- Microsoft is adding a new feature to the Windows 11 Start menu that may finally make it useful.
- A category view for sorting apps under specific umbrellas is in the works, revealed in a recent Windows 11 Beta build.
- Users can force the new feature to appear by tweaking their system using ViveTool, offering a glimpse of a potential improvement.
Windows 11’s Start menu isn’t the best, and it has its fair share of detractors. It’s at the point where there are plenty of third-party Start menu replacement apps that add the features that Microsoft never got around to making. Fortunately, it seems that Microsoft isn’t done with the Windows 11 Start menu yet, as it’s adding a new feature that may actually make it useful.
Windows 11 is getting a category view in the Start Menu
Source: Microsoft
There’s evidence that Microsoft is working on a category view for the Start menu, which sorts all of your apps under specific umbrellas. It was spotted as part of the latest Windows 11 Beta build, but you won’t find this feature as part of the patch notes. This is because Microsoft is still working on the feature, so it’s not officially released. Regardless, you can still force the feature to appear by tweaking your system using ViveTool.
The new feature was spotted by PhantomOfEarth, who has done an excellent job sleuthing out these hidden treasures. This time, they spotted the categories view in the Start menu and provided instructions on how to enable it, albeit in a half-finished form.
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It looks like another Start menu > All apps view option is coming soon: Category view. Present in build 22635.3930, with some not yet functional categories. Also, you’ll be able to switch between the existing alphabetical and new grid/category views using a dropdown menu. https://t.co/qFtcTm4BnB pic.twitter.com/ABtXZJ2Irl — phantomofearth 🌳 (@phantomofearth) July 12, 2024
In recent times, it feels like Microsoft has been inundating users with the good and the bad. On one hand, you have cool features like category view that make the Start menu a lot more useful. On the other, the company has also been stuffing Windows 11’s Start menu with ads, which has ticked off a lot of users. And with apps like Start11 and StartAllBack providing users with an excellent alternative, the Redmond giant really needs to deliver more hits than misses if it wants people to use its stock option.
