Windows 11 Tile Manager May 2026

Download PowerToys. Open FancyZones. Create a custom layout (e.g., 70% browser / 30% Spotify). Hold Shift while dragging apps into those zones.

With the launch of Windows 11, Microsoft ripped the bandage off. The new Start Menu is a static grid of icons. It looks clean. It feels like macOS or Chrome OS. But for those of us who loved organizing workflows into visual groups? We were left in the lurch.

More importantly, they were active . The Mail tile showed your latest unread message. The News tile cycled headlines. The Weather tile showed if you needed a jacket before you even clicked it. windows 11 tile manager

Ironically, Microsoft moved the "Tile" philosophy to the window management layer. Snap Layouts (hover over the maximize button) let you arrange actual running windows into tiled configurations. This is fantastic for multitasking, but it doesn't help you launch things.

You now have a static launcher (Start Menu folders), a persistent dock (Taskbar), and a dynamic tiling system (FancyZones). You have effectively recreated a tile manager without a single "Live Tile." Part 6: The Future – Will Microsoft Bring Tiles Back? In short: No. Download PowerToys

Enter the Except, officially, it doesn't exist.

Drag the Calculator icon on top of the Calendar icon. Boom. A folder. Name it "Productivity." Do the same for Edge + Chrome (Name it "Browsers"). Hold Shift while dragging apps into those zones

Click Start > "All apps" > Right-click every folder you don't use > "Unpin from Start."