’s good news: it’s still in the operating system and you can bring it back to life, if you know where to look. The current design was introduced in the Windows 11 22H2 update. This Task Manager revamp was a pretty big interface change, and not everyone was thrilled about it.
If you press the Ctrl + Shift + Esc keys or open the Task Manager from the Start Menu, the new version of Task Manager will be displayed. However, X user @thebookisclosed found that you can open the older version of Task Manager by going to the Windows folder on your C: drive (most users’ main drive) and opening Task Manager through the app located in the SysWOW64 folder.
Did you know that you can open the Task Manager without the new XAML/WinUI frame by running “taskmgr -d”? pic.twitter.com/iZ2ycsIDvEMarch 25, 2024
There are two easy ways to do this:
By means of File Explorer:
1. Open File Explorer from you Get started menu.
2. Copy and paste “C:WindowsSysWOW64Taskmgr.exe” in the address bar of Explorer.
Through the Walk application:
1. Open Walk of the Get started menu to open a dialog box.
2. Copy and paste “C:WindowsSysWOW64Taskmgr.exe” in the Walk the app’s dialog box.
3. Press Enter to launch it.
Each of these should launch the old version of Task Manager, which you can pin to your taskbar as a shortcut, or create a desktop icon for easier access.
What you should take into account before starting the old version
Windows Latest points out that you must make sure you choose one version or the other, because it is not possible to run one version while the other is already running. Therefore, close the Task Manager if it is already running before trying to open the old one. Nothing bad will happen, but it will only show the current version of Task Manager that you are currently using.
The newer Task Manager has a new menu sidebar that shows additional views, but apparently some users find it confusing to have this additional sidebar menu. It has a new list of labels and icons, which adds to the confusion for some users when trying to parse between different sections and processes, and trying to find a specific process. In the newer design, there is also a settings options page in this sidebar menu.
The older Task Manager is more minimalistic and only has the list of currently running processes, with the different sections and views arranged horizontally in tabs upwards. It also only supports a light theme, while the new design of Task Manager can be used in light or dark mode. If, like me, you’re used to using dark mode, the older Task Manager will stand out.
Another feature of the newer design features is Efficiency Mode, an option in the right-click menu of each task that allows users to manage the process’s resource consumption. Efficiency mode can be enabled for third-party processes and this can free up CPU resources for other tasks, although this option is not available for Windows system processes.
The new Task Manager offers some very useful features, but it may seem complicated to some users, so if you want to revert to the older view, it’s good to know that it is possible. I hope Microsoft doesn’t completely remove this option for users, or allow users to switch to the older view by making the extra sidebar menu removable or at least collapsible. However, since the old Task Manager is quite hidden, it doesn’t seem like Microsoft is that keen on people using it – so we may have to get used to the new look.