Added in RDP as an alias in search for Remote Desktop
Added support for anything following -- in a search string to be passed as a command line. This only works with some apps, depending on how the app has a shortcut
Added new command line for Start11Config to apply changes to registry keys if done manually. Run Start11Config RELOADSETTINGS
Performance improvements to general drawing and animations,
Fixes for older icons having boxes around them sometimes
Tweak that may help whatsapp notification badges
Should fix issue with taskbar areas getting screen dirt
Should resolve issue with DisplayFusion secondary taskbars not showing correctly
Resolves issue with shadows on menus being the wrong way up
This should resolve the issue with WhatsApp and message notifications
Adds in support for S11_OnlyShowSignout registry key which makes Sign Out the only power menu option. Location:
\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Start8
Fix to a thread leak when opening locations as menus, a memory leak in the same situation resolved
Fixes for custom start button image size when resizing a vertical taskbar and when on Win10.
Fix for fullscreen animations on insider build painting twice,
Tweaks universal icon loading to be quicker, resolves some steam game icons being small and instead stretching low res icons for those larger
Fix for switching virtual desktops causing taskbar changes if the user has different non max/max settings
Wheel mouse can now be used to scroll vertical taskbar when full
Resizing a vertical taskbar now correctly recentres things
A possible fix for non clickable areas of the desktop for some users
The position of the thumbnail previews on a vertical taskbar have been tweaked to overlap less though they may go slightly off screen but not unusably so
A small tweak to tab image loading to reduce max memory usage during load of an image.
Now shows sub menus for folders for computer link and document
Resolves a performance issue with large menus
Resolves issue with closing the start menu with the mouse causing it to reopen if the mouse moves between mouse down and up on the start button with the start menu open
Fixes the mouseover indicator in Win10 style menus
Fixes spotify taskbar icon bug.
Fixes a problem with right clicking to the left of the start button on a secondary taskbar when the taskbar is set to centred with enhanced taskbar enabled
Translation updates
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.
ARM support is now in all versions (trial, paid, and ODNT)
Resolved issue with right-click menus when the taskbar is at the top of the screen - requires enhanced taskbar enabled
Resolved issue with missing widgets button when left/center taskbar buttons mode with the enhanced taskbar on Win11
Added feature: holding down the SHIFT key when clicking on a popup menu will open that in Explorer when clicked rather than opening the submenu
Resolved issue with always combine mode using the wrong icon for the run window and control panel when using enhanced taskbar on Win11
Resolved issue with the position of the search field on the taskbar when using rounded taskbar options sometimes
Resolved the issue with the position of the search field on the taskbar when using a wider start button
Resolved issue with pin installed app menu not always working when on slower machines (largely ARM)
Resolved a crash issue with menus when changing icons for a shortcut on slower (ARM) machines
Resolved issue with icons being smaller than intended when using the resize menu for anything other than small when using Win11/Win App / Win Pro / Win Launcher styles at higher DPI scales
Enabled ARM build to load up custom tile images
Resolved issue with some app icons in non-combine mode on the taskbar having darker edges than intended
Enabled universal folder for Win7 all programs in menu mode
Resolved issue with control panel menu popup having some broken links for third-party control panel icons
Resolved a small clipping issue on the mouseover highlight of items at the top of the Win11 style expanding folder on the start menu
Resolved issue with default to all programs list in Win7/Modern styles going back to non-all programs list when doing a search and pressing escape once
Resolved fullscreen Win10 style menu cutting the top of the menu off if autohide mode in Start11 is enabled
Resolved fullscreen Win10 style menu having extra transparent background in error on ARM setups
Enabled all programs menu on Win7/Modern styles when using Win10 style list to support the Universal Applications folder option
Enabled some right-click options on Win10 style all programs list when using Win7/Modern style
Enhanced Start11 control panel search to include a significant number of missing legacy control panel items
Resolved the issue with the Microsoft Teams icon when pinned on the enhanced taskbar being smaller than expected
Resolved enter not opening shutdown/sign out menus when using some menu styles
Resolved issue with the keyboard not selecting items on the shutdown menu using Win7/Modern styles when opened via the keyboard
Adding links to folders now stores paths in a more portable manner
Resolved changing icons for apps in combined taskbar mode not always being respected
Added support for Networx taskbar network traffic graph with enhanced taskbar enabled
Resolved network/sound taskbar popup not being positioned correctly on Win11 taskbars when at the top of the screen on newer insider builds
Resolved excess CPU usage on Win11 occasionally
Resolved recent files showing in the documents list
Stopped documents/pictures/videos showing in Start11 search for files
Resolved Win7/Modern menu vanishing on certain scaling factors when entering search mode or expanding for jumplists
Modified taskbar handling so if a jumplist is open it will not get closed by a thumbnail popup on Win11 with enhanced mode taskbar
Adds in checkbox to control if the autohide option on the right-click taskbar menu should show or not. Only visible in UI when on Win11 and when enhanced taskbar is enabled.
Tweaks to taskbar animations
Tweaks to universal app icon loading and launching to handle a possible edge case
Resolved autohide on top aligned secondary taskbar not always allowing maximized windows to fill all the space
Resolved autohidden taskbar on secondary monitor not updating enhanced taskbar contents for changes that happened whilst the taskbar was hidden
Adjusted the height of the small taskbar when using Win10 style buttons to be slightly taller so the clock isn't clipped
Resolved potential loop paint issue with the taskbar on initial startup when in enhanced taskbar mode
Resolved a taskbar icon load issue on initial startup on some machines for pinned items / combined groups
Resolved a timing-related deadlock on login
Resolved issue with top autohide taskbar not always allowing maximizing on the entire screen
Tweak to startup code to workaround a potential deadlock issue
Resolved changing icon for the universal apps menu on the quick links menu
Resolved issue with timing sensitivity detecting SAB which caused S11 to disable features when it didn't need to
Resolved the possibility of an issue with clicking the shutdown button performing a default action in error on Win10/11/App styles rather than showing a menu
Resolved missing menu icons on keyboard opening of shutdown menu when using Windows 7/Modern menus
Stopped shutdown menu auto-expanding on the right-hand side for Win10/11/Pro/Launcher/App styles as was not supposed to. Adding S11_AutoExpandShutdownOtherStyles = 1 to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Start8 would enable it for other menu styles
Resolved appwiz.cpl and similar links going missing in S11 search, but not S10 style search
Resolved potential crashes when searching for files in the path
Resolved thumbnail vertical offset when using on-top autohide taskbar
Resolved right-click jumplist vertical offset when using on-top autohide taskbar
Resolved issue with Win+X not always working correctly with the mouse when using an always-on-top autohide taskbar
Resolved potential resource leak for taskbar icons
Tweaks to taskbar icon handling
Resolved pinned taskbar menus overlapping the taskbar when used with a top autohide taskbar
Version updated
UI: 2.06
Start11Config.exe 2.0.6.0
Beta released on Stardock and Steam
NEW * Added toggle for autohide on taskbar right-click menu
NEW * Added new option to set a tab as the default tab to show in a group regardless of the last tab open
NEW * Added universal apps, all apps, and steam apps as options for quick access shortcut menu links
Resolved issue with right-click menus on taskbar showing separators one menu item lower than it should
Added string registry key to disable the above HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Start8 S11_ShowAutoHideOnTaskbar = 1
Added string registry key to use Win32 menus on right click on the taskbar to allow third party extension of the menu. Use HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Start8 S11_UseOldRightClickMenus = 1
Resolved issue with some pinned items on Win10/11/Apps/Launcher/Pro menus not showing Jumplists when they can on right-click
Adjusted small mode taskbar to better position overlay icon
Adjusted small mode taskbar with Win10 style buttons to ensure the selection indicator line is always visible
Improved automatic detection of Touch mode taskbar
Resolved excess rounding of tile images when using Win10 style
Resolved alpha channel issue when resizing some tile images smaller
Resolved issue with some groups not correctly showing in the Pin to submenu
Improved drag & drop of icons in groups
Stopped read-only groups from allowing you to drag icons over each other when shift is held down
Option to open on all apps page now works on Windows Pro and Windows Launcher styles
Resolved "Use a custom menu background" option showing as disabled on open of config even when enabled
Resolved issue with custom accent color impacting Win10 item text on mouseover
Resolved issue with some custom accent colors causing invisible icons on mouseover on quick access shortcut list, all programs list folders, shutdown button
Windows 10 style more button links shown in search results now look like buttons matching the look on the other styles
Icons will now swap to dark options (where provided) when a custom accent colour is in use that requires it on mouseover
Resolved issue with taskbar shortcuts that have been deleted by the user or an uninstaller incorrectly (vs being unpinned) showing as unremovable white icons on the taskbar in enhanced taskbar mode. The icons will now remain and they can be removed by right click unpin for all new cases and old ones will simply no longer show at all.
Swapping taskbar touch mode / not no longer requires an explorer restart
Resolved issue with custom menu background not correctly painting after menu swaps from one dpi screen to another
Stopped all apps list on Windows App style menu from taking mouse focus when a menu overlapped that window sometimes
Tweaked Start11 autohide mode to no longer reserve any space at the bottom of the screen. This does mean the very bottom pixel of a maximized app isn't clickable, but this shouldn't be an issue as click targets should never be so small.
Tweaked overlay icon on taskbar buttons to be slightly bigger to match Windows 11 unless using small taskbar size
Resolved issue with taskbar thumbnail popups not always showing again after a primary monitor swap
Resolved issue with right-click menus on taskbar showing separators one menu item lower than it should
Added toggle for autohide on taskbar right-click menu
Added string registry key to disable the above HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Start8 S11_ShowAutoHideOnTaskbar = 1
Added string registry key to use Win32 menus on right-click on the taskbar to allow third-party extension of the menu. Use HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Start8 S11_UseOldRightClickMenus = 1
Resolved issue with some pinned items on Win10/11/Apps/Launcher/Pro menus not showing Jump lists when they can on right-click
Resolved hang issue when Win11/App/Pro/Launcher start menu has no groups that are not read only. This could have happened in other situations but this was the particular one found.
Resolved issue with Import settings on login Business edition feature not working correctly in all situations
Resolved issue with restore settings in config not telling Start11 to reload the groups if the menu mode was the same
Also resolved an issue with the experimental load tile images option loading white images for apps like MS word etc.
New text block for 2.05 added to en.lng and the 8 other supported languages. Changes can be seen at the bottom of the en.lng file in \Start11\Lang\en.lng
Released to live.
Start11Config.exe 2.0.1.1 (2.01 in UI)
Resolved a crash issue with Win7 style on login in rare circumstances
Resolved an issue with enhanced taskbar autohide when the primary monitor is to the right of the secondary monitor with desktop icon placement
Resolved issue with clicking on pinned taskbar buttons set to only show on certain monitors not showing a right-click menu
Resolved issue with mixed dpi setups where right-click menus may not detect dpi changes consistently
Resolve the issue with offset taskbar mode with autohide on a secondary.
Limited recent docs popup menu to 15 items (or OS setting if defined)
Reduced a flicker when minimizing/restoring a window from the taskbar using the mouse
Adjusted some init code to prevent threads from being allocated earlier than needed
Tweak to extra control panel item showing
Resolved issue with rounded taskbar causing clipped taskbars on primary monitor when using a touch-capable device with Win11 22H2 or later
Resolved issue with taskbar offsets on secondary monitor without enhanced taskbar enabled not working correctly
Tweaked shutdown menu to stop list under it taking focus sometimes
Added registry key S11_AlwaysScrollMenus which when set to 1 will stop Start11 making menus multi column and instead use a scrolling list. Create in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Start8
Resolved issue with Win7/Modern style jumplists sometimes showing each item too small after switching menu modes
Added a new registry key to control the right-click menu style on Windows 11. It is called "S11_MenuStyle" and it has 3 options. 0 = translucent menus, 1 = solid menus, 2 = colour tinted translucent menus
Resolved all apps/steam apps list not working from a pinned taskbar folder if you are using the Win7/Modern menu styles
Resolved issue with sub menus showing far left of the screen when they would not fit next to the open menu on multi-column menus
Resolved issue with new Start11 autohide taskbar mode triggering too far from the bottom of the screen vs the primary
Resolved issue with Win 7/modern menu with Win10 style all apps tree not having Show Recently installed and suggested apps not refreshing the list instantly
Resolved issue with right-hand list on start menu flickering over search results during animation to switch to search mode sometimes with Win 7/modern menu styles
Resolved issue with leftover tooltip after launching an app from the menu if the tooltip was visible at the time
Altered config UI to grey out the settings for rounded taskbars unless the rounded taskbar is enabled as this may be causing confusion
Resolved menus sometimes being the wrong background color depending on OS color settings
Resolved sub-menus showing on popup folder menus being shifted too far right on Win11 setups
Resolved Win Launcher menu style when hiding search and username causing shutdown to overlap contents of the list
Resolved issue with dark icons being inverted incorrectly when on a dark background
Resolved issue with rounded TB going away when not using Enhanced taskbar in S11
Resolved issue with toggling Win10/Win11 style taskbar buttons needing an explorer restart.
Note: The progress bars on this are still painting as a line rather than a full background, this should be fixed next build.
Resolved issue with launching task manager from the taskbar menu locking up the taskbar initially
Added new Windows 10 style taskbar buttons
Added mode to always combine pinned items but unpin everything else until there is no space
Added extra large taskbar mode
Added font face and size override control to taskbar
Added options to hide the start button on the primary and secondary monitors when on Win11 with enhanced Taskbar enabled
Added options to control if a pinned item should show on all monitors, just the primary, just the secondary or automatic based on OS setting
Added Start11 autohide mode. Requires Win11 22H2 or later
Added new options to control blur, color, rounded corners, and transparency of the taskbar when maximized window vs normal state
Shadow text tweaked to improve visuals
Resolved the issue of not being able to view the hidden items list for All apps on the Win10 and Win App style menus
Resolved issue with Win11 not saving the correct virtual desktop page for opening a page when on a specified virtual desktop
Resolved issue with open menu on this page for current desktop menu item not always showing on all menus (bar Win7/Modern which do not have pages)
Tweaked painting of page picker icons as current page one would sometimes paint incorrectly
Resolved issue with folder icons not painting an icon when in align left mode
Resolved issue with being unable to resize Win Pro menu from right hand side when using narrow mode
Resolved issue with hiding recent apps not sticking after restart for Win Launcher/Pro/Apps menu styles
Resolved issue with a right click on the top taskbar causing the menu to appear partially offscreen
Resolved issue with new search box for apps in some styles not scaling font correctly in mixed dpi setups
Resolved issue with inverted text colour on a tabbed group also applying to + and filter icons in the group header
Resolved issue with missing color palette choice when clicking on appearance menu link rather than opening via mouseover
Adjusted text shadows so DPI is taken into account
Added UI option to override Start11 detection of the touch mode taskbar in Win11 22H2 and later should the taskbar contents be misaligned
Please see the Start11 v2 press release for changes and features.
Addressed remaining conditions where taskbar thumbnail images could be misaligned.
Resolved an issue with the taskbar not being able to be resized on 22H2 sometimes
Resolved an issue with small taskbar and the system tray icons being cut to one row vs two on 22H2 when using enhanced taskbar with a one-row taskbar
Optimized Start11 startup
Resolved an issue with the system tray icons on 22H2 in rare circumstances not repainting the background under them / under the network+sound icons
Resolved an issue with dragging taskbar buttons where if you left the taskbar area then it would jump between insertion points and not allow any drag to be successful
Fixes https://forums.stardock.com/515349 and a resource leak found when using with WB11
Tweaked engage Cortana mode to resolve a potential issue with it not always engaging if you opened Cortana just before the start menu
Changed Win11 menu so if you disable Start11 search the search field will disappear by default but will respect the option to show/hide the field too
Tweak for Search mode in Win7 skins to be light mode
Change to Start11 running to hopefully workaround some PowerShell issues on shutdown for some users in edge cases.
This change will potentially impact support for third-party apps which can launch Start11 such as DisplayFusion. It should detect this correctly but if not adding a registry key of type string with value "1" called AllowThirdPartyTaskbars to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Start8 should revert to the old system.
Fixed issue with recolored start menu textures using OS accent color not refreshing on color change
Icon overflow (hidden icons) with new Win11 taskbar (insider dev/beta) now shows correctly when the taskbar is at the top of the screen.
Added support for setting the taskbar button size (unless there is insufficient room) when allowing Start11 to enhance the taskbar via the OS regkey MinWidth stored at HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics Unlike on Win10, this will scale for dpi correctly allowing consistency over multiple monitors with different scale factors.
Tweaked sign-out / shutdown menus when in Dark taskbar mode to use a dark menu rather than light.
Tweak to resolve an issue with the line on the taskbar in 22H2 being too transparent when in dark mode
Tweaked default taskbar transparency on Win11 22H2 when in dark mode as slightly too solid by default
Resolved crash changing custom icon for a tile in Win10 menu (or custom image on Win11 menu) if you move the mouse over the menu whilst picking
Fixed an issue with excessive titlebar caption changes in apps triggering excessive refreshes of the taskbar causing a lag issue on the taskbar with enhanced taskbar enabled.
Resolved crash issue when searching for more than 31 chars in a single word
Dragging two or more items into a Win11 group in the menu no longer causes a resort to put the newest one to the far left
Resolved issue with progress bars on combined taskbar buttons not always showing correctly
Resolved issue with some pinned shortcuts (imported from the OS menu) not showing the jump lists on right-click in Win10/11 menu mode
Resolved issue with being unable to pin steam apps to win7/modern menu from search
Taskbar search mini preview should reposition itself correctly after a brief pause on the initial show when using centered taskbar mode on 22H2
WB skins should now support blur on the background of the startmenu (Win7/modern). May require WB 11 beta 2
Win10/11 style all programs list now respects icon set for folders vs using a default icon
Taskbar thumbnail popup window will no longer go partially offscreen with a very large number of windows owned by a single app when using enhanced taskbar on Windows 11
Tweak to thumbnail popup window positioning when in center mode with enhanced taskbar
Resolved issue with not being able to right-click on the first 50 pixels of the taskbar when in center mode with enhanced taskbar in Win11
Fixed issue with double animation with WFX start menu animations enabled (To use you MUST disable the Start11 animation in Start11 first)
NEW (experimental): Users can now center the Start11 button when using the Start11 Enhanced Taskbar. This supports custom start buttons too.
New - You can now rename shortcuts on the Win10/11 style start menus via the right-click menu
Fixed issue with restart computer when other users are logged in not working correctly after the warning message.
Fixed alignment of the new centered start button option to take into account the extra width of the bar
Fixed issue with taskbar being sluggish when file copies were taking place when enhanced taskbar was enabled.
Added new localization strings for 1.26 for new UI changes
Resolved flicker issue when opening the start menu on Win11 insider builds when animations are disabled
A code change to potentially resolve an issue with universal app icons loading as solid black in edge cases
Change to initialization of taskbar code to possibly help with wrong icons loading from the icon cache for pinned items
Fixed issue with only 1 sysicon causing a scrolling arrow to show sometimes
Changed Start11 to open the menu on the primary monitor when opened via the Winkey rather than the monitor the mouse is on. If anyone wishes to use the old behavior you can do so by defining "OldWinKeyLogic" as a string value here HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Start8 and giving it a value of "1"
Fixed issue with keyboard not opening groups on the menu correctly when enter is pressed. Pressing space now also toggles them.
Fixed issue with rapid clicking on taskbar button with no other open windows not always minimizing the window consistently.
Resolved problem with some custom scaling factors causing the start menu to not show or show on the wrong screen.
Resolved issue where all programs button overlaps shutdown button when in compact mode Win7/modern style with quick launch hidden and search disabled.
Resolved issue with right-click on date when taskbar is at the top on Windows 11 providing a menu that did not work correctly when clicked.
Internal redesign of some taskbar logic to prevent the possibility of a hang
Now supports MS edge website shortcuts on the Win10/11 style start menus (Requires Windows 11)
Resolved issue with erroneous rapid clicking on the start button resulting in the menu not being visible but then animating out next time you click.
Fixed an issue on Windows 11 native start icon where it would not consistently register clicks, they would appear pent up and flash a bunch in a row.
Resolved flicker issue when opening the start menu on Win11 insider builds when animations are disabled
A code change to potentially resolve an issue with universal app icons loading as solid black in edge cases
Change to init of taskbar code to possibly help with wrong icons loading from the icon cache for pinned items
Updated user submitted Japanese translation (credit to user htakado)
Netflix when fullscreen (and other universal apps) no longer vanishes from the enhanced taskbar
Issues with multi-line system tray icons painting under the clock or leaving too much space etc resolved
Search for Windows settings items enhanced slightly
Search results for apps now show two lines of text vs one as some apps have quite long names which make it less usable
Taskbar shifting down 12 or so pixels (at 100% scaling) hopefully resolved
Taskbar shifting along the screen for some users on occasion hopefully resolved
Fixed issue with not showing Search/Task view / Widgets / Chat sometimes when toggled on from an off state
Fixed issue with Win7 mode where clicking to open the jumplist via keyboard (space key) didn't set the focus correctly to an expanded list
Worked around an issue with universal app icons when running caused by using Actual Window Guard
Worked around an issue with the menu closing incorrectly sometimes when you want to open it when using Actual Window Guard
Resolved issue with an explorer crash in rare circumstances with enhanced taskbar enabled
Search results for settings now wrap the text when required in Start11 search mode
Fixed issue with Brave browser profiles overlay image appearing bottom right (normal for Win10) rather than top right on the icon on Windows 11
Stopped very tall window switcher lists jumping to the top of the screen in error with enhanced taskbar enabled.
Resolved an issue with seconds on the clock in US region causing shifting of icons sometimes depending on the date
Start11 1.24 is a culmination of prior betas.
Start11 1.22 is a culmination of prior versions.
Language updates
Core supported languages:
Spanish (credit: fjmatad)
French (credit: DominiqueFaure)
Included languages but not supported:
Czech (credit: ludekdanzer)
Sweedish (credit: rj79048)
Italian (credit: Baio73)
Turkish (credit: erdogandemirtas)
Added option for seconds on clock to Start11 configuration screen (taskbar)
Improved painting performance of config UI when scrolling especially on Taskbar page as performance was slower than intended
Made config detect the use of insider channel versions of Windows and will indicate this on the about page
Help link on insider releases of Windows 11 changed to go to entry in FAQ explaining our policy on these OSes
Prevented a background refresh of menu contents while right click menu is open in Win10/11 menus
Prevented a background refresh of menu contents while dragging an item in the menu
Fixed issue with JetBrains Toolbox showing on the taskbar incorrectly
Fixed issue with focus being assigned to no window sometimes when minimizing a window from the taskbar by clicking on the taskbar button when enhanced taskbar mode is enabled
Added registry key to make Start11 never group pinned items with running apps - usual reg location "SeparatePins" set to 1
Added registry key to make Start11 taskbar buttons have less padding between and inside of them allowing more to fit. This only applies to pinned apps / running app buttons. It does not apply to the widgets, search etc icons. Usual reg location "CompactTaskbarButtons" set to 1.
Adding registry key to make Start11 have altered padding internally for taskbar app / pinned buttons. Usual reg location "TaskbarPadding" set to padding value
Added registry key to enable a start button compatibility mode if clicks are opening the Win11 menu - usual reg location "StartButtonCompatMode" set to 1
Added support for ShowSecondsInSystemClock registry key that worked on Win10 for seconds on the clock. May take a short while to apply after an explorer restart.
Fixed issue from prev build where clock on secondary taskbar was missing on Win11 dev/beta builds
Fixed issue on Win11 release where the right click menus on network / sound icons did not always accept input when enhanced taskbar was enabled
Shift + restart from the shutdown menu should now boot to recovery screen as it does with native menu
Fixed small resource leak when using enhanced taskbar and opening a window with an icon without an alpha channel. Typically this would be extremely old apps.
Fixed issue with right click on pinned icons (not running apps) showing menu off screen if too far left on screen
Fixed issue with occasional clicks on taskbar potentially causing an explorer crash on Windows 11
Fixing issue with elevated apps causing trouble with start button click on occasion
Tweak to hopefully resolve issue with first click on secondary taskbar start button not launching the menu on Win11 for some users.
Fixed issue with change of screen res / scaling causing taskbar to resize down to one row incorrectly on Win11
Changed how Start11 handles the taskbar shows when opening the start menu inside a fullscreen app / game
Fixed issue with pinning from new style all programs list onto Win7/Modern menu losing jumplists. Any existing shortcuts would need to be recreated.
Modified shutdown to support automatic restarting of apps before login where configured on the PC and on supported OS
Fixes 'This PC' link not showing in Fences on Start menu if it was in a fence
Deleting a fence on the desktop will now remove it from the start menu too rather than leaving a blank
Ensured every Win11 menu page has a group on it and all apps button
Resolved issue with thumbnail preview window jumping left sometimes when you clicked on the taskbar button when minimized
Fixed issue with a folder group on the Win11 menu style potentially painting under the page selection bar
If when expanding a folder group it doesn't fit on the menu then the menu will scroll to fit it
If in grouped taskbar mode then clicking on a button that is for more then 1 window will now show the thumbnail switcher rather than picking the last item
Win11 dev/beta channel tablet mode taskbar is now less visually horrible with S11 enhanced taskbar though not perfect
Fixed issue with drag & drop to the taskbar not bringing inactive windows to the front as it should have been
Fixed issue on dev builds of Win11 where the right hand system tray icons wouldn't appear after an explorer restart sometimes
Fixed that transparency string not using translations on beta/dev build of Win11
Start11 1.2 is a culmination of prior versions.
On Win11 dev / beta channel (current) it now disables taskbar transparency settings and adds warnings about some taskbar features (blur, colour, texture) to indicate they do not work correctly on that build of Windows. Also small taskbar mode only works if you enable Start11 enhancing the taskbar on those builds.
Fixes for run dialog not having an icon in some versions of Windows
Fix for non-English installs of Windows having the quick settings popup clipped when taskbar is at the top
Fix for scrolling taskbar not painting a taskbar texture under the scrollbar
Fix for taskbar at top in later Windows versions ending up on top of maximized windows if one row high
Fix for clicking on the taskbar when at top opening start menu in any blank space
Fixed issue with Turn Windows features on and off in search linking to missing file on non-server editions of Windows
Fixed issue with position of Win+N window appearing offset sometimes
'Sometimes' taskbar mode now switches to collapsing items with multiple taskbar buttons into one before it switches to collapsing all when there is insufficient space
Menus are now white in light mode
Folders can now have a custom image
A-Z sort option added for Win11 groups (does a sort, new items added to end as usual)
Custom tiles now can have a custom background color if they use transparency
Shutdown button on win7/modern style no longer breaks transparency
New labels are no longer shown on Win10/11 menus when you disable showing recently installed apps on that list
Taskbar shortcut icons should better respect custom icons now
Taskbar should launch correct shortcut on middle click / click of pinned item now
Refresh rate detection code tweaked to handle multiple monitor setups better
This fixes an issue with taskbar drag being too sensitive and getting stuck sometimes
Fixed an issue with explorer hanging if you had multiple monitors but set windows to only show one taskbar
Tweaked touch support
Fixed issue with loading up UWA app icons on the taskbar sometimes loading too small an icon
Fixed issue with center horz on the taskbar sometimes causing a second row when not needed
Fixed issue with calculating how many rows needed being wrong when changed font size on taskbar
Config UI now shows disabled center start button option when in S11 taskbar mode to make it clearer that it is disabled
Internal version number changed to 1.17
Changes: Fixes jumplist going offscreen sometimes
Fixes issue with custom start button and enhanced taskbar getting clipped
Fixed right-click menu on taskbar on Win10 would use wrong scale factor sometimes
Adds in icons for shutdown/sign out menus
Clicking a pinned item when the app is running but on another monitor will now launch a new instance
Middle-click on explorer will now launch a new instance
The Calendar popup should be working reliably again
New option to hide taskbar text whilst still being ungrouped
New option to control font size on taskbar buttons
Fixed issue with small taskbar having clock offset vertically
Added option to hide tile text in Win10 menu regardless of having a tile image set
Added option to never load the app provided tile image for a tile
Fixed an issue with the taskbar not showing all items when the vertically centre mode wasn't enabled
Fixed taskbar insert indicator so it paints when you go to the far end
Fixed taskbar dragging when in combine mode so the icon paints consistently when dragged
Fixed issue with taskbar when running tiles so a gap isn't left
Fixed issue with taskbar picking up wrong scale factor and wrong position after a screen res change sometimes
Fixed missing icon for some pinned web apps
Updated S11 1.1 to be 1.1.0.1
Fix for horizontal wheel mouse swapping pages in the wrong direction
Fixed too small icons on Win11 style (in all lists & search, just less obvious on main page as icons bigger)
Fixes for issues found by QA before Christmas (1.05 issues)
A fix for open file location not working for all shortcuts for one user
You can now rearrange fences groups and set icon size (win10 style) and it gets saved.
Also added option to lock icon positions in win10/11 menus (right click menu)
Fixed folder group icons being wrong size sometimes for Win11 menu style
Stopped you being able to drag icons into fences group from win 10 menu all apps list
This fixes some crashes with some edge cases
Makes search add priority to items you have pinned
Auto pins and unpins things when you use the OS pin to start option (may take a few seconds) plus unpins from OS menu if you unpin from S11 (Win10/11 menus only)
Adds in option to show Fences on the S11 Win10/11 menus
Improves performance of folder expansion animation and fixes deadlock potential issue with that
Removes items pinned when the user uninstalls the app (Universal apps ONLY - Win10/11 menu only too)
Fixes for some issues with the new folder groups such as not deleting when the last item was removed
Fixes for not scaling the mini icons with icon scaling options
Fixed missing icons for Minesweeper
Made it insert new group in Win10 mode in the right column if one is missing
Fixed too small icons on Win11 menu all apps list
New: Win10 and Win11 styles now support folders. You drag an icon over another icon holding down the shift key to combine them. You can also right click on the menu and pick the option to pretend shift is down in order to achieve this should you have no keyboard (say touch device).
New: Win10 and Win11 styles now offer a right click Icon submenu when you right click on an icon. This lets you pick a custom image which will replace the icon. Images should be square for Win11 styles and small, medium and large tile sizes on Win10 and 2:1 on Wide tiles
New: On the very first run of Start11 on a Win10 install, the existing Win10 menu will be imported for the Win10 style including folders. This will not happen for existing customers but if they wish they can import theirs by going into the registry and deleting the following keys and rebooting. Items which do not actually exist locally but are MS advertising for apps will not be imported.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\GroupContents
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Groups
and deleting this key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Start8\CreatePinned10
Fixed issue with recent apps list having a network location in it which is not accessible causing Win11 menu to appear blank for prolonged period
Mouseover correctly shows on Win10 tiles now when they use a tile image
Surplus line at the bottom of the W7/Modern styles when in non rounded mode resolved
Tweaks to experimental tile and Universal app icon loading to better handle apps with different icons for light/dark mode
Added refresh icons option to Win10/11 menus to refresh icons should the user have changed icons via a tile editing app or due to OS icon cache changes
Reduced gap between groups on Win11 menu when icon sizes are smaller vs having a fixed size
Added option to Win11 style to load up tile images
Changed new to count as 2 days old not 14 for newly installed apps on Win10/11 menus
Made expanding sections in config menu have a more obvious arrow
Added indicator line on left side of config sections which have action on click (switch to new page or expand section)
Added missing offset mode on Win10 (offset only when centered start button)
Fixed issue with link in search results to webc search showing blank search when launched via keyboard vs mouse
Removed universal applications link from Win10/11 menus as relied on Win7/Modern menu having been run at least once in the current session (may come back in future)
UI tweak to workaround MS issue with Chinese font substitutions
Fixed search not factoring in date for files when generating sort order
Start buttons that are too small for the current dpi will now be scaled up
Fixed an issue with custom start button on Win11 opening up MS start menu if you clicked to the very right of it
Added some missing strings to ENG / ENG US lng files
Fixed issue with missing Run as administrator option for some apps
Fixed issue with precision touchpads and scrolling again
Fixed missing lookup for "Advanced" text in the config screen
Fixed missing lookup for Pin to taskbar and Unpin from taskbar in right-click menu
Fixed issue with autohide taskbar on Win11 sometimes making menu open and instantly close if you click on the start button
Fixed issue with being able to have folder and item mouseovered in all apps list
Found problem with Stardock Curtains and Start11 centre taskbar options. An update to Curtains is planned to resolve this.
Fixed issue with VS2019 tiles (when in experimental tile mode) being blank
Fixed it so you can scroll the Win10 list with a wheel mouse whilst dragging items to make positioning icons easier with long lists
Fixed an issue with tooltips with & in them showing a _ instead of &
Undid a change that removed UndockingDisabled registry key detection
Fixed config to detect above setting so settings which apply to Win10 show vs Win11 when on Win11
Prevented you from dragging things into the recent apps list on Win11 menu
Possible fix for installer non-western language issues reported in: https://forums.stardock.com/507879/page/1/#3823902
Fixed issue with menu not always positioning correctly when switching between displays of different dpis especially in a stacked configuration
Fixed issue with taskbar losing system tray icons on occasion on Win11
Implemented tweaks to config UI for making settings more obvious
Fixed message box when clicking on one control in the UI
Changes : Fixed issue with moving an item back to a previous page in Win11 menu showing error prompt instead of moving the itemAdded in option to move items to next and previous page in Win10 menu, previously only offered moving entire groups
Fixed issue with negative window coordinates causing menu to not open or open in the wrong place sometimes
Disabled sliding animations on contents of Win10 menu when opening it
Fixed issue with switching between displays with different dpis causing Win10 left hand list to repaint incorrectly until mouseover
Fixed issue with not closing folders in treeview list and resetting scrolling to the top of the list when you close the menu
Disabled experimental tile loading support for Win10 menu as enabled by default in error. This can be enabled via a registry key if you wish
Fixed Win10/11 and Win7/Modern menus refreshing contents more often than needed when recent apps are not shown on them
Fixed issue with tooltips not always showing on items in Win10 list when in smallest tile size (or when using a custom tile image)
Requested installer tweak to fix universal applications expanding menu being blank in some installs
Fixed issue with universal apps folder being called Modern UI Applications still on English installs
Filtered out Microsoft edge from Universal apps list as defective leftover link in OS
Fixed issue with characters which sort before 'a' breaking filter list for Win10/11 style all apps list
Improved issue with flicker of menu on screen below active screen (in stacked config) at end of animation
Fixed issue with winkey always opening menu on primary display
Updated the following languages: German, French, Russian, Portuguese - Brazil, Korean, Spanish, Chinese - Simplified, Chinese -Traditional
Fixed issue with Win10 style menu when in hide apps mode not scaling apps / tiles switching bar when changing scale mode
Enlarged page switcher bar and increased hotspot size considerably to make clicking on them easier
Made it so swipes left / right on precision touchpad act as change page in menus (when the mouse is over the list) or back when in all apps list on Win11 style.
Made it so horz wheel mice act as change page in menus
Fixed issue with menu style picker at 125% scaling being clipped
Fixed issue with app shortcuts not repainting in Win7 style mode after returning from a search
Fixed issue with Win10 style all programs list in Win7 style mode painting text as white always
Limited max-width of jumplists in menus to ensure menu widths remain sane (Vivaldi browser)
Fixed issue with pinning items from Win10 style all programs list when using Win7/Modern style
Added prompt about Win10 taskbar left or center-aligned on first run
Tweaked config preview to show centered start button when enabled on Win10
Added UNINSTALLFULL command line to Start11Config to reset Win11 on top taskbar and taskbar size settings
Fixed clicking on color option in menu instead of opening the submenu would open the submenu and then close the entire menu
Adjusted sorting of Chinese apps in Win10/11 all apps list
Fixed tooltips showing when text already fitted correctly on screen so were redundant
Fixed swapping from Win10 fullscreen to Win11 fullscreen resulted in shifting down of menu items incorrectly
Fixed auto-hide taskbar + fullscreen mode Win10/11 menus shifting offscreen
Disabled dragging to start button to pin items for Win10/11 menus as they did not support this. You can add things for those via right-click menus easier.
Fixed pin to Start11 menu option when in Search so it doesn't detect the pin state for Win7 menu when in Win10/11 style.
Fixed issue with some universal apps loading up smaller icons than ideal
Automatically imports Win11 start menu pinned items on first run (system thats not run prior Start11 versions only) to Win10 and 11 menus
Tweaked search folders to be aware of OneDrive
Fixed not being able to drag items from all apps in Win10 mode having switched to hide all apps and then back again
Fixed dragging outside of list in Win 10 mode not canceling drag correctly and acting as a drop operation
Fixed issue with Win10 style pinning always inserting at the start of the list rather than the very end
*** Added experimental option for loading up Win10 tile images. Enabled via registry only adding HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Start8\LoadTiles=1 and signing out and in again.
Altered config UI to make taskbar + start button centre options a combo box choice on Win10
Added taskbar and start button center options to start button page on Win10
Fixed text on "Control what right-clicking on the taskbar does" section on Win10 to not reference Win11
Added option for hiding search box in Win11 mode unless in search mode
Adjusted US English translation file to say have Center vs Centre now it is using those files
Fixed issue with swapped mouse buttons and clicking sometimes
Fixed first right-click menu animation being skipped on some machines
Tweak to critical section allocations
Fixed Win7/Modern style left side being blank if you switched from Win10 style with hide all apps list enabled
Fixed all programs being blank on open sometimes when in Win10 mode
Fixed an issue with touch on multiple monitors where the start menu would open on the monitor where the mouse was located rather than where the touch input was
Fixed issue with recent docs in Win11 menu with long filenames causing wrapping clipping issue
Fixed issue with all apps letter search going to the wrong location sometimes when clicked
Fixed issue with all apps letter search being able to scroll too far down
Fixed issue pressing escape whilst dragging items on menus (Win10/11 styles)
Moved Win11 substyles to drop-down box on first screen
Fixed issue with loss of focus causing the menu to stop accepting input until it is reopened if dragging was interrupted somehow
Fixed issue with dragging Win11 groups sometimes showing an insertion locations saying "Click here to name group"
Fixed issue with clicking outside an item and then dragging over an item causing that item to launch
Added in the translation files
Added option for sub groups on Win11 style menu. The originally created group on the first page cannot be deleted regardless of where you have repositioned it however.
Fixed issue with resizing Win11 menu when menu scaling was not set at 100% causing hang of menu
Fixed issue with resizing Win11 menu when menu scaling causing a sizing issue on the borders not being resized
Sub groups have icon size picker so you can have sub-lists with different icon sizes
Added option to hide labels on groups in Win11 mode via right-click menu
Added CTRL + LEFT arrow and CTRL + RIGHT arrow to swap pages in page menus
Fixed Win10/11 menu losing background texture on resize
MS Precision touchpad scrolling should work in the menus now
Fixed issue with closing menu when desktop icons were hidden and have mixed dpi and screen res setup
Added option to center the start button on Win10 like offered on Windows 11
Added in offset only if centered start button for Win10
Fixed issue with config showing rounded corners on by default for Windows10 when it was turned off
Fixed issue with center taskbar not always working on all monitors on Windows 10
Implemented smoother scrolling for non high precision wheel mice in lists
Right-click menus on Win11 menu shows highlight clearer
Added right click option to pin any file to Win10/11 menus
Added right-click option to pin any folder to Win10/11 menus
Visual tweak to right-click menus in Win10/11 menus to better space things and add shadows
Tweaked down arrow on drop downs on start menu page in settings to be bolder and larger as users missing them
Fixed issue where you could resize things so you had no scrollbar but were scrolled down and couldn't scroll back up
Win11 menu on close if in all apps list will no longer animate back to the previous page
Added compact mode to Win11 menu where border sizes are smaller
Added pin to taskbar option from right-click menus in Win10/11 menus
Added Win10 compact mode where apps list is hidden
Modified Win10 menu sizing to always size to a multiple of the grid size and allow sizing down to no columns
Fixed some broken settings icons on Win11 in search
Fixed animations for entering and leaving all apps on Win11 menu to be the correct direction
Added animations to right-click menus in Win10/11 menus
Added option to pick a custom color from a color picker for Win10 tiles if wanted
Added option for going to all apps by default (if showing all apps as separate section in Win10) or anytime for Win11
Fixed issue with pinning new items on Win10/11 menus not respecting icon size until later
Now allows Win10 groups to be rearranged leaving gaps between groups. If the group would not fit on screen then will be placed in left-most column
Start button image replacement defaults to off on Windows 11
Fixed issue with pressing down arrow not wrapping to top of the menu when menu first opened
Tweaked Win10 style margins to ensure lists fill the space fully
Fixed search for pictures showing results from the entire search library instead
Adjusted default width for Win11 menu as was too wide
Fixed issue with mouseover selection remaining on items in lists after you right-click on them
Enabled translation support in the config UI
Fixed issue where open location option was missing from right-click on some pinned items on Win10/11 menus
Changes to how Start11 starts up which should sidestep those game anti-cheat app issues
Adds fix for MS precision scrolling
Centered start button on Win10
Tweaked quick access link popup menus to resolve an issue where they may not close on loss of focus correctly
Tweaked quick access link popup menus to not cause a menu close when closing one and opening another via clicking directly
Fixed paint issue on Win11 menu quick access links area when switching between monitors
Fixed appearance typo in config
Fixed crash introduced by some RC1 work with quick access link menus
Added support for quick access menus in Win10/11 style. They do not auto-expand on mouseover but require a click to open
Holding down shift when clicking on a quick access link that's a menu will open it as a window where possible
Added missing W filter option in all apps for Win10/11 style
Fixed issue with quick access menus not always closing on loss of focus
Fixed issue with Win10/11 apps list loading up icon for application exe vs shortcuts
Fixed issue with Win10/11 apps list not loading up multiple shortcuts to apps in some circumstances
Fixed issue with Win10/11 pinned items lists loading up app exe icon vs shortcut exe
Fixed issue with Win10/11 pinned apps not launching correct shortcut but exe instead
Added option to hide recent documents on Win11 menu style
Added option to change icon size on Win10 and Win11 menu styles
Added option to change tile color on Win10 style menu
Pressing escape when in all programs list in Win11 style menu simply goes back to the previous page now rather than closing
Fixed drag & drop offset issue in Win7/Modern menu styles
Limited Win10/11 menu size based on current screen resolution
Fullscreen mode for Win10/11 menus
Fixed Win11 menu rearranging issue where items would sometimes rearrange inconsistently especially after a lot of rearranging
Dragging on the Win11 menu no longer highlights the page title area
Fixed Win7/Modern Quick access links showing as menus will now open correctly when clicked
Prevented Win7/Modern quick access link menus popping up under the menu
Win7/Modern quick access link menus now dark mode aware
Fixed universal apps quick access menu potential crash issue
Win7/Modern quick access menus now have rounded corners when rounded menu mode is enabled
Fixed pinning from Pin to Start11 from explorer menus pinning items to first index in list for Win11 style menu.
Fixed pinning issue for Win10 menu replacing last entry in pinned list when pinned from explorer windows or search page
Added missing run as admin option on store apps which support it on Windows 10/11 menu (Terminal etc)
Internal frame rate for animations moved to 240hz
Fixed issue with mouse getting attached to the top of the menu when opening the menu with Start11 search disabled.
Fixed issue with clock and tray area missing when using custom start button on Windows 11 Dev channel builds
Fixed issue with custom start button left visible after disabling custom start button or making button centered on Windows 11 (believed to be Dev channel only again)
Fixed issue on Win11 menu where creating a new page when on a lower page number caused the page to be inserted as a group on the next page instead
Fixed issue on Win11 menu where deleting pages could cause a blank page to appear
Tweaks to button handling on Win11 when not using custom start button
Config UI now responds to touch input
Rearranging quick access shortcuts list in Win10/11 styles now saves the changes correctly
Now able to scroll menus using touch and drag items - to drag an item either drag sideways initially or hold down until you get the right-click indicator box and then drag the item if the list has a scrollbar, otherwise drag as usual.
Fixed possible crash issue when moving things on the Win10/11 grids
Adds support for wider groups in Win10 style
Fixed Win11 style to show user name as friendly name vs account name
Fixed issue with Win11 style losing shutdown button if you set Win7/Modern style to have a very high number of icons on display or lots of grid columns
Fixed quick access shortcuts showing display as menu sometimes incorrectly for Win10/11 style
Stopped jumplists showing for MS store and settings as blank
Fixed issue with being able to get multiple menu options on config appear in mouseover state
Added option to hide recently installed applications section in Win10/11 all apps list
Fixed changing icon size on Win7/modern menu requires two opens of the menu to see the change fully
Fixed desktop search carried out last so didn't always appear in results as quickly as wanted
Fixed search getting stuck in some searches
Fixed issue with taskbar at the top of the screen losing the mouse over thumbnails on one monitor if multiple monitors on Windows 11
Fixed clicking very left of the leftmost start button can open Win11 menu on Windows 11
Fixed explorer hang issue if replacing start button on computer with multiple monitors (3 ideally)
Fixed start menu open offset issue on multiple monitor setups with centered start button
Fixed Cortana search mode causing Start menu to close when renaming a group/anything else
All apps list for Win10/11 styles now also includes url files and help documents etc
Removed surplus MS edge link in all apps
Double-clicking on the style image opens the settings drop down in the config now