Windows 11 Personalization Guide

With the upgrade to Windows 11 there is some updates to the user interface (UI) within Windows. Below are few common changes that you can make to personalize the interface to revert some of the changes that have been made in Windows 11. Everything in this guide is personal preference, the changes do not have any effects on how the operating system or programs work, only some of the aesthetic behavior.

Personalization Overview

The personalization menu above can be found under Settings > Personalization on the left side (or right clicking anywhere on the blank area of the desktop and clicking “Personalize”). From this menu you can change most of the look and feel of Windows.

The most common changes are listed in the next section for the Taskbar is that is where most of the changes from Windows 10 to Windows 11 are found.

Taskbar

Taskbar options can be found in Settings > Personalization > Taskbar (or by right clicking on the taskbar at the bottom of the screen in an empty area and selecting “Taskbar Settings”). In the above screenshot you can see some of the settings that I have changed:

Search: Hide

Copilot: Off

Task view: Off

Widgets: Off

Under the Taskbar behavior section (by default it is hidden but click on the Arrow on the right or the words will expand it) is the biggest change to Windows 11. Microsoft has moved the default position of the start button from the lower left corner to the center. This change has been controversial for many, but there is an option to change it back to the left corner if you prefer. Under the first option in the Taskbar Behavior section, you will see Taskbar alignment which I have changed to Left. That will mimic older versions of windows start button position on the screen.

Another common item to enable under the Taskbar Behavior submenu is to check the box for Select the far corner of the taskbar to show the desktop. When that option is enabled, the very lower right corner of the taskbar can be clicked(just to the right of the bell icon/clock) which will minimize all windows/programs, bringing you to the desktop. There is also a key shortcut for this as well, which is Windows Key + M.

Colors

In the Colors section of the menu (Settings > Personalization > Colors) will allow you to adjust the accent colors and change between Light and Dark modes. Light and Dark mode changes some programs and menus to be either light with black text or dark with white text, some people prefer using one over the other as it can help with fatigue and eye strain overall when using a computer. Note that this will affect most programs and Windows itself, some software might not support this feature.