5 minor things I don’t like about Windows 11

I’ve been using Windows 11 since the day it launched in preview. I reviewed it for Neowin and published many articles describing my thoughts on the OS. While my original feelings remain the same in the sense that I still think Windows 11 is a neat but unnecessary update that sacrifices functionality in many places, my views on this are constantly evolving, as is the operating system itself.

Today I’m writing about some of the smaller features or UX experiences that I don’t like in Windows 11. Some of our avid readers may recall that I detailed my thoughts on five things I hate about Windows 11 in November 2021, but I decided to revisit this section for two reasons.

The first is that it has been almost nine months since I published this article and obviously my thoughts on any subject can change. The second and more important reason is that the previous article was more about core or high-level features that I need to use every day in Windows and “hate” because I don’t like their current implementation. On the other hand, this is more of a “Pet-Peeves” article. The elements mentioned in this list do not make my use of the operating system unbearable, but they still cause minor annoyances, either aesthetically or in minor use.

Before diving into the list, please note that my thoughts are based on my use of various versions of Windows up to the latest Dev Channel build 25174. As such, some of the things I’m talking about may be generally available, while others may only be available in Insider Preview for now. Let’s start with this clarity!

1 – Fixed taskbar icons

Yes, the taskbar isn’t the best software implementation in Windows 11, but what really bothers me is the fact that some icons can’t be moved at all. Blame it on the Start menu (Windows logo), Windows search, virtual desktops, Teams chat, and widgets.

Now I understand that some of these icons have been fixed in Windows 10 as well, but my assessment is that Windows 11 stands on its own for the moment. I understand the need to fix some very OS specific and core features like the start menu in the taskbar and maybe even search, but the remaining three applications I referred to should be treated exactly as such applications.

It’s strange that something as optional as virtual desktops, Teams chat, and widgets follow an all-or-nothing UX strategy. You can undock them all from your taskbar, but when you pin them you can’t change their position.

A centered taskbar is my favorite UX and I occasionally use widgets and virtual desktops (I don’t like team chats), but personally I’d like both to be moved to the right edge of my taskbar because I don’t use them regularly. However, Microsoft doesn’t offer this option at all.

Again, this doesn’t interrupt my workflows, but is a pet because I accidentally click the left side of my taskbar (Windows 10’s habit compulsion) or Teams Chat because I keep my most used apps in the center and on the left side of the taskbar , so it’s a bit annoying to sometimes unintentionally open the wrong apps.

2 – Email ID in settings

This is probably just a minor convenience, but I don’t like that my email ID always shows up in the Windows Settings app. As I write for Neowin, I have to take screenshots for many apps in articles, including the Windows Settings app, and then I have to manually hide my email id every time.

Case in point in this article where I need to take a screenshot first for privacy reasons and then use Snipping Tool to hide my email id. Again, this is something that can’t affect everyone, maybe it’s just people in my domain or those sharing their screen during a troubleshooting section.

It would be much more convenient if Microsoft just showed some sort of Microsoft account logo and only hovering over it would show your email id. Oh well.

3 – App folder management is bad

Microsoft introduced app folders to the Start menu back in February in build 22557, and while it’s made minor improvements to the feature, I think there’s still a long way to go. Managing app folders is one such task.

There is no way to add or remove multiple apps from folders. If you add a dozen apps in a single folder, but then decide you’d rather have six of them in one folder and six in the other, you’d have to drag and drop six apps outside of the first folder. Drop them into the Start menu, then drag and drop them into the second folder.

It just confuses me that multi-select isn’t something Microsoft has released to the public in the last six months. It’s archaic to manually handle each app when you want to move it out of a folder. Compounding this problem is that there is no quick mechanism for removing a folder, you would have to manually drag and drop each app out of the folder before you can remove it.

It’s clear that app folders in the Start menu still have a long way to go in terms of UX.

4 – Microsoft 365 redirection in Windows settings

Now that’s a weird duckling. The Settings app in Windows 11 has a sort of dedicated Microsoft 365 admin panel, however the main display on the app’s home screen (screenshot above) opens the browser instead of going to that panel.

I prefer a consistent and streamlined experience when interacting with the operating system, and I find it strange that the Microsoft 365 button leads to a browser URL by default, rather than the information contained in the default app that can be seen below:

I’ve been a Microsoft 365 Family subscriber for a number of years and I can understand why Microsoft isn’t able to offer all the functionalities of the web portal within the Settings app, despite the integration. However, in my opinion, the Microsoft 365 button should redirect to the above page and only redirect to the web portal if they try to do something that isn’t offered by the app.

At the moment, it’s a bit of an irritating experience that’s not really pleasant to use. At worst, it stinks of inconsistency and a lack of attention to the design of a feature that’s actually very useful to subscribers.

5 – Microsoft still can’t find context menus

I’ve talked about context menus before, too, but this time I want to focus on Microsoft’s apparent indecisiveness about how the feature behaves. I think I’ve mentioned this in a few other articles, but I don’t hate the new context menus, and that’s because I see both sides of the argument.

I understand that the new context menu makes some changes to the appearance of certain features (and maybe removes some as well), but I also understand Microsoft’s reasoning behind updating and simplifying the look and feel.

What annoys me is that Microsoft seems very unsure how to handle this change. For the past year or so, the context menu in Windows 11 has mostly stayed the same, where it defaults to showing the new interface, but you can also click “Show more options” to return to the Windows 10 menu.

It shows that Microsoft knew they were rolling out a half-baked implementation with Windows 11, and that’s not looking good. At this point, unless Microsoft has some magic fix up its sleeve to roll out and pacify everyone over the next few weeks, I’d be honestly fine with Microsoft pulling the trigger on either of the current UI options.

I want to reiterate that this doesn’t kill my daily workflow, this article was never about features of this nature, but it’s just a minor annoyance in relation to the impression I get from an organization as big as Microsoft is and collects so much feedback from users that they can’t figure out what direction they want to go with specific Windows features.

Do you agree with this list? Are there any annoyances or minor annoyances you have about Windows 11? Let us know in the comments section below!

Don’t forget to read my companion article on 5 Minor Features I Like in Windows 11!