There are a few changes between Windows 10 and Windows 11 that will change the user experience for most people. Some of the more commonly seen ones are as follows:
TaskBar
The taskbar in Windows 11 is now centered on the screen rather than on the left like in Windows 10. If you’d like to change this back to how it was in previous versions of Windows, use the following steps:
- Right-click on the taskbar
- Select “Taskbar Settings”
- Expand “Taskbar Behaviors”
- For the option “Taskbar alignment” select Left
- This will change the taskbar alignment back to the left side.
- NOTE: You can no longer move the taskbar to the top or sides of the screen in Windows
Windows 10 Taskbar:
Windows 11 Taskbar:
File Explorer
Commonly used tasks in the file explorer now show at the top of the Window. Buttons will be grayed out until you select a file, then it will allow you to more easily cut, copy, paste, rename, or delete items without needing to right-click on them.
Windows 10:
Windows 11:
Right-Clicking
In previous versions of Windows, right-clicking on an item (such as a file in File Explorer) would give a list with only text. In Windows 11, this has been changed to a more graphical interface. Common items like cut, copy, paste, etc have been moved to icons at the top of the context menu.
Windows 10:
Windows 11:
Customized Layouts
Windows 11 allows more ease in customizing the layouts of Windows within the desktop environment. Grabbing the top of a window and dragging it to the top of the screen opens a context menu that will allow you to easily snap a window to a specific part of the screen. There are several layouts available, which can increase productivity by allowing better visibility in layouts without having to drag to resize a window.
Windows can also intelligently snap other open Windows into specific positions based on the number of windows open and the selected layout.
VPN Connection
For some users, connecting to the VPN on a laptop may show an “internet disconnected” icon in the taskbar. Despite this, you will still be connected, and can verify this by hovering the mouse over the icon and confirming that it says “ad.ufl.edu”.