Table of Contents
The deployment of Windows 11 KB5074109, released during the January 2026 Patch Tuesday, marks the widespread arrival of the redesigned Start menu. While this security and feature update is mandatory, Microsoft employs a staged rollout strategy.
This means the specific “Categories” layout may appear on different devices at different times, regardless of the installation date. This gradual implementation allows engineers to monitor stability and user feedback. Similar phasing applies to other recent interface adjustments, such as the ‘Share with Copilot’ integration and updated battery indicators on the taskbar.
Analyzing the Single-Page Architecture
The primary functional shift in this update is the move to a unified, single-page interface. This design consolidates navigation into three distinct vertical zones:
- Pinned Applications: Your prioritized shortcuts remain at the top for immediate access.
- Recommended Section: This area displays recent files and installs (this remains optional and can be disabled).
- Application List: Users can now toggle between an alphabetical grid or the new Category View.
The Category View utilizes metadata to automatically group software into logical folders, such as placing Media Player into “Entertainment” or PowerShell into “Productivity.” This hierarchy reduces the scrolling and clicking required to locate specific tools compared to the traditional alphabetical list.
The Vertical Height Issue Explained
Users operating on standard 1080p laptops often find the new menu disproportionately tall. This visual dominance stems from the technical requirements of the single-page layout. The system enforces a minimum height target to ensure there is always sufficient pixel density to render headers, category rows, and the scrolling mechanism without layout shifts.
Because the operating system reserves this vertical space to prevent UI elements from “jumping” during interaction, removing pinned items or hiding the Recommended section does not shrink the menu’s physical container. The container remains static to support the fluid animations Microsoft prioritizes.
Display Scaling and Resolution Factors
The perceived size of the Start menu relies heavily on DPI scaling rather than just screen size.
1080p Resolution
On a standard 1920×1080 display at 100% scale, the fixed pixel height of the menu consumes approximately 90% of the available vertical screen space. Increasing scaling to 125% reduces the effective pixel count, causing the menu to occupy even more of the display.
4K Resolution
High-density displays possess enough raw pixels to render the menu’s minimum height requirements without dominating the screen, even when scaling is set to 150% or 175%.
Advisor Recommendations
If the menu size disrupts your workflow, navigate to Settings > System > Display and experiment with lower scaling percentages. This is currently the only method to reduce the menu’s visual footprint.
Microsoft has confirmed there are no immediate plans to reintroduce the manual resize handle found in Windows 10, nor will they enable taskbar repositioning (top/left/right). The development team states that these constraints are necessary to maintain the integrity of the operating system’s new animation sequences.