Security News > 2021 > July > Microsoft removes Windows 11 hack to enable Windows 10 Start Menu
Microsoft removed a registry hack in the latest preview build that allowed Windows 11 users to revert to the "Classic" Windows 10 Start Menu.
When the Windows 11 preview build was leaked in June, one of the most significant and most controversial changes was a new floating Start Menu centered in the middle of the Taskbar.
For those who did not like the new Start Menu, it was possible to use a Registry hack to revert to a "Classic Mode," the Windows 10 Start Menu.
To switch to the Windows 10 Start Menu, users could create the 'Start ShowClassicMode' value and set it to 1 under the HKEY CURRENT USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerAdvanced registry key.
Once you created the registry value and restarted the Windows Explorer process, the old Start Menu would be available again, as shown below.
After installing the new cumulative update, users could no longer use the Registry hack to bring back the old Start Menu.
News URL
Related news
- Microsoft silently fixes Start menu bug affecting Windows 10 PCs (source)
- Microsoft will update Office apps on Windows 10 until 2028 (source)
- Microsoft confirms May Windows 10 updates trigger BitLocker recovery (source)
- Microsoft adds hotpatching support to Windows 11 Enterprise (source)
- Microsoft starts testing Windows 11 taskbar icon scaling (source)
- Windows 11 Forces Microsoft Account Sign In & Removes Bypass Trick Option (source)
- Microsoft Credits EncryptHub, Hacker Behind 618+ Breaches, for Disclosing Windows Flaws (source)
- Windows 10 KB5055518 update fixes random text when printing (source)
- Microsoft: Windows CLFS zero-day exploited by ransomware gang (source)
- Microsoft fixes actively exploited Windows CLFS zero-day (CVE-2025-29824) (source)