Let's be honest — Windows 11 customization is pretty limited out of the box. Sure, we can swap wallpapers, pick different colors, and do some basic tweaks to the Start Menu and Taskbar. But if we want something that actually makes our daily OS experience look polished, the stock options just don't cut it. Here's how to get a way better-looking Windows 11 Start Menu — literally with one click.
A Much Better-Looking Windows 11 Start Menu
Microsoft definitely brought some fresh vibes to the Start menu. The redesign feels a lot smoother, app categories finally make sense, and the Phone Link widget sits right there on the side, exactly like we showed before.
Still, even with the new look, we were sort of boxed in, stuck playing by the default system rules. The good news? We can finally bypass those limits now and pull off the one thing Microsoft wouldn't let us do: actually resize the Windows 11 Start Menu.
But why stop there? Now, we can take things to the next level and give our Start menu a seriously sleek, personalized aesthetic using custom themes, XAML, and CSS. The best part? It’s all fully automated with a single click.
So, if we want to seriously upgrade our Windows 11 Start Menu experience, we just need to fire up our favorite open-source Windows tool once again: Windhawk.
Like we’ve mentioned in a bunch of our earlier tutorials, this app is an absolute game-changer for Windows. It handles all the heavy lifting automatically, without touching a single core system file.
If we don't have it installed yet, this incredibly handy tool is completely free over on GitHub, and there’s even a portable version. On top of that, we can easily check out its tweaks online (Browse for Mods) by clicking right here, so we don't even have to install the app first to see what's available.
From there, once we grab the setup file by hitting Download and run the installation, we'll immediately have access to the main dashboard (Home) filled with all those mods we found online. This makes it super easy to just apply any mod we want on the fly.
One-Click Theme Swapping
So, once we crack open Windhawk, we just head up to the top right corner and click on Explore. Next, we drop Windows 11 Start Menu Styler into the search bar, and select Details.
After that, we just go ahead and click Install.
Whenever we hit that install button, we'll always get a pop-up warning us to proceed with caution. But as long as we spot that sweet "verified" badge alongside links to the dev’s GitHub or X page, we know we're completely safe and good to go.
So, we just have to hit Accept risk and install.
Right after that, we pop open the Settings and look for the Theme section. Think of this as our command center—it’s where the magic happens and where we can pick any theme to make our Windows 11 Start Menu look exactly the way we want it.
The LiquidGlass (for the redesigned Start menu) option we see right there is honestly one of the sickest ones available. It rocks a super clean, glassy transparency effect—exactly like the screenshot we attached at the start of this guide.
Of course, there’s a whole bunch of other cool themes to play with. Whichever one we end up picking, we just need to make sure to mash that Save settings button.
We can experiment with as many themes as we like. Each change applies instantly, and since Windhawk doesn’t modify system files, everything is fully reversible..
To put it plainly, there are dozens of awesome mods waiting for us. They’re built to pack in a ton of genuinely useful features that Windows itself just doesn’t include.
Case in point: the Dark mode context menus tweak. It straight-up forces dark mode across every single context menu in Windows, giving you a much cleaner and more consistent UI..
Finally, after we lock in a specific mod installation, we can easily keep an eye on the main Windhawk dashboard to spot any shiny new updates dropping. Plus, the app is smart enough to ping us with a notification whenever an update goes live.
At the end of the day, it's really important we remember that keeping these mods updated is a pretty huge deal. We definitely need to pay attention when those update notifications pop off and make sure we run them right away.
Why? Because Microsoft loves rolling out heavy Windows updates that sometimes outright break the tweaks and mods we’ve set up. But the fix is easy: simply smashing that mod update button patches the compatibility issue right up on the spot.
Will You Be Switching Up Your Windows 11 Start Menu Theme?
Microsoft gave us a start, but tools like Windhawk actually finish the job. It’s reversible, automatic, and packed with dozens of mods to explore. From resizing the menu to applying themes and custom XAML and CSS, you now have the tools to make the OS truly yours.
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