Microsoft overhauls the Windows 11 Start menu and adds new AI features
People with big monitors can rejoice.
That's because Microsoft is reshaping the Start menu in Windows 11 to be bigger, among other things, per an official company blog post released on Tuesday. The new Start menu not only has a larger layout, but a new view will also sort apps by how often you use them, giving you quick access to your most important apps. On top of that, you can connect an iPhone or Android phone to your PC and get a new phone companion menu on the side of the Start menu, showing contacts and other information.
That's just a smaller part of a bigger slew of announcements, which include an AI agent built into the Settings menu and new AI features in Paint. For users with Copilot+ PCs, the new AI agent tool will help them automate and execute tasks in the Settings menu. That means users can describe what they need help with using plain English, such as "I want to make my mouse pointer bigger," and the AI agent will take care of the rest.
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The Start menu upgrades were first noticed back in April (courtesy of The Verge) and will roll out over the next month. Microsoft also announced two new Copilot-enabled Surface devices alongside all of this on Tuesday.
But seriously, the Windows 11 Start menu was way too small. Justice has been served.
Topics Microsoft
Alex Perry is a tech reporter at Mashable who primarily covers video games and consumer tech. Alex has spent most of the last decade reviewing games, smartphones, headphones, and laptops, and he doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon. He is also a Pisces, a cat lover, and a Kansas City sports fan. Alex can be found on Bluesky at yelix.bsky.social.
