How to Unlock and Use Windows 11’s New Start Menu Grid Layout

Windows 11’s original start menu required several clicks—open the start menu, click “All apps”, scroll, and click the desired program—making app launch inefficient.

Microsoft’s redesign eliminates the secondary “All apps” list and introduces a grid view that automatically categorises applications, similar to iOS’s App Library. Users can also switch to a classic list view, which retains a single‑level scroll.

The new start menu is currently available only in Windows 11 Insider Beta and Dev channels and must be manually enabled.

How to enable the new start menu

Confirm you are running a Windows 11 Insider Beta or Dev build.

Download and run ViveTool .

Open an elevated command prompt and execute:

vivetool /enable /id:49402389,49221331,47205210,48433719,55495332

Reboot the system; a simple Explorer restart may not apply the change.

After enabling, the start menu displays three sections: fixed (pinned) apps, recommended apps/files, and all apps. In the default grid view, apps are grouped into categories; clicking an app in the first‑level grid launches it directly, while second‑level grids require an extra click to expand.

The grid view can be toggled to a list view via Start‑menu settings, which shows one app per row and removes the secondary “All apps” level.

Users can hide the Recommended section by disabling “Show recommended files” and “Show recently added apps” in Settings → Personalization → Start. This leaves only the Fixed and All‑apps sections.

Pros observed: fewer clicks for frequently used apps and visual grouping of applications. Cons observed: when an app is folded into a second‑level grid, an extra click is still required, which can diminish the efficiency gain.

Recommendation: pin the most used apps to the taskbar, keep essential apps at the top of the Start menu, and select the view mode (grid or list) that best matches personal workflow.