Windows 11 Needs These Essential Mods to Be Usable

Enhancing Your Windows 11 Experience with Free Modifications

Windows 11 may look modern and sleek, but it often falls short in terms of usability. Fortunately, there are several free tools that can transform your system into a more efficient and productive environment. These modifications address common frustrations and help you get the most out of your Windows 11 setup.

Fences: Organizing Your Desktop

A cluttered desktop can be overwhelming and inefficient. Fences is a powerful tool that helps you organize your desktop by creating shaded, labeled containers for your files, folders, and shortcuts. This allows you to group related items together, making it easier to find what you need quickly.

For example, I use a "Current Projects" fence for active work files, a "Tools" fence for frequently used applications, and a "Downloads" fence that automatically captures new downloads. Double-clicking anywhere on the desktop instantly hides all icons, which is perfect for screen recordings or presentations. The roll-up feature also lets you collapse a fence to save space without losing your organization.

While Fences offers a 30-day free trial, it requires a purchase for full access. The cost is $29.99 for a lifetime license, $9.99 per year for one device, or $19.99 per year for up to five devices.

Start11: Revamping the Start Menu

Start11 transforms the Start menu in Windows 11 into a more functional and user-friendly interface. It eliminates the sluggishness of the default Start menu, allowing you to open it instantly. Search functionality is also improved, making it easier to find files without getting lost in Bing results.

Start11 also brings back taskbar customization options that Microsoft removed. You can place the taskbar on the left side of your monitor, ungroup buttons, and pin project folders directly to the Start menu for quick access. If you prefer the old look, you can switch to a Windows 7 or 10-style Start menu.

Start11 is available for $7.49 per year for one device or $11.24 per year for up to five devices.

Windhawk: Customizing Your System

Windhawk is a free, open-source tool that acts like an app store for Windows modifications. It offers one-click installation for various mods that fix minor annoyances and improve your experience.

Some of my favorite Windhawk mods include classic taskbar labels, middle-click to close on the taskbar, and the ability to disable the Windows 11 context menu in favor of the classic version. The browser tab scrolling mod is another useful feature that allows you to scroll through tabs with your mouse wheel.

Windhawk is safe for non-technical users, as each mod clearly explains what it changes and includes user reviews and ratings. You can toggle off any mod if you don't like the result.

WinToys: Consolidating System Settings

WinToys consolidates hundreds of Windows settings into a single, easy-to-use interface. Instead of navigating through endless menus, you can manage essential settings from a centralized dashboard.

The Home tab shows your system specs and real-time usage stats, while the Apps tab lists all installed programs with sizes and dates. The Services tab lets you view background processes without opening Task Manager. The Performance tab offers toggles to optimize system performance, and the Health tab includes tools for checking disk health and fixing corrupted files.

WinToys is completely free and offers a range of customization options.

PowerToys: Microsoft's Productivity Suite

PowerToys is Microsoft's own suite of productivity tools designed to enhance Windows 11. While it includes a variety of utilities, some stand out as particularly useful.

Awake prevents your system from entering sleep mode during critical tasks, FancyZones improves window management with custom layouts, and Peek allows instant file previews without opening them. Always on Top lets you pin windows above other applications, ensuring important windows remain visible.

PowerToys is completely free and offers a range of features to boost your productivity.

Ditto: Expanding Clipboard Functionality

Ditto is a powerful alternative to Windows 11's limited clipboard history feature. It remembers everything you copy, including text, images, and files, with no arbitrary limits. It even retains your clipboard history after system restarts.

Hit Ctrl + Accent (`) to see your entire clipboard history. Search for specific items, sync across multiple computers, and enjoy full text search capabilities. Ditto is completely free and offers a robust solution for managing your clipboard.

Rainmeter: Personalizing Your Desktop

Rainmeter transforms your desktop into an information dashboard. It allows you to display system stats, a better clock with calendar, and weather updates. The Spotify integration shows what's playing with controls right on the desktop.

Starting with pre-made skins makes it accessible for beginners, while advanced users can create custom designs. The community shares thousands of skins, so you don't need to code anything yourself.

Monitorian: Controlling Monitor Brightness

Monitorian allows you to control the brightness of your external monitors using hotkeys or the mouse. It eliminates the need to reach behind the monitor for tiny buttons.

The free version handles most needs perfectly, offering brightness control, large sliders for easy adjustment, and automatic startup with Windows. For power users, a premium subscription adds customizable hotkeys, command-line options, and support for more than four displays.

Each tool on this list tackles a specific Windows 11 frustration, whether it's Start11’s instant search or Ditto’s unlimited clipboard history. Most are completely free, and the paid versions offer generous trials, so you can test them thoroughly before deciding to buy.

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