How to Make Windows 11 Look and Feel More Like Windows 10

[nanoguy]

If you've made the jump to Windows 11, chances are you won't like some of the changes made to the Taskbar, Start Menu, and File Explorer. However you can fix many of these with a few tweaks and tools.

Read the full article here.

https://www.techspot.com/article/2385-windows-11-look-like-windows-10/

 

[Neatfeatguy]

Once you get into Windows 11....

Format. Install Windows 10.

Done.

 

[Geralt]

With Start11 by Stardock you can NOT tweak the context menu.

 

[Uncle Al]

More lipstick for the pig?

 

[netman]

"You shouldn’t try to mix and match these tools as there’s a significant chance of conflicts that could break things."_____ That's a good reason to avoid these utility apps altogether and just stick with using the command prompt commands and Registry changes. I already did the tweak to bring the taskbar to the top without using a 3rd party app...!

 

[Nobina]

If you can't handle Windows 11 just go back to 10, it's still supported and will be for a long time. But to be honest, it's the same and you shouldn't be lost coming from Windows 10.

 

[yRaz]

Can they just bring back windows 7?

 

[BigRedPDX]

Once you get into Windows 11....

Format. Install Windows 10.

Done.

I will not even touch Win11 for another year at the very least. Probably 2 years, since putting my whole office through these changes would not be efficient. Really... I want Windows 7 back. I didn't have to deal with the Xbox bar being there... because we all need that on our work machines. I had to create my own powershell script just to get rid of the Provisioned Appx packages preinstalled with Win10. It leaves just the store, calculator, and photo applications.

 

[PEnnn]

"How to Make Windows 11 Look and Feel More Like Windows 10"...??

Stick with Windows 10 and be done with this circus!!

 

[p51d007]

Can they just bring back windows 7?

That's why I still use Open Shell. Keeps the start button/menu the same as 7.

 

[MSRadell]

I'm not ready to make the jump to Windows 11 yet but when I do one of the biggest priority for me is to have the Taskbar on the right-hand side of the screen. I need screen height more than screen width. Actually I wish they still made laptops with the old format screens, the new wide format is great for watching videos, movies etc. but for doing real work such as writing documents in word or using AutoCAD you need a squarer format to your screen.

Hopefully this will be part of Windows 11 before it's released but if that doesn't happen the utilities discussed here will certainly provide that flexibility.

 

[axiomatic13]

Win 11 is just fine. The only thing I want is for the Start menu to become sizable. Having to hit an extra mouse click for the second page of apps is dumb. If I could make it bigger they would all fit in one larger menu.

 

[Northy]

I'm not ready to make the jump to Windows 11 yet but when I do one of the biggest priority for me is to have the Taskbar on the right-hand side of the screen. I need screen height more than screen width. Actually I wish they still made laptops with the old format screens, the new wide format is great for watching videos, movies etc. but for doing real work such as writing documents in word or using AutoCAD you need a squarer format to your screen.

Hopefully this will be part of Windows 11 before it's released but if that doesn't happen the utilities discussed here will certainly provide that flexibility.

I've used 1920X1200 monitors for a long time. That real estate top and bottom makes a difference.

 

[ChickyBoom]

What an interesting game-- err, OS. The only winning move is not to play-- err, install.

 

[cliffordcooley]

More lipstick for the pig?

Can they just bring back windows 7?

Windows 10 is nearly as ugly. So I wouldn't call it lipstick. I am like yRaz. Bring back Windows 7.

Many people would be happy if we could simply skin our OS to look like Windows XP or 7.

 

[yRaz]

Windows 10 is nearly as ugly. So I wouldn't call it lipstick. I am like yRaz. Bring back Windows 7.

Many people would be happy if we could simply skin our OS to look like Windows XP or 7.

Windows 10 is the beige office furniture of GUI's. Windows 7 was beautiful, simple and stable. I tolerate windows 10 but that's because 90% of the time I'm booted into Linux. Many people think we're only 5 years away but I think it's more like 10 until Linux is a real alternative to windows for "normies"

 

[Experimentongod]

I very HIGHLY recommend "ExplorerPatcher" it will fix all the annoyances of the new taskbar and context menus and even has alternative ALT+TAB systems, plus it's frequently updated.

 

[cliffordcooley]

Many people think we're only 5 years away but I think it's more like 10 until Linux is a real alternative to windows for "normies"

I hope that is true. MS has lost their way.

 

[Ben Myers]

Yes, show more options really stinks. Extra clicks. What were these geniuses thinking?

 

[spydercanopus]

I want the taskbar vertically on the side before I "upgrade".

 

[maroon1]

I have using windows 11 for weeks and I have no problems at all.... For the most part, windows 11 feels like windows 10 with new appearance and menu. Not big difference (at least for things that I use).

Can they just bring back windows 7?

WHat do you like about windows 7 ??

 

[OortCloud]

Most of windows 11 changes are so minor and cosmetic they don't really bother me.
You can move the start menu back to left side if you really must.
The very basic app list on the start menu is a little too millennial for my liking but I can live with it.
The only thing I found really annoying was the ShowMoreOptions on right click. You don't need a 3rd party tool to put this back though. Just run the following to add a reg key from an admin command line and reboot...

reg.exe add "HKCU\Software\Classes\CLSID\{86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2}\InprocServer32" /f /ve

If you want put it back to win 11 default just delete the value...

reg.exe delete "HKCU\Software\Classes\CLSID\{86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2}" /f

 

[Stark]

WinAero Tweaker.
It's free and is my go-to tool in any windows install.Block's lot of telemetry and other features too long to list. My two absolute favorite are "menu show delay" (set lower to increase responsiveness, say at 100) and wallpaper quality set to max. There are many other useful tweaks like start up sound enabler, block MRT from installing, just have to select checkbox and done.

By the way, it has "show classic context menu" option too for Window 11.

 

[Avro Arrow]

I already have the best way to make Windows 11 feel more like Windows 10. Just keep using Windows 10.

 

[seeprime]

Yes, show more options really stinks. Extra clicks. What were these geniuses thinking?

The extra clicks started with Windows 8. Shut down on W7 was two clicks, or pressing the power button. On Windows 8.x,10,11 it turned to 3+ clicks, or pressing the power button. Not many people know they can shut down their PC with a soft press of the power button, after it's set to do that in Power options. By itself this doesn't seem bad. The problem is "modern" changes only made things worse. People get used to more clicks and pointless white space over time.