How to move the Windows 11 Start menu back to the left
Windows 11 puts the Start button and the pinned app icons in the middle of the taskbar. If you'd rather have Start in the bottom-left corner where every earlier version of Windows kept it, one setting moves it back. The pinned icons move with it, and the change takes effect the moment you pick it.
What you'll need: A PC running Windows 11. You don't need administrator rights — the setting is per user, so it changes the taskbar for your account only.
Open Settings
Hold down the Windows key and press I. The Settings window opens.
If you'd rather use the mouse, click the Start button, then click the Settings gear icon in the Start menu.
Click Personalisation
In the list down the left-hand side, click Personalisation. On a PC set to US English the same item is spelt Personalization.
Click Taskbar
Scroll down the Personalisation page and click Taskbar. It's near the bottom of the list, below Start.
Expand Taskbar behaviours
Scroll to the bottom of the Taskbar page and click the heading Taskbar behaviours. It's collapsed by default, so nothing shows beneath it until you click.
Set Taskbar alignment to Left
The first item in the expanded section is Taskbar alignment, with a drop-down to its right that reads Centre. Click the drop-down and choose Left.
The Start button and your pinned icons slide to the left-hand corner straight away. There's no Apply button and no restart. Close Settings when you're done.
Variations
Right-click an empty part of the taskbar and click Taskbar settings. That opens Settings on the Taskbar page directly, so you can skip straight to step 4.
Open the same Taskbar alignment drop-down and choose Centre. The icons move back as soon as you pick it.
With everything on the left, the search box and the Task view button take up room next to Start. Both are on the same Taskbar page, under Taskbar items. Set the Search drop-down to Search icon only or Hide, and switch Task view off. Searching still works with Start open — start typing and the results appear.
Troubleshooting
It's hidden inside the collapsed Taskbar behaviours section at the bottom. Scrolling past the heading isn't enough — click the heading itself to open it.
A work or school PC can have the taskbar layout locked by the organisation, and Settings shows a line near the top of the page saying so. Nothing on the PC itself will unlock it — ask whoever manages the device.
You're probably on Windows 10, which keeps Start on the left and has no alignment setting. The guide to finding your Windows version shows how to check. If it is Windows 11 but a very early build, run Windows Update first — the alignment drop-down has been there since the first release.
Windows 11 only supports the taskbar at the bottom. Windows 10 let you drag it to any edge, but that option was removed and there's no setting for it. Third-party tools can do it, but that's outside this guide.
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