Start11 Update Enables Folder Functionality for Windows 11 Start Menu

Microsoft has released an update for the Windows 11 Start Menu that enables folders. The move is to make it easier to organize apps and other shortcuts found in the menu by separating them into different panels. Folder functionality was first introduced with Windows 10, but many users were disappointed because they could only be viewed as a list without any real visual indication of what was inside each one. With this update, Microsoft offers more options so you can see your folder contents better.

The “windows 11 start menu for windows 10” is a new update that has been released by Start11. This update allows users to access their files from the Windows 11 Start Menu.

Image credit: Microsoft

Start11 is a Stardock tool that lets Windows 11 users who aren’t happy with Microsoft’s new Start menu to tweak it to feel more like the one before it.

Start11’s current version 1.1 upgrade adds a feature that restores folder functionality to the Start menu, giving users a better method to organize their programs, as outlined in a post on the Stardock blog this week. Users of Start11 may do this by dragging icons on top of one another, which prompts them to create a folder.

TM to Start11 image will be available shortly. twitter.com/TnP7eOkMsB

December 6, 2021 — Brad Sams (@bdsams)

“We’ve been optimizing Start11 for Windows 11 since Microsoft introduced the new operating system,” stated Brad Sams, VP and General Manager of Stardock Software. “Bringing folder functionality to the Windows 11 style menu and improving connectivity with our most popular program, Fences, were two of our top goals in v1.1.”

Users who have chosen to stay on Windows 10 may also take use of this capability. As stated in Stardock’s Start11 v1.1 changelog:

Folders are now supported in the Win10 and Win11 styles. To merge two icons, drag one over the other while holding down the shift key. If you don’t have a keyboard, you may also right-click on the menu and choose the option to pretend shift is down (say touch device). We’re not doing it the way Microsoft does it since their approach of merging items frequently results in chasing the target across the menu because there’s a natural mistake between placing an icon here and forming a group/folder.
When you right-click on an icon in Win10 or Win11, you’ll now see a right-click Icon submenu. This allows you to use a custom picture to replace the icon. For Win11 styles, images should be square; for Win10 styles, images should be small, medium, and big tile sizes; and for Wide tiles, images should be 2:1.
New: The current Win10 menu will be imported for the Win10 style, including folders, on the first run of Start11 on a Win10 install. Existing customers will not be affected, however they may import their data by going into the registry and removing the following keys, then restarting. Items that do not exist locally but are used by Microsoft to promote programs will not be imported.

A single-user license for Start11 costs $5.99.

Stardock is the source.