How to make Windows 11 appear like Windows 10

While Windows 11 boasts a sleek and contemporary design, some folks still prefer the good old Windows 10 look. If you fall into that category, don’t worry; there are ways to bring back some of those classic Windows 10 elements to your new PC. Although you can’t replicate it exactly, we’ve got you covered with steps on how to make Windows 11 resemble Windows 10 as closely as possible.

How to transform Windows 11 into Windows 10

If you’ve made the switch to Windows 11 and find yourself having second thoughts, don’t fret. There are various tweaks you can make to transform your Windows 11 into something more akin to Windows 10. Let’s go through these changes step by step.

• Microsoft revamped the Windows 11 taskbar with a few notable alterations, such as center-aligning icons and introducing widgets and Chat icons.
• Begin by opening the Start menu, then navigate to Settings > Personalization > Taskbar.
• In the Taskbar behaviors dropdown menu, select “Left.” This will automatically shift the Start menu to the left side.

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Windows 11 features a widgets section on the left side, which includes the weather icon by default. When you left-align the taskbar, the widgets section will be positioned at the beginning of your pinned apps. To disable it entirely, follow these steps:

• Go to Settings > Personalization > Taskbar.
• Find the switch next to “Widgets” and deselect it.

If you want to remove the Microsoft Teams icon from the Windows 11 taskbar, you can do so by following these steps on the same Settings page: Deselect the switch next to “Chat.”

These adjustments will help you make your Windows 11 taskbar resemble Windows 10 more closely.

How to change Windows 11 start menu appearance

Windows 11 provides some customization choices for the Start menu, allowing you to handle pinned apps, pin files or folders, and hide recommended items. Yet, if you desire a Start menu that closely resembles the Windows 10 version, you’ll have to rely on a third-party program.

A solid choice is the Open-Shell menu app, which is free and allows you to install various Start menu styles from Windows 7 to Windows 11. To begin, download and install the program. During installation, make sure to disable Classic Explorer and Classic IE to prevent the app from making changes to Windows Explorer.

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How to change Windows 11 icons

The desktop icons in Windows 11 have a distinct look compared to Windows 10. To make your apps resemble the Windows 10 versions, you’ll need to use an icon pack. You can grab the Windows 10 Build 10125 icon pack from WinAero and then copy it to a new folder for use.

• Go to Settings, then select Personalization, and click on Themes.
• Locate and click on Desktop icon settings, which will open a pop-up box displaying your regular desktop icons.
• Choose the icon you want to change and click the Change icon button.
• Click the Browse button and navigate to the location where you saved the icon pack.
• Select the desired icon from the pack and click Open.

You can also change individual desktop app icons by right-clicking on them, selecting Properties, clicking on Change icon, and then browsing to select a replacement icon.

Changing folder icons in File Explorer follows a similar process. Simply right-click on the folder, choose Properties, and go to the Customize tab. From there, click on Change icon, and then follow the same steps mentioned earlier. Keep in mind that icons for system folders such as Desktop, Downloads, and Documents can’t be altered.

Download Windows 10 wallpapers

To complete the transformation, you can use the default Windows 10 wallpapers, although it’s not a major change. You can easily find them online; for instance, you can access a 4K Windows 10 background on Imgur. Wallpaper.dog offers various old Windows wallpapers as well. Once you’ve downloaded one, simply right-click on the image and choose “Set as desktop background.”