- Windows 11 Start menu now offers customizable Companions on the side for quick access to widgets.
- Customize appearance and organization with Companions for a richer Start menu experience.
- Find Companions in Settings > Personalization > Start, toggle on preferred ones for quick access.
The Windows 11 Start menu has gone quite a while without any big updates to it. The biggest addition we’ve seen this year is the addition of ads to the Start menu, but it’s not really a feature people were asking for. Now, as revealed by the current Beta build, the Windows 11 Start menu will feature “Companions,” small widget-like apps that you can stick on either side for ease of access.
Screenshot of a Start11 Start menu with the Windows App style© Provided by XDA Developers
Windows 11’s Start menu gets widget-like Companions
As spotted by renowned Windows preview build investigator Albacore on X, the Windows 11 Beta build 26212 now features “Companions.” These are widget-like additions that appear in a separate window which can be stuck to either the left or right side of the Start menu. In their post, Albacore shows off a Companion setup with weather and stock widgets which gives them a quick rundown of what’s going on every time they open the Start menu.
If you’re on the Windows 11 Beta build and want to give this a short, you should find the Companions page by going to Settings > Personalization > Start. From there, Windows 11 will show you a list of different Companions for you to pick from. Just toggle on the ones you want to see, and they should pop up alongside the Start menu the next time you open it. Companions will also feature a web link to the developer’s site, where you can further tweak the settings to your liking. Okay, good start, Microsoft; now can you let us stick the Taskbar on whatever side of the screen we want already?
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