One of the most common criticisms received Windows 11 After its launch was the redesign of the menu Start which many considered a step backwards compared to that of Windows 10. Four years had to pass before, finally, Microsoft decides to give other options to users and allow more traditional use.
The new Start menu fixes several of the limitations of the original design. For example, it is no longer divided into two fixed sections, Anchored and Recommendationsand you can see the complete list of applications as soon as you open the menu, without having to go to the button All. Furthermore, it is finally possible to deactivate the section Recommended and have more space for your pinned apps and all the others. have also been added three different views for app list: grid, list and categories.
It is a more polished version than the one that comes with the operating system by default and it is possible that even You already have it installed on your computer, but Microsoft has not yet activated it. If you look through the configuration options, you will see that there is nothing.
The new Start menu is part of the October 2025 quality update, KB5067036which is being gradually distributed to all users of Windows 11 versions 24H2 and 25H2along with other improvements, such as new battery indicator redesigned. If you don’t want to wait for Microsoft to activate it, you can do it right now.
How to check if you already have the new Windows 11 menu installed
It may be that Windows Update You have already downloaded the update. You can check it by following these steps:
- Open the menu Start and select Configuration.
- Click Windows Update and then in Update history. KB5067036 will appear in the section Quality updates if you already have it installed.
How to activate the new Start menu in Windows 11
In the following procedure we explain how to obtain the update and use the app ViVeTooldesigned to enable hidden functions in Windows 10 and 11, to activate the new menu and the rest of the new features.
- Check for updates with Windows Update or optionally download the update KB5067036 from the Microsoft Update Catalog. You must have the build installed 26100.7019 or 26200.7019 to activate the new Start menu. You can check it by following the route Settings > System > Information.
- Once the update is installed, download ViVeTool from GitHub and unzip it to any convenient location.
- Open Command Prompt as administrator and navigate to the folder where you saved the ViVeTool files using the CD command. For example: CD C:live.
- Writes vivetool /enable /id:47205210 and press the key Intro. This command activates the new Start menu. If you want to also enable the rest of the features included in KB5067036, type: vivetool /enable /id:47205210,57048231,56328729 (the last ID activates the new battery indicators).
- Restart your computer and you will have activated the new menu.