Overview
Windows 11 removed a list of behaviours that people had been using for fifteen years: the taskbar could not be moved, labels on buttons were gone, grouping could not be turned off, the context menu grew an extra click, and the start menu stopped being a list. StartAllBack puts all of that back and does it as a shell extension rather than by replacing system files.
The taskbar is the part most people install it for. Move it to the top or the sides, ungroup buttons, show text labels, restore the classic tray flyouts, control icon size and margins, and use the older jump list behaviour. The start menu comes back as a two column list with a real all programs section, pinned items, and search that reaches the file system rather than the web.
Explorer and the context menus get the same treatment. The command bar can be swapped for the older ribbon or a compact toolbar, the classic right click menu returns without the extra expand step, and the details pane, navigation pane and column layout follow the older defaults. Every change is a separate toggle, so a machine can take the taskbar changes and leave the rest of the shell alone.
What it does well
Taskbar restored
Move it to any edge, ungroup buttons, show labels, resize icons, bring back the classic tray flyouts and the older jump list behaviour.
Classic start menu
A two column list with a real all programs tree, working pins, and search that indexes local files instead of leading with web results.
Explorer without the command bar
Swap the command bar for the older ribbon or a compact toolbar and restore the classic pane and column defaults.
Full context menus
The right click menu returns complete, without the extra step to expand into the rest of the entries.
Per-element toggles
Nothing is all or nothing. Each part of the shell is a separate switch, so you take only the changes you want.
Changes in this build
- Compatibility updated for the current Windows 11 feature branch.
- New taskbar icon spacing and margin controls.
- Start menu search results reordered to put local files first.
- Reduced memory footprint of the shell extension.
- Fixed a flicker on multi-monitor setups with mixed scaling.
What is in the package
- StartAllBack installer, 64-bit
- Theme pack with classic and modern styles
- Configuration import and export tooling
- Multilingual interface files, 22 languages
- Notes on per-user versus machine wide installation
System requirements
| Processor | Any x64 processor |
| Memory | Negligible, it runs inside the shell process |
| Graphics | Any GPU with a current driver |
| Storage | 30 MB free |
| Display | Any, multi-monitor and mixed scaling supported |
| System | Windows 11, and Windows 10 for the explorer and start menu parts |
Installation
- Extract the archive to a local folder.
- Choose a per-user or machine wide install at setup.
- Apply the included configuration step before the shell restarts.
- Let explorer restart when prompted, the desktop will blink once.
- Open the settings panel and turn on only the changes you want.
Before you start
A Windows feature update can disable the extension until the application is updated to match, this is normal.
Machine wide installs apply to every account, per-user installs are safer on a shared machine.
Export the configuration before a major Windows update so the setup can be restored in one step.
Questions about this title
Does it replace system files?
No, it loads as a shell extension. Removing it returns the shell to stock.
Can I move the taskbar to the top?
Yes, any edge, with labels and ungrouped buttons if you want them.
Will a Windows update break it?
A feature update can disable it temporarily until a matching build is installed.
Does it work on Windows 10?
The start menu and explorer parts do. The taskbar work targets Windows 11.
About this listing
This entry was checked on a clean install of Windows 10 / 11 (64-bit) before it was published, and it is rechecked whenever the package is rebuilt. The figures on this page come from the site index rather than from the publisher, so the download count is what people here have actually pulled.
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