StartIsBack is a popular app for people who want to restore the old familiar Windows 7 or Windows 8 start menu. Adjustments can also be easily made to the taskbar, Windows explorer and the appearance of Windows.
StartIsBack is a “shell”. A shell means that it integrates with Windows and can make adjustments to various components such as the start menu, taskbar, settings and wallpaper.
This app offers a great advantage for a number of people. This advantage is that a known shell can be used. It is possible to restore the old start menu from Windows 7 or Windows 8.
The taskbar can also be customized by, for example, enlarging the taskbar icons, moving the Start button to the left and the taskbar can be made transparent. You can read about the most prominent functions and settings in StartIsBack in this article.
StartIsBack offers a free test license for 100 days. After the 100 days, a license must be purchased to continue using the app. It has also been translated into broken Dutch.
StartIsBack for Windows 11 what is it and how does it work
Select specific Windows theme
After installation you will receive three themes to choose from. You can apply these themes directly with a single click. Each theme represents an approach to a specific Windows version. So you can choose from a theme that resembles Windows 11, Windows 10 and Windows 7.
If you select a theme, the change will be applied immediately.
In addition to the pre-made themes you can select, you can select a specific item to customize on the left.
With StartIsBack you can customize the Windows 11 start menu to a start menu known from Windows 7 or Windows 8. To customize the start menu, enable the option “Use improved traditional start menu”.
You can then apply various changes to the start menu. This allows you to set larger start menu icons, determine which items, apps or shortcuts are or are not visible in the start menu and more.
Customize taskbar
In addition to the Start menu, you can also customize the taskbar via StartIsBack. To customize the taskbar, enable the “Use enhanced traditional taskbar” option.
You can then select a visual style. Selecting a style selects a default theme. This is the “Standard” (Windows 11), “Plain8” or “Windows 7” theme.
If you prefer to make adjustments to the taskbar yourself, this is also possible. This way you can easily increase or decrease the icons on the taskbar. You do this by choosing “Icons – Size”. You can choose from S, M, L, XL.
Below you can see two examples. The first is with the taskbar size set to “XL”.
And the second is the taskbar size set to “S”.
You can also change the margin between the icons in the taskbar by choosing a specific margin.
Furthermore, there is another option to change the Start button icon, change the position of the taskbar, combine the taskbar icons, center icons, segment them and make the taskbar transparent.
In the advanced options you can still change the taskbar color.
Customize Windows Explorer
The appearance of the Windows explorer can also be adjusted. This means that different themes related to previous Windows versions can be applied.
It is possible to use the well-known ribbon from Windows 11, Windows 10 or even Windows 7. Each ribbon has its own appearance and functionality.
Below you can see the different themes for Windows Explorer.
This is the ribbon for Windows 11.
Here you see the ribbon familiar from Windows 10.
And this is the ribbon known from Windows 7.
You can configure each ribbon via StartIsBack by clicking on it. Depending on which window, file or setting you have selected in Windows Explorer, you will see different options in the ribbon.
Another feature that many people miss is restoring the old right-click menu. The right-click menu in Windows 11 is different from the old well-known right-click menu from Windows 10 or earlier.
Here you will see the new (default) Windows 11 right-click menu.
And this is the old right-click menu from earlier versions of Windows such as Windows 10 or Windows 7 or 8.
You can simply restore the old right-click menu by enabling the “Traditional context menus” option. Please restart Windows Explorer to apply the changes.
Advanced options
In addition to all the previous changes, there are also some advanced options in StartIsBack. For example, in the advanced options you can change the color of the Start menu and taskbar by selecting a custom color.
You can also clear the list of recently opened programs and items with a click of the button. You can also limit the list of recent items to X number of items.
In addition to all the functions previously described, there are even more functions to be found in StartIsBack. I have identified the most prominent and sought-after positions. All functions can be found in the relevant category, such as start menu, taskbar, explorer or advanced.
You can download StartIsBack via https://startisback.com/.
I hope to have informed you with this. Thank you for reading!