sdRohan

Join Date 10/2012

+731

Start11 2.53 Release Feedback

With the Start11 2.53 release today, we are creating this thread so that users can report any observed issues.

Obtaining the product

Object Desktop members can get the release from within Object Desktop Manager

Individual purchases (as well as Object Desktop Members) can also be obtained from your account page: https://store.stardock.com/myaccount/products

For guest check-out purchase (no account), from this link: http://www.stardock.com/support/productkeyretrieval

Reporting an issue

Please include the following for anything found:

Exact Windows version \ build (winver.exe)
Detailed steps to recreate the issue seen
Screenshots and videos are very helpful. Videos can be uploaded to a cloud drive service (GoogleDrive, DropBox, OneDrive, YouTube), with a shared link included in your post. Images can be copied and pasted directly into a post.
If there are specific apps that the app does not work (well) with, please note what apps and their exact versions. If any app is not common, a link to a trial version would be appreciated.

start menu products

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sdRohan

Join Date 10/2012

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Start11 2.53 Changelog (Released 06/26/2025)

26 Jun 2025

Version

UI: 2.53
Start11Config.exe: 2.5.3.1

Changes

Resolves issue with not always releasing reserved space when closing an app that docked to the side of the screen, such as Multiplicity KVM switch bar or other third-party docked bars—especially when the taskbar is at the top.
Resolved issue with enhanced taskbar not showing status indicators correctly for some running apps.
Tweaks to start button sizing with vertical taskbars on Windows 11, especially when using small icon mode.
Tweaks to drag & drop in Win10/Win11/App/Pro/Launcher menus to make creating folders easier and less like playing chase the item around
Resolved issue with dragging out of a group in Win11/App/Pro/Launcher menus where you couldn't always drag out of a folder to a group below.
Resolved issue with taskbar texture not refreshing when the OS accent colour changes.
Resolved issue with on-top taskbar not in enhanced mode, where clicking on the taskbar search field would cause the search window to appear off the top of the screen.
Improved handling of “new” app indicators: apps flagged as 'new' in Win10/11/App/Pro/Launcher menus will now have the flag removed either after being run, right-clicked on, or automatically after a short period.
Improved sorting of child items in subfolders in the All Apps list.
Start10-style search no longer shows Control Panel results that duplicate items already shown in the Control Panel section.
Enabled sort A–Z option for folders and Fences groups in Win11/App/Pro/Launcher menus.
Small tweaks to icon and tile image loading for Universal apps on Windows 10/11/App/Pro/Launcher menus.
Fixed issue with setting pins to only show on a secondary monitor not working for some apps. Users will need to reset this setting for affected pins.
Tweak for showing seconds on the clock in Windows 24H2, now that this is natively supported by the OS.
Tweak to limit the maximum number of taskbar rows on initial load to prevent layout issues caused by bad values saved after a resolution change.
Fixed an issue with Live Captions in Windows 11 when using a vertical taskbar or a bottom taskbar positioned at the screen edge.
Tweak to resolve issue where clicking the very top edge of the Start button on high-resolution screens would not reliably open the Start11 menu.
Fixed issue with pinning Universal apps to Win7-style menu using the old Start10-style search, which incorrectly pinned a folder instead.
Changed default behavior for opening web searches to use the system’s default browser.
Resolved issue with clipping and positioning of a custom Start button on a secondary display.
Resolved issue with PNG background transparency.
Resolved issue with All Programs menu not having sorted submenus.
Resolved issue with Russian language search functionality.
Fixed missing context menus for Settings and Windows Terminal when on the Quick Access list.
Resolved issue with arrow keys acting incorrectly during folder searches.
Added a new option in the Appearance menu to choose whether the background should use the selected color.
Added a new option to make All Apps / More buttons only show on mouseover in right-click menus for Win10/11 menu styles.
Targeted fix to resolve isolated issue with vertical taskbars not showing thumbnails for some customers.

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sdRohan

Join Date 10/2012

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Known issues

While we appreciate all feedback, please remember that we offer no official support for beta \ preview \ developer channel versions of Windows. If you report issues while in any of those early release channels, you should not expect them to be addressed unless it still exists in a retail version of Windows.

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sdRohan

Join Date 10/2012

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***Reserved***

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Hi,

A future enhancement that would be nice is to fix it so that multiple applications, including Microsoft Snipping Tool (as shown below ), doesn't start from behind the top-positioned taskbar. The manual fix is easy enough for now, but if you can fix the start position that would be great.

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Downloading the Start11 2.53 update file to my PC triggered a cloud security scan from Microsoft Defender Antivirus. The download also froze at 53.09 MB of 54.33 MB.

Screenshot of frozen download of Start11

OS: Windows 11 24H2 (OS Build 26100.4351)

Defender security intelligence last updated: 6/27/25 1:53 PM

EDIT: VirusTotal's analysis of C:\ProgramData\Stardock\Start11\Update\Start11v2_Setup.exe.tmp doesn't show much. Perhaps there was no need for a cloud security scan. Quick scans from Defender and Malwarebytes on my PC came up clean.

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sdRohan

Join Date 10/2012

+731

Quoting Toa_Of_Justice_2025,

reply 5

Downloading the Start11 2.53 update file to my PC triggered a cloud security scan from Microsoft Defender Antivirus.

You are the 1st and only to report such an issue. We have tested several times here and other locations and all come back fine.

Quoting Toa_Of_Justice_2025,

reply 5

The download also froze at 53.09 MB of 54.33 MB.

I suspect that is because your AV app stopped the DL. If you can temp suspend the AV app, or whitelist it, see if you can still reproduce it.

If you are no longer getting the AV notice, but it still stalls, go to:

\Downloads

In Windows Explorer. If there is a 'Stardock' folder, delete it and try the update again.

Sean Drohan
Stardock Product Lifecycle Manager

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I updated Defender's security intelligence to version 1.431.267.0 (6/27/25 4:19 PM), then ran the update again. No issues this time.

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HI matthewferri,

Thank you for posting. I haven't been able to reproduce this, either. I will keep an eye out to see if others report it.

Best regards,

Adam McGuinness
Stardock Customer Support Specialist

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Enhancement request: In vertical taskbar mode, the date/time typeface is just a bit small on my laptop (1920x1200) and a bit too big on my desktops ( left-side cut off at 1920x1080 and 1920x1200).

Windows 11 Enterprise, 24H2, build 26100.4349, Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.26100.107.0

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Enhancement request: In vertical taskbar mode, it would be nice if the system tray icons could be displayed in two side-by-side columns, as with Windows 10 in vertical taskbar mode.

Windows 11 Enterprise, 24H2, build 26100.4349, Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.26100.107.0

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Lots of glitching on the taskbar now with multiple monitors. To the point I'm trying to figure out how to downgrade to previous version. You can see here the start button is completely gone on inactive screen, pinned items and clocks partially or not visible at all, etc.

24H2 - 26100.4484

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Perhaps related? My multi-monitor setup running the last beta would consistently display completely blank taskbars if I did not login right away after rebooting. The taskbars (vertical) would be completely unresponsive to right-clicks. I could left-click where the Start button would be and then launch Start11 and restart Explorer from there.

I was in the process of reverting to the last release when I saw the new release today and installed that instead...

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Quoting NickP221,

reply 11

Also make sure "Hide the start button on the secondary displays (if any)" is turned off.

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Quoting LoomisTowcar,

reply 12

Windows 11 Enterprise, 24H2, build 26100.4349, Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.26100.107.0

The blank vertical taskbar issue is still present in the 2.53 release. I haven't determined the threshold as to how long after boot up you have to wait to login before the problem manifests itself. When it does, all vertical taskbars on all monitors are completely blank--except the clock appears on my secondary displays but not my primary display. Clicking where the start menu button should be, on all monitors, activates the start menu correctly. The first time I restarted Explorer from Start11, the icons on my 2nd monitor did not shift to the right, so the vertical taskbar partially hid the first column of icons. Restarting Explorer again fixed it.

Windows 11 Enterprise, 24H2, build 26100.4349, Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.26100.107.0

(Despite these glitches, I can positively say that this new experimental vertical taskbar feature is the sole reason I bit the bullet and upgraded to Windows 11 ahead of the October deadline!)

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Quoting LoomisTowcar,

reply 14

(Despite these glitches, I can positively say that this new experimental vertical taskbar feature is the sole reason I bit the bullet and upgraded to Windows 11 ahead of the October deadline!)

BEYOND pissed that MS extended Win10 support 1 more year after I did the force update to 11 - I hate Win11 with a passion and am annoyed that I'm even dealing with it for the few weeks I've had it now that they've backed off killing Win10 for a bit longer......half tempted to revert back and enjoy native taskbar on the sides........

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Hi there,

Someone managed to get the exact entry to translate this option?

I was able to translate the next 2 but not the first.

Thanks.

Baio

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Quoting Baio73,

reply 16

Hi there,

Someone managed to get the exact entry to translate this option?

I was able to translate the next 2 but not the first.

Thanks.

Baio

Hello,
Sorry to hear you are having issues. Perhaps it is best if you could post your question again here: https://forums.stardock.com/523176

Thank you,
Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant.

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Windows11 24H2 (26100.4351)

Clean Windows11 install, Ear Trumpet can't get right taskbar position. It opens flyout on the bottom of the screen.
https://github.com/File-New-Project/EarTrumpet/discussions/1614

riverar Jun 28, 2025 Maintainer

This is a common third-party bug--not a EarTrumpet bug--and is likely related to incorrectly handling of ABM_GETTASKBARPOS in Start11. I've passed the feedback on to Stardock.

Ear Trumpet can be installed from MS Store

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Windows11 24H2 26100.4484
When I open the Start menu, clicking anywhere on the desktop no longer closes it as it used to.

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With the Windows 7 task bar on top, the search box sometimes (rarely, actually) shows up at the bottom with v2.53. It works too, just type in whatever and hit enter and it works as it should.

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Quoting sa786j,

reply 19

Windows11 24H2 26100.4484
When I open the Start menu, clicking anywhere on the desktop no longer closes it as it used to.

Hello,
Sorry to hear you are having issues. Please try, uninstall Start11, reboot immediately (important), download latest version available in your account product download page: https://store.stardock.com/myaccount/products. Install it, reboot immediately again. Retest it and report back.

Thank you,
Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant.

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Quoting pelaird,

reply 13

Also make sure "Hide the start button on the secondary displays (if any)" is turned off.

Thanks for reply but unfortunately, this is not what's causing the behavior. I have the start button enabled on all displays but, with the latest 2.53 update the taskbars on secondary displays are just completely unusable. The start buttons and all other elements on the taskbars flash on and off randomly. I just reverted back to 2.51 and the problem went away.

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Quoting basj,

reply 17

Hello,
Sorry to hear you are having issues. Perhaps it is best if you could post your question again here: https://forums.stardock.com/523176

Thank you,
Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant.

Thanks for your replay, I'm gonna post there but that thread is semi-abandoned since 2023...

Baio

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Quoting sa786j,

reply 19

Windows11 24H2 26100.4484
When I open the Start menu, clicking anywhere on the desktop no longer closes it as it used to.

There are no changes in close logic at all in any recent Start11 update.

Is it possible you have installed something else recently which might interact with the desktop?

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Quoting zORg_alex1375,

reply 18

Windows11 24H2 (26100.4351)

Clean Windows11 install, Ear Trumpet can't get right taskbar position. It opens flyout on the bottom of the screen.
https://github.com/File-New-Project/EarTrumpet/discussions/1614

riverar Jun 28, 2025 Maintainer

This is a common third-party bug--not a EarTrumpet bug--and is likely related to incorrectly handling of ABM_GETTASKBARPOS in Start11. I've passed the feedback on to Stardock.

Ear Trumpet can be installed from MS Store

We have reproduced this and resolved it for the next update.

The root cause seems to be a MS documentation issue which may explain why it is a common issue.

Thanks for letting us know.

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