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The Windows 11 November 2025 update (Build 26200.7171) introduces a fundamental shift in interface design. If you recently clicked your Windows key and felt the menu dominated your display, your observation is accurate. This update forces a redesigned Start menu that prioritizes unification over compactness.
Our testing indicates a deliberate move by Microsoft to expand the menu’s footprint. While previous iterations occupied approximately 50% to 60% of vertical screen space, the new layout commands roughly 90% of the vertical height. For users with Phone Link enabled, the menu effectively monopolizes the entire screen.
This rollout is gradual. If your system retains the older, compact design, you have a brief window to appreciate it. Once this update applies, reverting to the legacy size is impossible.
Unified Interface and Customization Features
Microsoft engineered this expansion to create a “single page” experience. The goal is eliminating the friction of switching between pinned apps and the full application list. The new design offers three distinct organizational views:
- Categories View (Default): Algorithms group software into logical buckets like Productivity, Entertainment, and Utility & Tools.
- Grid View: This mimics mobile operating systems (iOS/Android) but often introduces significant negative space between icons.
- List View: The traditional alphabetical sorting remains available.
A long-awaited feature finally arrives with this update: you can now completely disable the Recommended section. Previously, this area forced recent files into view. Disabling it now grants a cleaner aesthetic, though it does not solve the sizing issue.
The Core Problem: Static Sizing and Wasted Space
The critical flaw in this update is the menu’s refusal to adapt dynamically. Logic suggests that removing elements should shrink the container. In practice, the Start menu maintains its massive height regardless of content density.
- Removing “Recommended”: Turning this off clears the bottom section but the menu frame remains fixed at 90% height, displaying empty white space instead of shrinking.
- Removing Pinned Rows: Deleting a row of pinned apps does not reduce the window height. It simply expands the empty void at the bottom.
- View Switching: Neither List nor Grid views alter the external dimensions of the menu.
Display Resolution and Scaling Challenges
The impact of this design varies heavily based on your hardware configuration. The menu struggles to scale appropriately across different resolutions.
- Standard 16:9 Displays: On typical screens, the menu feels overbearing, leaving little room for context from the desktop background.
- Low Resolution (720p): At 100% scale, the Start menu aggressively pushes against the top bezel.
- 4K Monitors: High-resolution displays fare slightly better. On a 4K screen set to 150% scale, the menu shrinks to roughly 60% height. However, this often renders text unreadably small on 14-inch laptops.
Strategic Advice for Mitigation
Since Microsoft currently prioritizes feature density—adding tools like “Agent mode”—over layout flexibility, a patch for this sizing issue is unlikely in the immediate future. We cannot resize the menu by dragging edges as we could in Windows 10, nor can we move the taskbar to the side.
To improve your experience immediately, you must manually override system scaling.
Recommended Action Plan:
- Navigate to Settings > Display > Scale.
- If you use a high-resolution laptop (4K), test a scale of 175%. This strikes the best balance between menu size and text legibility.
- Visit Settings > Accessibility > Text size to fine-tune font readability if the scaling change makes text too small.
While the new customization options for sorting apps are a welcome improvement, the efficiency of the screen real estate has regressed. Adjusting your display settings is currently the only method to reclaim your visual workspace.