Windows 11 Cheat Sheet

The major differences between Windows 10 and Windows 11 are in design elements, rather than functionality. In this document we will show you screenshots that represent the major changes in aesthetics and functionality between Windows 10 and Windows 11.

Start Menu

You might be used to clicking on the Start menu and seeing something like this:

Open

but with Windows 11, when you click the start button you will now see:

Open

You’ll note that the Start menu is now divided into two sections, “Pinned” and “Recommended”. You are able to pin whatever you use regularly to the “Pinned” menu for ease of access. “Recommended” options are based on what you’ve looked at or used recently and are determined by Windows.

In order to see what you’re used to seeing, that is, a list of all the apps on your machine, you now have one extra step. Click on “All Apps”, and then you will see a list of all the apps on your machine, like you’re used to.

Unfortunately, there is not any official way to get the Start Menu to display “All Apps” by default.

Right-Click Context Menus

Another big cosmetic difference is what shows up when you right-click on a file. In Windows 10 we all became used to this context menu:

Whether good or bad, in Windows 11 they’ve changed it up a little bit. Now, when you right-click on a file in File Explorer, you’ll see the following:

Of note, you’ll see fewer options, and two of the most common ones are now icons at the top of this list. The first icon is “Copy” and the second is “Rename”. The good news, though, is that if you click on “Show more options” you’ll be taken to the classic menu.

This is an extra step, and might be annoying; fortunately, there’s a built-in feature with Windows 11 that lets you hold down shift and then right-click to get the classic menu you’re used to.

File Explorer

The main differences between File Explorer in Windows 10 and Windows 11 are small cosmetic details.

The things you are used to seeing are still there in the left hand menu, they might just have a slightly different look or be in a different order.

Window Snapping

One of my favorite new features of Windows 11 is Window Snapping. In Windows 10, we’re all used to the middle option in the upper-right corner of a window being “Maximize”.

Windows 11, however, allows you to snap windows to all different sizes and locations! When you hover your mouse over the square, you’ll get options like this:

Basically, this makes it so you can configure your screen in a variety of ways:

There are various other options, but this is one of my favorite configuration options. Play around with it!