Here is how you enable the new Windows 11 Start menu right now

Microsoft released the feature update of 2025 for Windows 11 recently. The new update did not include many new features compared to its direct predecessor Windows 11, version 24H2. However, Microsoft continues to release new features gradually to Windows throughout the year.

One of these changes is a revamped start menu that, Microsoft promises, makes things a lot better for users of the operating system and introduces some new features on top of that.

The big features are an all-application listing on the first Start menu screen, new category options, and a responsive layout that adjusts to the size of the screen.

The main requirement for the new start menu is that your PC runs Windows 11, version 25H2. While the feature update has reached a broader distribution, it is still not offered on all devices.

Side note: if you installed Windows 11 on a PC that does not meet the system requirements, you won't get the update via Windows Update. You can use a tool like FlyOOBE to upgrade these systems. While primarily designed for upgrading Windows 10 PCs to Windows 11, it can also be used to upgrade Windows 11 PCs to a newer version.

Tip: Open the Start menu, type winver, and press the Enter-key to display the current version of the Windows 11 operating system.

Enable the new Start menu

Chance is, the new Start menu is not enabled by default. If that is the case, you can force-enable it using an open source tool and just a few steps.

Download the newest version of the ViVeTool from the GitHub repository. Unless you run an ARM-based PC, you need to pick the IntelAMD ZIP file.
Right-click on the downloaded ZIP file and select to extract it.
Open the Start menu.
Type Terminal.
Select Run as administrator.
Confirm the security prompt.
Now run the command CD PATH, if you have saved the file into C:\Users\YOURUSERNAME\Downloads\, run the command CD C:\Users\YOURUSERNAME\Downloads\ViVeTool-v0.3.4-IntelAmd
1. Replace YOURUSERNAME with your actual username. Check the address in File Explorer if you are unsure.
2. Depending on the ViVeTool version, you may need to adjust it as well.
Run the command vivetool /enable /id:47205210,49221331,49381526,49402389,49820095,55495322.
Restart the PC.

This should be all there is to enable the new Start menu. Note that you can also enable the new smartphone widget of the start menu by running vivetool /enable /id:48697323,48433719. You need to run the Phone Link application afterwards and maybe update it.

There you have it. If everything went well, you should be able to use the new Start menu right away on your PC, even if Microsoft did not pick it yet for early delivery of the feature.

Now You: What is your take on the new Start menu? It is a big improvement over the old Start menu? Anything still amiss that you would like to see? Feel free to leave a comment down below. (via Windows Area)

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