Customise Windows 11 Start Menu and Taskbar with StartAllBack

StartAllBack replaces Windows 11’s Start menu, taskbar, File Explorer, and context menus with configurable versions that look and behave like Windows 7, 10, or a tidied-up Windows 11. If you want the classic Start menu back, a working taskbar with labels and ungrouped icons, proper Control Panel applets, and the full right-click menu without the “Show more options” detour — this is the tool that actually does it end-to-end. This guide walks through installing it, picking a style, and the settings I always change on a fresh install.

Applies to: Windows 11 (22H2, 23H2, 24H2, 25H2) — x64 and ARM64. Not needed on Windows 10
Last updated: April 2026

Key Takeaways

• Three preset styles: Proper 11 (refines Win11 look), Kinda 10 (Windows 10 style), Remastered 7 (classic Windows 7 feel).
• Full taskbar freedom: Move to any edge, resize icons, enable labels, ungroup running apps, turn on true transparency.
• Fixes the context menu: Brings back the full right-click menu — no more “Show more options” double-step for copy, cut, and paste.
• Not free but fair: 100-day trial, then around $5 for a single-PC license. No subscription, lifetime updates.

Quick Steps

1. Download StartAllBack from startallback.com.
2. Run the installer — pick Install for me if it’s your own PC, Install for everyone on a shared machine.
3. Pick a preset (Proper 11, Kinda 10, or Remastered 7). The taskbar and Start menu change immediately.
4. Open Properties and tweak the per-area settings (Start, Taskbar, Explorer, About) to taste.
5. Use the 100-day trial to decide whether to buy a license.

Why Use StartAllBack Over Free Alternatives?

Windows 11’s taskbar dropped a lot of legitimately useful behaviour — ungrouped running apps, labels, movable position, and a drag-and-drop target all went away at launch, and only some of them came back in later updates. StartAllBack restores all of them in a single installer, and it does so by replacing the shell’s Start and taskbar implementation with its own rather than patching system DLLs. That means it’s more resilient to Windows updates than alternatives that inject into explorer.exe at runtime.

The free alternatives are legitimate options with different tradeoffs: ExplorerPatcher is open source and aggressively Windows-10-styled; Windhawk is a mod platform where you pick individual tweaks; RetroBar replaces the taskbar with a full Windows 95/XP style one. StartAllBack is the most polished if you want one paid tool that handles everything and doesn’t require configuration per feature.

Install StartAllBack

1. Go to the official StartAllBack site and download the installer. Only grab it from startallback.com — there are fake clones and cracks that bundle malware.
2. Run the installer. You’ll get two choices: Install for me (current user only) or Install for everyone (machine-wide, requires admin). On a personal PC, per-user is fine; on a shared or work machine, pick machine-wide.
3. Wait a few seconds — StartAllBack applies the default style immediately, no reboot needed.

Pick a Style: Proper 11, Kinda 10, or Remastered 7

The first screen after install is a style picker. This one choice sets the default look and behaviour across Start, taskbar, Explorer, and context menus — you can still override individual bits afterwards.

• Proper 11 — keeps the Windows 11 aesthetic (rounded corners, modern tray menus) but fixes the functional regressions: ungrouped taskbar apps, labels, drag-and-drop, and the full right-click menu.
• Kinda 10 — Windows 10 Start menu with Live Tiles and the classic Windows 10 taskbar. Best choice if you skipped Windows 11 and want it to feel like 10.
• Remastered 7 — full Windows 7 Start menu (pinned items + most-used, All Programs flyout, search box at the bottom) with the Aero taskbar. The nostalgic pick.

I run Proper 11 on my daily-driver machines. The aesthetic stays modern, but the taskbar actually works the way a taskbar should.

Customise the Start Menu

Open StartAllBack Properties (right-click taskbar → Properties) and go to the Start Menu tab. The settings that matter most:

• Visual style — overrides the global preset just for the Start menu. You can run a Win10 taskbar with a Win7 Start if you want that combo.
• Icon size — Small, Medium, or Large. Medium is usually the right call for a 1080p display.
• All Programs style — flyout menu (hover-to-expand, Windows 7 style) or a scrollable list (Windows 10 style). Flyout is dramatically faster for finding stuff on a mouse; list is better for touch.
• Number of pinned/most-used entries — set this to what fits your screen. The default is conservative.

Customise the Taskbar

The Taskbar tab is where the biggest usability wins live. Settings I always flip on:

• Taskbar on top of screen — if you’re a power-browser or work mostly full-screen, a top taskbar keeps your eye-line higher. StartAllBack supports top, bottom, left, and right.
• Ungroup taskbar buttons / use labels — each open window shows as its own button with its title. If you lived on Windows 7 or 10, this is the setting you’ve been missing.
• Dynamic transparency — taskbar becomes transparent over empty desktop, solid when a window is maximised behind it. This is the best transparency implementation I’ve tested — covered in more detail in my transparent taskbar on Windows 11 guide.
• Icon size / margin — shrink if you have a lot of pinned apps, grow on a high-DPI display.

Fix the Right-Click Menu and File Explorer

This is the feature I recommend StartAllBack for more than any other. Under the Explorer tab:

• Classic context menus — right-clicking anything shows the full menu immediately. No “Show more options” double-click to reach WinRAR, 7-Zip, Git, or any other context menu extension.
• Command bar style — restore the Windows 10 ribbon/command bar in File Explorer, or the even older Windows 7 one. Copy, cut, paste, and rename become one-click again.
• Restore Control Panel applets — clicking things like “Sound” or “Region” opens the classic Control Panel dialogs instead of the stripped-down Settings pages.

If you specifically want the classic menu without anything else on this page, my standalone context menu guide shows the registry tweak that does only that, no third-party tool required.

System Tray Icon Style

The Taskbar tab also has a System tray section. You can mix and match: Windows 7 battery/volume/network flyouts (which are still better than the 11 versions in my opinion), Windows 10 flyouts for everything, or stick with 11. Hiding unused icons (OneDrive, Teams, Xbox) from the tray here is one click per icon.

Licence and Trial

StartAllBack runs fully functional for 100 days from install — no nag screens, no crippled features. After that, the config window prompts for a licence key. The current price at the time of writing is around $4.99 per PC with a one-time payment and lifetime updates (the developer has maintained it this way since StartIsBack on Windows 8, so the licensing track record is solid).

Warning: Do not install cracked versions. Cracks for shell extensions are a common malware vector because the installer runs with elevated privileges and hooks into explorer.exe. The $5 licence is cheaper than a reinstall after an infection.

Accessing Settings After Install

Three ways in:

• Right-click an empty area of the taskbar → Properties.
• Open Control Panel → StartAllBack.
• Start menu → search for StartAllBack.

If You Want to Uninstall

StartAllBack uninstalls cleanly via Settings → Apps or Control Panel. When you remove it, Windows 11’s stock taskbar and Start menu return immediately — nothing permanent is changed in the OS. This clean uninstall behaviour is the main reason I consider it safe to try on any machine.

Related Guides

• Turn Windows 11 into Windows 10 with ExplorerPatcher (free alternative)
• Customise Windows 11 with Windhawk
• Classic Windows 95/XP taskbar with RetroBar
• Make the Windows 11 taskbar transparent
• Bring back the full right-click menu (free, no tool)
• Debloat and optimise Windows 11 with the Chris Titus Utility

Frequently Asked Questions

Is StartAllBack free?

It offers a 100-day free trial with no feature limits. After that, a single-PC licence is roughly $5 with a one-time payment and lifetime updates. If you want a free option with similar functionality, ExplorerPatcher is the closest alternative.

Does StartAllBack work on the latest Windows 11 updates?

Yes. The developer pushes updates within days of each Windows 11 cumulative update and Insider build. I’ve used it across 22H2, 23H2, 24H2, and 25H2 with no compatibility gaps. If a Windows update ever breaks a specific feature, the StartAllBack site usually has a fix build within 24-48 hours.

Can I move the taskbar to the top?

Yes — StartAllBack supports top, bottom, left, and right taskbar positions. This is one of the headline features Microsoft removed in Windows 11; StartAllBack restores it fully. Under Taskbar tab, set Taskbar location on screen to the edge you want.

Does it restore the classic right-click menu?

Yes. Under the Explorer tab, enable Classic context menus and right-clicking anywhere shows the full menu without the “Show more options” intermediate step. Extensions from apps like 7-Zip, WinRAR, and Git appear directly in the main menu again.

Can I customise the Start menu and taskbar independently?

Yes. Each area (Start Menu, Taskbar, Explorer) has its own tab in StartAllBack Properties with a Visual Style dropdown that overrides the global preset. You can run a Windows 7 Start menu, Windows 10 taskbar, and Windows 11 Explorer if that’s the mix you want.

What’s the difference between StartAllBack and Start11?

Both are paid. Start11 (by Stardock) focuses harder on Start menu and has more skins; StartAllBack goes deeper on taskbar, Explorer, and context menus. For the complete “make Windows 11 functional again” package, StartAllBack is the one I reach for. For Start menu aesthetics specifically, Start11 has more variety.