Since Windows 11 was first released, many long-time users have found their favorite features removed overnight.Nearly four years later, these same complaints still top the charts on Microsoft Feedback Hub, receiving votes from tens of thousands of users, here are the five features users most want to see restored in Windows 11:
1. Restore the function that the taskbar can be moved to the top and sides of the screen
Currently, Windows 11's taskbar is fixed to the bottom of the screen, and users hope to move it to the top or sides of the screen as before. A Feedback Hub post about this feature has received 24,046 votes and 2,086 comments.
However, since the release of Windows 11, Microsoft has remained silent on whether to restore this feature, and one user even questioned whether Microsoft's "we are dealing with it" really means "we are ignoring it."
2. Remove the "Recommended" area in the start menu
Users are dissatisfied with the "Recommended" area in the Start menu. This feature still exists three years after the release of Windows 11. The feature takes up a lot of space in the Start menu. Users think it is useless and even worry that it will become an advertising space. This feedback received 17,479 votes and 794 comments.
However, in the Dev channel, you can choose to turn off the recommended part of the new start menu style pushed by Microsoft.
3. Allow users to customize the default search engine for Windows Search
The search function of Windows 11 still uses Bing as the search engine by default. Even if the default browser and search engine have been set, many users hope that Microsoft will allow users to customize the default search engine. This proposal received 11,007 votes and 101 comments.
European users have seen signs of unlocking the feature in beta builds, but Microsoft currently has no plans to roll it out outside Europe.
4. Reduce the CPU requirements of Windows 11
This feedback was originally posted in 2021 and currently has 8,483 votes and 1,025 comments. Many users have complained that the hardware requirements of Windows 11 are too high, causing their high-performance computers to be unable to run the system.
One user said that his gaming PC is "nearly top-of-the-line" but cannot run Windows 11 due to an unsupported processor, and another pointed out that with Windows 10 set to be retired, many PCs may be meaninglessly discarded.
5. Update the taskbar to support unmerging application icons and hidden labels
In Windows 10, users can set the taskbar to keep each window independent and hide tabs. Although the Windows 11 taskbar adds a "never merge" mode, it still has flaws.
When too many applications are open, the taskbar will collapse icons into "..." blocks, and the icon width will also change due to content updates, resulting in an unstable layout. In addition, labels are displayed by default and cannot be closed, which takes up valuable space at the bottom of the screen.
These five feedback posts have received a total of more than 75,000 votes on Feedback Hub, and are still receiving new comments every week. Obviously users hope that Microsoft can improve Windows 11, but hope that Microsoft is really listening to user voices.