After years of user feedback, Microsoft is finally giving Windows 11 users granular control over the Start Menu. A new Experimental build introduces modular section toggles, manual size selection, and the ability to hide profile details — changes that effectively let users build their own Start Menu layout for the first time since the operating system launched.
The “Recommended” Section Can Finally Be Turned Off
Since Windows 11 debuted, the “Recommended” section of the Start Menu has been one of its most polarizing features. For some users, the list of recently opened files and apps is a useful shortcut. For others, it is clutter they never asked for — and until now, they had no clean way to remove it.
Earlier workarounds existed. Users could disable multiple individual settings to minimize what appeared, but the process was cumbersome and came with collateral damage: disabling “Recommended” also removed recently used files from File Explorer’s jump lists and suppressed the appearance of recently added apps. The design was all-or-nothing, and the one thing many people wanted — turning off only the Start Menu’s Recommended section — was simply not possible.
Build 26300.8553, released to the Experimental channel on May 29, changes that. Microsoft has introduced independent toggles for the three core sections of the Start Menu: “Pinned,” “Recommended,” and “All apps.” Each section can now be shown or hidden individually. In the English UI, the “Recommended” label has also been updated to “Recent,” a more accurate description of what the section actually displays.
What is the key difference with this new modular approach? The control is now truly independent. Hiding the “Recommended” section no longer suppresses recently used files in File Explorer or clears the jump list. The display of file recommendations in Explorer and the visibility of the Start Menu section are governed by separate switches. Users who want only their pinned apps and nothing else can achieve that without sacrificing functionality elsewhere.
Start Menu Size Can Now Be Manually Selected
The second major change in this build addresses another long-standing limitation: Start Menu sizing. Previously, the menu automatically adjusted its dimensions based on the display resolution and scaling, with no user override. That changes with the addition of three size options: Small, Large, and Auto (the default).
The setting is straightforward. Selecting “Small” reduces the overall footprint of the Start Menu, making it more appropriate for smaller screens or users who prefer a compact interface. “Large” expands the menu to show more content at once. Auto behaves as before, letting the system decide based on the display.
Importantly, the chosen size is preserved even when connecting to an external monitor. For laptop users who frequently dock and undock, this means the Start Menu will not unexpectedly balloon or shrink when switching displays. It is a small quality-of-life improvement, but one that addresses a practical annoyance for many mobile workers.
A New Toggle to Hide Profile Name and Picture
Alongside the section toggles and size options, Microsoft has added a setting to hide the user’s account name and profile picture from the Start Menu. This is a privacy-conscious addition that prevents identifying information from appearing on screen during presentations, screen sharing, or public use.
While less dramatic than the other changes, the profile visibility toggle fills a genuine gap. Users who previously had to resort to third-party tools or registry edits to suppress this information now have a built-in, officially supported option.
The Settings Page Has Been Redesigned
All of these new controls are housed in a redesigned Start settings page. Previously, Start-related settings were scattered across multiple locations: “Recommended” controls lived under Personalization, jump list settings under Start, and file recommendation toggles in yet another section. The new layout consolidates everything into a single, organized interface under Settings > Personalization > Start.
The redesign groups the section toggles, size selection, and profile visibility into logical clusters, making it far easier to find and adjust specific behaviors. For users who found Windows 11’s settings labyrinthine, this is a welcome simplification.
Search Gains Substring Matching
The same Experimental build also brings a subtle but significant improvement to Windows Search: substring matching. Until now, Windows Search required exact word boundaries for file name matches. A file named “MeetingNotesApril” would not appear when searching for “april” alone, because the search engine treated “MeetingNotesApril” as a single token rather than recognizing “April” as a substring.
Users could work around this by using wildcards — typing *april*codecodecodecode — but that is not an intuitive or widely known technique. With the new build, substring matching is enabled by default. Typing “april” or “status” will now surface files named “ProjectStatusReport” or “MeetingNotesApril” without any special syntax. For anyone who follows the common convention of concatenating words in file names, this change makes search dramatically more useful.
Beta Channel Gets Spinner Unification and Printer Settings
The same day, Microsoft also released Build 26220.8544 to the Beta channel, though it does not include the Start Menu changes. Instead, Beta users receive two different updates.
The first is a unification of the spinning animations — the “spinners” — displayed during boot, logon, restart, shutdown, and update screens. Previously, each of these states used a different visual treatment, creating an inconsistent look at moments when the system is transitioning. The new design standardizes all spinners into a single donut-shaped animation, with unified status text such as “Restarting,” “Working on updates,” and “Welcome.” The result is a more polished and coherent experience during system transitions.
The second Beta change involves printer settings. Microsoft is continuing its phased deprecation of third-party printer drivers in favor of the Internet Printing Protocol (IPP). The new setting adds a toggle under Settings > Bluetooth & Devices > Printers & Scanners labeled “Use Windows Ready Print to install printers by default.” When enabled, new printers are set up using the built-in IPP-based Windows Ready Print system. Users can disable the toggle to revert to the traditional driver-based installation method if needed.
Part of a Broader Quality Improvement Roadmap
These changes are not isolated updates. They are the second wave of a quality improvement initiative that Microsoft’s Windows + Devices team outlined in March 2025. The first wave, which arrived in mid-May, focused on the taskbar — restoring the ability to move the taskbar to different edges of the screen and enabling a compact mode. The Start Menu modularization is the second wave, and more improvements are expected to follow.
The roadmap signals a shift in Microsoft’s approach. Where earlier Windows 11 development cycles prioritized new features and integration with services, the current cycle is focused on refining existing elements and restoring customization capabilities that users lost in the transition from Windows 10.
What the Changes Mean for Windows 11 Users
For English-speaking users who have been waiting for a more configurable Start Menu, these changes directly address the most common complaints. The ability to hide the Recommended/Recent section alone will satisfy a large number of users who found it intrusive. Combined with the size options and profile visibility toggle, the Start Menu is finally becoming a tool that adapts to individual workflows rather than enforcing a one-size-fits-all layout.
It is worth noting that these features are currently limited to the Experimental channel — formerly the Dev channel — and may change before reaching the general release. There is no guarantee they will ship in their current form, or at all. Historically, Microsoft has rolled back or modified features after Insider testing. However, the direction is clear: the company is listening to feedback and is willing to revisit foundational design decisions.
The substring search improvement, meanwhile, is a backend change that will benefit every user once it reaches stable builds, without requiring any configuration. It is the kind of under-the-hood refinement that does not make headlines but meaningfully improves daily productivity.
For now, users on the Experimental channel can begin testing the new Start Menu controls immediately. Everyone else will have to wait for the features to progress through the Beta and Release Preview channels before reaching the general public. Given that Microsoft has not announced a timeline for broad rollout, patience remains necessary. But after years of asking, Windows 11 users finally have a Start Menu that can be truly their own.
