Start11 - Quick Launch Toolbar feature

Hello,
I have forward your request to the Stardock Support Team for their review and recommendations. Please keep an eye on this thread for any updates. We really do appreciate your feedback, Thanks

Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant.

I'm disappointed that Start11 doesn't support Quick Launch toolbars.  (And moreso in Microsoft for removing support in Windows 11 in the first place.)  Stardock, please add Quick Launch support to Start11!  I bet you'll find many users happy that you did.

I've seen others using ExplorerPatcher to re-enable it in Windows 11 but it's not clear if it will coexist with Start 11.  Has anyone tried it?

Yes, please!  Just forced to upgrade to Windows 11 last night on work laptop.  Quick launch and taskbar grouping are the 2 most important features to me, I can't believe MS took them away.  Thank you Start11 for restoring grouping - I hope quick launch is added soon.

In either the Windows 10 or Windows 11 Styles menus, you can add pages and groups. If you add a page to replace you Quick Launch Toolbar, then you can add all your shortcuts and group them as you like to organize them. You can also use the scroll wheel on your mouse to move thru the pages of your start11 menu.

Click the start button, scroll to the page with your shortcuts, and then click to open apps, folders, or files. It's not quite the same, but very workable as an alternative until either Microsoft or Stardock add this feature back.

I added Quick Launch to the Start11 menu using the following.

1. Follow the Start11 Configuration Menu path underlined to get the screen shown below.
   
   
2. When you click "Add custom location..." enter the location of YOUR Quick Launch folder. Search using File Explorer.
   
   C:\Users\YOUR USER NAME GOES HERE\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch
   
   This folder already exists if you upgraded Windows, I don't know if it exists with a new install, it probably does.
3. Once added, change "Display as a link" to "Display as a menu".
   
   
4. Drag Quick Launch up/down to the position of your choice.

When you are done, it should look similar to this, minus the menu background. Note, I also added a separator after Quick Launch.

 

Good idea! You could also create your own folder anywhere and add shortcuts for the items you want to appear in the menu.

This is probably the best way to add a quick launch menu for the Windows 7 and Modern Styles. I still think in the Windows 10 and 11 Styles, adding a page to the Start Menu to replace your Quick Launch Toolbar, and then adding all your shortcuts grouped by category is the best way to go.

That's not Quick Launch.  We want Quick Launch.

FrostyOfTheNorth: That's a very informative observation. Nobody said it was Quick Launch. I don't work for Stardock and I don't know their plans. Pelaird and I provided solutions in the meantime to help people get around this issue. Both of our solutions do not require installing other third-party software. Take it or leave it.

I feel your pain! I use a toolbar to display the Recycle Bin on the taskbar.

I like to keep my desktop clean to display art, so I use the Start menu for all my shortcuts and don't have anything pinned to the taskbar. I am still running Windows 10 on my everyday driver and Windows 11 on a test machine. Unfortunately, everything I have read about the Windows 11 Taskbar indicates that Microsoft wrote the code for the new taskbar from scratch and didn't bother to provide parity with the Windows 10 taskbar. They seem to be adding things back slowly in the Insider Development version which I run on my test machine.

I would suggest that you and the others in this thread use the "Suggest a Feature" option in the Feedback Hub and also upvote all the other suggestions for bringing back the Quick Launch Toolbar capability to Windows 11.

As far as Stardock implementing this feature, that would be great, but I'm not sure it's on their To Do list. A number of other users have suggested this in previous threads.

The only thing I can think of is to pin all the shortcuts in your toolbar(s) to the desktop or the taskbar, or as I said, create a page on the start menu for these shortcuts. Unfortunately, I don't think you can pin files or folders to the taskbar, but you can pin folders and files to the start menu.

Basj forwarded your request to the development team, but as I said, many others have requested this feature to no avail.

Good Luck!

pelaird

I didn't expect that a "very informative observation" was required for those who know what Quick Launch is.  If you don't know or need a fresher:  here.

You did refer to your menu suggestion above as "Quick Launch", so you're implying that your suggestion is Quick Launch.  It's not.  The Quick Launch toolbar allowed for simple, visual, one-click access to common apps.  It looks like your suggestion is three-click access through a menu system.

So thanks for your suggestion, but if you know what Quick Launch is, and if you want Quick Launch working with Windows 11, a suggestion like yours is not the same thing.  It wasn't sugar coated, but that's what my post above pointed out.  🙂

I've read that too and like you pointed out, Microsoft themselves seem to be bringing back the task bar functionality that was removed.  But I haven't seen anything to suggest that bringing back Quick Launch is being considered.

It's small consolation that I'm not the only one wishing to see Stardock add this feature.  And many users of previous versions of Windows that supported Quick Launch have been asking for that as well as they migrate to Windows 11, so hopefully Stardock sees the demand as an opportunity to be addressed.


I've seen a bunch of menu-type options and other alternatives to replace Quick Launch, but none of them are as simple and unobtrusive as Quick Launch used to be.  Let's hope that either Stardock or Microsoft brings it back.

Thanks for the comments.

I sent you a couple of PM's with info on an app that might be useful.

pelaird

 

I said I added Quick Launch to the Start11 Menu, this being the Quick Launch folder. It takes 2 clicks to open an app. You don't like that, don't use it, wait till something better comes along. Maybe you can come up with something, if you do, I'll say thank you. You don't need to come on here with an attitude when we are only trying to help.

Thanks for pointing that out.  I hadn't noticed the PMs.  I've answered you there, thanks.

User 1:  I want an apple.  Anyone seen one?

User 2:  Here's a banana.  It's pretty much an apple.

User 1:  Thanks, but I want an apple apple, not a banana apple.

User 2:  You have attitude.

User 1:  Okie dokie.  🤷‍♂️

There are no apples, starve.

Nah.  It seems there are plenty of grapes here, even if they are sour.  

Couldn't agree more. Stardock needs to pick up support for the Quick Launch bar in one of their updates. I've tried using the Valinet Explorer Patcher utility (V: 22621.608.51.6), which works great, but also causes other problems with Stardock 11. I've have to choose one or the other so I uninstalled Stardock.

That's too bad.  I think I'll do the same.

Let's all just relax and enjoy New Year's eve.

 

+1, need Quick Launch.  Start11 has fixed the grouped items issue, but without Quick Launch, I may need to resort to ExplorerPatcher.  Would love to give money to Stardock instead.

I uninstalled Start11, switched to ExplorerPatcher and haven't looked back.

Good luck.

I too would love to see Quick Launch added to Start11. The application solves every possible desire but that one and I miss it oh so bad

I used to quickly launch my browsers and FTP sessions from there. Just one click, go. One click, go. Open a new browser, open a new window, open a new FTPS session, etc. No having to click into the start menu. Just one click, go. It's a small convenience but feels like so much more when you use it daily. 

For my usage, having Quick Launch was more important than anything else.  So I uninstalled Start11 and installed ExplorerPatcher.  It was great, with regular updates -- if you're willing to forego what Start 11 offers.

I saw that. I don't want to forego Start 11 though. I want the best of both worlds
It is paining me like an itch I can't reach though. So many times throughout the day I reflex to click on something down there just to remind myself there is nothing there to click on. I created shortcuts on the desktop and in the start menu so I have multiple ways of getting to the items I had in the Quick Launch in Windows 10, but none of it feels as natural as the one click and go. I feel burdened even though it is something so simple. But I have been clicking on those icons in the Quick Launch for my productivity for so many years now and so many versions of Windows...it's a part of how I use the PC.

Has anyone tried installing ExplorerPatcher while also using Start 11? Is there any interaction between the two at all? Or is ExplorerPatcher's effects completely ignored within Start 11?

Note: This is stardock1331. For some reason it didn't update my name above when I selected a name vs the random one. Odd forum system...

UPDATE!

I went ahead and installed ExplorerPatcher to see what happens. It worked. It's a little buggy at first, but my tabs eventually popped up and I was able to create the quick launch taskbar. It simply takes over from Start 11 while Start 11 is still able to manage the start menu. That was everything I ever wanted. Original taskbar with its quick launch mixed with the Windows 10 start menu. I am in heaven now. I just hope it all remains this way when I reboot