Windows 11's Start menu is no longer the static launcher of yesteryear. With the latest updates, users can now tailor it to their workflow through a handful of settings nestled in the Personalization pane. The ability to control pins, recommendations, recent items, and system folders gives you a cleaner, more efficient workspace—and it only takes a few clicks.

Microsoft shipped the initial Windows 11 release with a radically different Start menu. Gone were Live Tiles and the sprawling app list front and center. In their place sat a pared-down grid of pinned apps and a prominent Recommended section. Feedback was immediate. Many users balked at the wasted space, the mandatory recommendations, and the lack of familiar folders. Over subsequent feature updates, Microsoft has slowly relinquished some control, placing more levers in users’ hands.

Today, through Settings > Personalization > Start, you can craft a Start menu that reflects how you actually work. This guide walks through every toggle, slider, and option available as of Windows 11 version 24H2 (build 26100), the most current at the time of writing. No registry hacks, no third-party tools—just the official customization path.

All customization begins in the Settings app. Press Windows + I on your keyboard or right-click the Start button and select Settings. From there, choose Personalization in the left-hand column, then scroll down and click Start. You’ll land on a page with three expandable sections: Layout, Folders, and Notifications & Quick actions.

The Layout section dictates how the Start menu splits its real estate between pinned tiles and the Recommended area. The Folders section lets you place quick-access shortcuts next to the power button at the bottom of the Start menu. The third section controls what notifications can appear and whether the account-related button is visible.

If you’re missing some of these options, ensure Windows 11 is fully updated. Microsoft adds new Start menu controls across cumulative updates, so patch status matters. For reference, the complete folder support and the three-column layout option arrived in the 2023 feature drop.

Layout: More Pins vs. More Recommendations

At the top of the Start settings page sits the Layout dropdown. This setting has evolved across Windows 11 releases. In the original design, the Start menu offered a static split: roughly 50% pins and 50% Recommended. After version 22H2, Microsoft introduced a More pins layout that shrinks the Recommended area to a single row, reclaiming space for your pinned apps. The newer More recommendations layout expands the Recommended section to show up to three rows of files and shortcuts.

More pins is the go-to choice for anyone who relies on frequently used applications. It displays up to four rows of icons in the pinned section, each row containing multiples of your chosen pin size (small, medium, or large). The Recommended area collapses to show only the three most recent or most-used items; if you’ve disabled recommendations entirely, that area becomes a slim blank strip. The trade-off: you lose at-a-glance access to recent documents and newly installed apps, but you gain a clutter-free launcher.

More recommendations does the opposite. It prioritizes the Recommended feed, expanding it to show up to 12 items. This layout suits users who bounce between files and documents more than apps. The pinned section shrinks to accommodate the larger Recommended space, so if you have a large collection of pins, you may need to scroll more often.

Finally, some editions allow a Default layout—a balanced midpoint between the two extremes. Microsoft has tweaked the default over time, but as of build 26100, the Default is not always visible; many systems now show only More pins and More recommendations.

No matter which layout you choose, the changes apply instantly. No restart required. You can toggle back and forth as your workflow evolves.

Show or Hide App Icons and Lists

Beneath the Layout dropdown, you’ll find a series of toggles that affect what appears in both the All apps list and the pinned/recommended areas.

Show recently added apps – When enabled, newly installed applications appear at the top of the All apps list with a “New” badge for seven days. This helps you locate unfamiliar software quickly. Disable it if you prefer a static list untouched by marketing promotions or test installs.

Show most used apps – This toggle, which many users miss, elevates your most frequently launched apps to the top of the All apps list. It uses local activity data to rank them, so it’s both a productivity booster and a privacy consideration. If you share your screen often, you might want to turn it off to keep a predictable order.

Show recently opened items in Start, Jump Lists, and File Explorer – This is the big one. Known colloquially as the “recommendations” toggle, it controls whether the Recommended section populates with recent files, folders, and websites. Flip it off, and the Recommended area goes blank—no file thumbnails, no document shortcuts, no Edge browsing history. Note that this toggle is system-wide: it also clears Jump Lists on the taskbar and the recent files list in File Explorer’s Quick Access. Microsoft could decouple these someday, but for now, it’s all or nothing.

Show recommendations for tips, shortcuts, new apps, and more – A separate promotional toggle introduced in 2023. When on, Microsoft inserts suggestions—such as a trial for Microsoft 365 or a link to the Tips app—into the Recommended area. Disable it to keep the feed limited to your own files and apps.

Show account-related notifications – If you use a Microsoft account, this toggle allows Windows to display occasional reminders about security settings, device backup, and OneDrive storage. It’s off by default, but worth confirming.

All these toggles operate independently of the Layout setting. You can run More pins with recommendations fully enabled, or More recommendations with every recommendation toggle turned off, leaving only your pinned apps visible.

Adding Folders to the Start Menu

One of the most-requested features from the Windows 10 era was the return of quick-access folders next to the power button. In Windows 11 version 22H2 Moment 2 (KB5022913, March 2023), Microsoft delivered.

Scroll down to the Folders section. Here you’ll see a list of system folders: Documents, Downloads, Music, Pictures, Videos, Network, File Explorer, Settings, and Personal folder. Flip the toggle beside any folder to instantly add its icon next to the power button at the bottom of the Start menu. You can enable as many as you like—they arrange horizontally, with a scroll arrow if they overflow.

Clicking one of these folder icons opens File Explorer directly to that location, bypassing the need to search or pin a separate app. For power users, this is the fastest way to access project folders, downloaded installers, or screenshots without cluttering the desktop.

Microsoft does not currently allow custom non-system folders in this list. Third-party utilities like Start11 or ExplorerPatcher can add arbitrary locations, but sticking with the official method avoids compatibility risks after major feature updates.

Privacy Implications of Start Menu Customization

Every toggle in the Start menu settings carries a privacy shadow. Let’s break down the most relevant ones.

Recently opened items toggle: When enabled, Windows tracks the files and documents you open and caches them locally in a database. This data is what populates the Recommended section, Jump Lists, and Quick Access. It’s stored on your device and is not sent to Microsoft, though if you use a Microsoft account with sync enabled, recent items may sync across devices via your activity history. Disabling this toggle stops local collection and clears existing entries. However, it does not purge previously synced data from Microsoft’s servers; you’d need to visit account.microsoft.com/privacy to manage your activity history.

Show most used apps: This toggle relies on an internal app-usage counter. It’s entirely local, but it can reveal a telling picture of your daily habits. If someone gains physical access to your machine, they could see your most-used apps instantly. For shared workstations, consider disabling it.

Show recommendations for tips: This setting does not affect local data collection. Instead, it controls whether Microsoft’s cloud-based suggestion engine pushes content to your Start menu. Turning it off severs that connection, reducing telemetry and silencing upsells. It’s a recommended step for privacy-conscious users.

Folders: Adding folders does not increase data collection. The icons are simple shortcuts. Windows already indexes these locations for search, so no additional telemetry is generated.

Finally, the Privacy & security page in Windows Settings contains a broader Diagnostics & feedback section where you can toggle optional diagnostic data. While not part of Start customization, reducing this to “Required diagnostic data” limits what Microsoft learns about your Start menu usage patterns.

Real-World Scenarios: What Works Best

Different workflows demand different configurations. Here are three common setups.

The Minimalist – Layout: More pins. Disable “Show recently added apps,” “Show most used apps,” and toggle off both recommendation toggles. Enable only File Explorer and Settings as folders. Result: a pristine grid of pinned apps, no distractions, and quick access to system navigation.

The Power User – Layout: More recommendations. Keep “Show recently opened items” on but turn off “Show recommendations for tips.” Folders: Documents, Downloads, Pictures. Pin only the most critical apps (Outlook, VS Code, Terminal). The expanded Recommended area becomes a dynamic launchpad for current projects.

The All-in-One – Layout: More pins. Enable all toggles except “Show recommendations for tips.” Add every folder for a dock-like effect. This mirrors a traditional desktop experience, offering instant access to both apps and recent files.

There is no wrong answer—only what matches your muscle memory.

Beyond Settings: Quick Tips and Tricks

Even with all toggles dialed in, a few additional tricks can squeeze more efficiency out of the Start menu.

Resize the Start menu – Click and drag any edge of the Start menu to change its height or width. A taller menu shows more pins; a wider menu can accommodate larger icons without truncating labels. Resizing also alters the grid density of the pinned section.

Create app folders – Drag one pinned tile on top of another to create a folder. You can name it, and it behaves like a nested group. This declutters the pinned area and keeps related apps together—for example, bundling all Office apps or Adobe CC tools.

Keyboard shortcuts – Press the Windows key and start typing to instantly search apps, files, and settings. Tapping the Windows key alone opens Start; pressing it twice switches to the desktop. Learning keyboard-first navigation reduces reliance on the mouse and speeds up common tasks.

Right-click power user menu – Right-clicking the Start button (or pressing Windows+X) opens a context menu with links to Device Manager, Disk Management, PowerShell, and more. While not part of the visual Start menu, it complements a well-organized launcher by giving quick admin access.

What’s Still Missing and What’s Rumored

Despite the progress, the Windows 11 Start menu still frustrates users who remember the Live Tile era. The most glaring omission: no native way to completely hide the Recommended section. Even with all recommendation toggles off and More pins selected, the area remains as a blank bar—a visual sore thumb. Insider builds have experimented with columner layouts that would eliminate that wasted space, but a finished feature has yet to ship. Microsoft appears cautious, likely because the Recommended area is a vector for engaging users with Microsoft 365 and other services.

Another common ask is the return of full-screen Start, reminiscent of Windows 10 tablet mode. While a dual-screen tablet experience is mostly a niche need in 2025, it still has vocal proponents. Third-party utilities fill these gaps for now, but they often break with major updates.

Rumors from build strings suggest Microsoft is testing a “Disable Recommendations entirely” group policy and registry key, which would allow organizations to reclaim the full Start menu space. If that materializes in a future release, it would be the most significant Start menu policy change since the Windows 11 debut.

Conclusion

Customizing the Windows 11 Start menu is a low-effort, high-reward exercise. In under five minutes, you can transform a generic, recommendation-heavy launcher into a focused productivity dashboard. The settings are straightforward, version-hardened, and entirely reversible. Whether you want a clean grid of apps, a file-centric launchpad, or a blend of both, the tools are already built into the OS.

The privacy toggles further sweeten the deal, letting you decide exactly what Windows tracks and displays. As Microsoft continues to add telemetry controls in response to user feedback, expect the Start menu to become even more malleable. For now, the power is in your hands—literally, at Settings > Personalization > Start.