How to use Open-Shell in Windows 11

Windows 11 has great out-of-the-box features and what makes it even better is that you can customize this operating system to your liking. However, there are limits to how much you can adjust.

For example, if you love the Windows 10 Start menu, there is no way to make it look and work the same on Windows 11.

Fortunately, there is a program called Open-Shell and it allows you to restore the classic Start menus, among other things. With Open-Shell, you can improve your Windows 11 user experience by personalizing it to your liking.

Here is an in-depth guide on how to use Open-Shell on Windows 11.

How to download Open-Shell

You can download this tool by going to the Open-Shell GitHub repository, scrolling down and clicking the Downloads button.

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You will then go to the download page of the latest release. Scroll down to the Assets section and click the setup file to download. In the example is OpenShellSetup_4_4_170.exe.

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Once you have downloaded the installation file, go to the folder where the file is located and double-click the file to launch the installer. Then, follow the instructions in the setup wizard to install Open-Shell on a Windows 11 PC.

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Now you are ready to launch Open-Shell.

How to launch Open-Shell on Windows 11 and show all tabs

To launch Open-Shell on Windows 11, start by pressing Win + S to bring up Windows Search. In the search box, type open shell and then click Open-Shell Settings in the search results.

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Once you have Open-Shell open, tick the Show all settings checkbox at the top.

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This will bring up all the tabs you can use to customize Windows 11 with Open-Shell.

How to use OpenShell on Windows 11

Below, will go through the most important Open-Shell tabs to help you get started customizing Windows 11 with this program.

1. How to Customize the Start Menu with Open-Shell on Windows 11

To get started, click the Start Menu Style tab . Here you will be able to restore the Start menu from the old Windows and you can choose between Classic style, Classic with two columns and Windows 7 style . Tick the option you want to use.

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Once you've selected the style, scroll down and tick the Replace Start button check box to display the Start button on the left side of the Taskbar. You can select the button's icon by selecting Aero, Classic , or Custom.

If Custom is selected , click Pick image next to it and choose a PNG image to use for the Start menu icon.

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Depending on the type of Start button you have selected, it may appear on the widget located on the left side of the Taskbar. This can make it look a bit weird.

In the Start Menu Style tab, you can also click the Advance buttons options link . This will take you to the Start Button tab , where you can further customize the Start button.

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After setting up the new Start button, you can use it instead of the default button.

2. How to Customize Taskbar with Open-Shell on Windows

To customize the Taskbar, click the Taskbar tab, then tick the Customize taskbar checkbox to enable the options below.

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You can then tweak the look and feel of the Taskbar by ticking the Opaque, Transparent , or Glass radio button. If Transparent is selected , you can set the Taskbar's transparency level by clicking on the Taskbar opacity and entering a number from 0 (fully transparent) to 100 (fully opaque) in the text box on the right.

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You can set the Taskbar color and Taskbar text color by clicking on one of the two options respectively Taskbar color and Taskbar text color , entering hexadecimal color values in their respective text boxes. If you don't think of a value, you can click the three horizontal dots next to the text box and choose a color from the palette menu that appears.

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You can use an image as a background by clicking on the Taskbar texture and entering the file path to the image you want to use in the text box next to it. You can also click the three horizontal dots next to the text box, navigate to the folder with the image you want to use, and select it.

When selecting an image, you can set Horizontal stretching and Vertical stretching to Tile or Stretch by ticking the appropriate radio button.

How to update Open-Shell on Windows 11

You don't need to download and reinstall Open-Shell when a new version is available. The installation of the program also comes with a utility to update it.

To update Open-Shell, connect your Windows PC to the Internet and press Win + S to bring up Windows search. Then type open shell update in the search box and click Open-Shell Update in the search results.

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Click Check now to see if there are any updates available.

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The program will then check for available updates. If you're running the latest version of Open-Shell on Windows 11, you'll get a message saying 'Your version of Open-Shell is up-to-date'. Otherwise, the updater will download and install the new update.