Microsoft toys with new Windows 11 Start menu layout inspired by the iOS App Library

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The "All Apps" menu in Start may soon get a couple of new layout options.

A concept of the new grid view in Start.
A mockup of what the new Start menu apps list layout may look like based on recent findings in preview builds. (Image credit: @Futur3Sn0w on X)

What you need to know

  • The latest Windows 11 preview builds include early work for a new "all apps" grid layout.
  • The layout takes inspiration from iOS's App Library, which groups apps into categories.
  • Users will be able to choose between the traditional apps list or this new categorized grid view.

Microsoft looks to be working on a new layout for the all apps list in the Start menu on Windows 11 that takes some inspiration from the App Library found on iOS and iPadOS. On those platforms, the "all apps" list is automatically categorized and grouped by app type, rather than in a traditional alphabetical list.

This kind of layout looks to be exactly what Microsoft is toying with on Windows 11, as the latest preview builds include early work for such a view, first spotted by phantomofearth on X. While not yet functional, we can see the layout will consist of different categories of apps, along with a preview of four app icons to represent each grouping.

What the new grid view layout looks like in the latest preview build. (Image credit: @phantomofearth on X)

Based on the findings so far, the Start menu will categorize apps into the following groups:

  • Productivity
  • Photo & Video
  • News & Weather
  • Entertainment
  • Utilities & tools
  • Navigation & maps
  • Developer tools
  • Music
  • Other

It seems Microsoft is working on multiple new layouts for all apps list in the Start menu on Windows 11. There's also an alphabetized grid view that doesn't group apps into categories, which appears to be in a much more functional state. This layout is more similar to the app drawer found on Android. 

The alphabetized grid view in the all apps list in Start. (Image credit: @phantomofearth on X)

The Start menu will present a drop-down menu in the apps list letting you switch between each layout on the fly. You can choose between the categorized grid view, the alphabetized grid view, and the traditional all apps list if you prefer. 

Microsoft is yet to officially announce these new layouts for the Start menu apps list, so they could still change or be canceled, but it is interesting to see Microsoft thinking about how it can improve or change the Start menu experience. The Start menu on Windows has remained much the same over the last decade, so it's good to see some potential improvements in the works.

Zac Bowden
Zac Bowden
Senior Editor

Zac Bowden is a Senior Editor at Windows Central. Bringing you exclusive coverage into the world of Windows on PCs, tablets, phones, and more. Also an avid collector of rare Microsoft prototype devices! Keep in touch on Twitter and Threads

1 Comment Comment from the forums
  • GraniteStateColin
    That does look similar to what I've done on Start by dragging pinned icons on top of others to manually create groups. E.g., I have 13 groups including: News & Information, Utilities, System, Hardware, Internet, Entertainment, Audio Editing, Image Editing, etc. So if they can automate some of that successfully (not sure I'd trust MS to create the groupings that matter to me, but the starting list does look pretty good), that seems like a good thing. More important for MS, it's probably helpful to other users who don't bother going through the trouble of manually grouping them.

    However, if MS is going to make further changes to Start, what I really wish they would do is bring back/fix Jump Lists for pinned apps. This is a daily source of pain for me that this has been missing since Windows 11. My crappy work-around has been to pin an absurd number of apps to the Taskbar because Jump Lists do work from the Taskbar, but that's a terrible work-around. Clogs my Taskbar and renders the Start Menu largely pointless for apps thot work with documents.

    On the other hand, if this new auto-grouping preserves Jump Lists from the All Apps list (bizarrely, Jump Lists work from All Apps on the Start menu, which is a slow-to-access app list, so the last place anyone would ever want a Jump List) AND groups the apps similarly to how I do it manually, then I'll be a huge fan of this new feature for the Jump List restoration to my fast-access app icons.
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