Redesigned Start menu now in testing finally lets us turn off some of the adverts in Windows 11

Microsoft's big redesign for the Windows 11 Start menu has taken a step closer to its realization with the revamp now live in testing.

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There are two new views for the list of all apps: categories (on the left) and grid view (on the right), alongside the traditional simple list (Image Credit: Microsoft)

Leakers first uncovered the overhauled Start menu hidden in preview builds earlier this year, before Microsoft officially confirmed the project in May, and said it'd soon be in preview builds.

And the good news is it's now in the latest Windows 11 build (26200.5641) in the Dev channel so Windows Insiders can give it a whirl.

The idea is to make the Start menu a single panel you can scroll down, as opposed to having the list of apps installed on the PC displayed in a separate panel (accessed with a click).

The new layout has pinned apps at the top, the panel for recommendations underneath, and the list of all installed apps under that. For the latter, there are different layout options too, so instead of a clunky long list, you can opt for neater categories (or a grid view).

There's a crucial change here that we weren't sure would be present - it was highlighted in early leaks, but not by Microsoft when it announced the Start menu redesign last month - and that's the ability to turn off the recommended panel.

Yes, you can ditch this midsection of the Start menu - where promos and adverts creep in, as well as recently used files - so there's more room for everything else. An option that's likely to be well-used, and it's great to see Microsoft is including it, as we hoped.

Intelligent resizing

The revamped Start menu will also intelligently resize itself depending on how large, or compact, your display is. On top of that, it'll rejig itself if you don't have many pinned apps to shrink that section down, allowing for more space for other interface elements.

Finally, another neat touch is that the Phone Link panel, which is attached to the Start menu, off to the right, can be expanded or collapsed with a single button click. Those who use the Phone Link app may not want this panel hanging around all the time, so the ability to easily dismiss it - and again save some space with the Start menu UI, so it doesn't eat up too much of the desktop - is a handy one.

The move that we're most pleased to see here, though, is that ability to turn off recommendations in the Start menu.

Elsewhere in this preview build, Microsoft is rolling out more options for what widgets are displayed on the Windows 11 lock screen. This was previously tested by those in Europe, but the ability to pick and choose your widgets is now arriving for all Windows Insiders (and it's about time).

Read more: Miss Windows Vista? Well, both of you can now recreate the OS in Windows 11 with a new mod