After scraping plans for Windows 12, Microsoft has been hard at work to improve the Windows 11 experience. The company is currently testing exciting new features for Windows 11 including many AI-powered experiences and tools. So, in this guide, we have compiled the top 10 new Windows 11 features set to release in 2025. While some are exclusive to Copilot+ PCs, most of the quality-of-life improvements are coming to all Windows 11 users. On that note, let’s explore these features.
1. New Start Menu Layout
Microsoft released Windows 11 in 2021 with a new centered Start menu, and the company is still refining it today. Now, Microsoft is testing a new Start menu layout for Windows 11 that shows a categorized view of apps, just like the iOS App Library. This new layout automatically categorizes apps into six different groups — Utilities & Tools, Productivity, Creativity, Games, Business, and Other.
Within each group, there are sub-folders and you can access them in a single click. If there are more apps within a sub-folder, the Start menu shows a paginated view. That said, this categorized layout is not the default view of the Start menu yet. You can still pin your apps on the Start menu.
Plus, the good news is that Microsoft is working to show only pinned apps by default and remove the ‘Recommended’ section from the Start menu, according to Windows watcher @phantomofearth on X (formerly Twitter). It means you will no longer have to use third-party tools to customize the Start menu in Windows 11.
Apart from that, Microsoft has been testing a Phone companion for the Start menu. It appears next to the Start menu and shows quick information from your smartphone. From here, you can jump to your phone’s messages, calls, and photos. You can also send files to your smartphone seamlessly.
Overall, in 2025, the upgraded Start menu will be the major visual change coming to Windows 11.
2. File Sharing via Drag and Drop
On Windows 11, you can already share files from the context menu and the toolbar in File Explorer. But a new feature coming to Windows 11 will allow you to drag and drop the file to the top of your screen. When you move the file to the top of the screen, a floating menu appears with apps like WhatsApp, Mail, Outlook, etc.
You can simply drop the file on the app, and the file will be sent to the corresponding app. I like this change as it would make file sharing faster and more seamless on Windows 11. However, Microsoft should also add Phone Link or the linked smartphone to the floating menu to quickly share files from Windows to your smartphone.
3. Improved Recall AI
While Microsoft has already improved the security model of the controversial Recall AI feature, it’s gaining even more features in Insider builds. X user @phantomofearth has discovered that you can now add apps and websites for Recall filtering directly from the Quick Settings menu. This way, you can quickly filter out apps and websites and Recall won’t save snapshots of your activity.
Keep in mind that Recall is still in preview and only available on Copilot+ PCs (both Snapdragon and Intel/AMD) running the Windows Insider Dev and Beta builds. Besides that, the Recall app is getting a Mica treatment and rounded corners as part of the upgrade.
4. AI Windows Search
Apart from Copilot and Recall, Microsoft is working to deeply integrate AI technology into Windows 11. The new feature coming to Windows 11 will allow you to search for files, documents, and settings using natural language prompts aka perform Semantic Search.
For example, you can search for images using descriptive prompts like ‘red flowers’, and Windows Search will display all images containing red-colored flowers.
Similarly, you can search for documents using descriptive natural prompts. You no longer have to remember the exact file name to find the item on your PC. The AI search experience on Windows 11 will work in File Explorer, Windows Settings, and the search bar in the Start menu. Currently, this feature is being tested on Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs only.
5. Click To Do
Click To Do is another interesting AI feature coming to Windows 11. It’s basically an on-screen AI assistant like Android’s Circle to Search tool. You can launch Click To Do on any screen and it will analyze the screen and offer you multiple AI-powered actions.
For example, if you have an image on your current screen, it will let you perform a visual search with Bing, erase objects from the image, remove the background, and more. Apart from that, you can extract text from images and rewrite text as well. Note that this feature is also exclusive to Copilot+ PCs.
6. Battery Indicator with Percentage
Believe it or not, Windows 11 never showed battery percentage on the Taskbar. You always had to move your cursor over the battery icon to show the percentage in a tooltip. Finally, that is changing with an upcoming update. Windows 11 will show the battery percentage by default on laptops.
Apart from that, the battery icon is receiving some minor visual updates. When the laptop is plugged in, it will show a green icon, and when the laptop enters Energy saver mode, the battery icon will show an orange icon. These are quality-of-life improvements coming to Windows 11 which will make the OS more usable and intuitive.
7. Customize Lock Screen Widgets
With an incremental 23H2 update, Microsoft added widgets to the Windows 11 lock screen. While it offers quick access to weather and sports information, there are many useless widgets that you can’t remove. You have to either live with all the widgets or disable them altogether.
Thankfully, with an upcoming update, you will be able to customize lock screen widgets. The feature is already live in the Beta channel and is likely to make its way to the stable channel pretty soon. In case you don’t want to wait for Microsoft to roll out the update, you can follow our guide and remove or customize lock screen widgets right away.
8. Smaller Taskbar
On Windows 11, you can’t really resize the Taskbar without using a third-party tool like Windhawk. Earlier, you could modify the “TaskbarSi” registry entry to customize the Taskbar size, however, Microsoft removed the option entirely. Finally, Microsoft is bringing a native option to make the Taskbar smaller on Windows 11.
You would be able to show smaller Taskbar buttons from Settings > Personalization > Taskbar. In case you want to customize the Taskbar on Windows 11 right now with more advanced options, we have a dedicated guide ready for you.
9. Emoji Access
While you can use emojis on Windows 11 with a simple “Windows + . (dot)” hotkey, many users are unaware of this functionality. So to make emojis more accessible, Microsoft is working to bring an emoji panel right into the Taskbar. It has been discovered that you can enable an Emoji panel next to the system tray area. And it’s already available in the Windows Insider Beta build.
10. Administrator Protection
Lastly, Microsoft is putting significant effort into improving the security of Windows 11 PCs. The new “Administrator Protection” feature, which is currently being tested in Insider builds, grants temporary admin rights via a separate admin account. It doesn’t grant persistent admin rights through the main user account, which prevents malicious apps and scripts from hijacking the PC.
It’s a major security overhaul of how Windows operates, and it’s coming in 2025. Essentially, this will offer a sudo/root-less environment, similar to macOS and Linux, to safeguard user credentials and private data.
These are the best new features coming to Windows 11 in 2025, instead of Windows 12. Note that, some of the features, which are available to test in Insider builds, may be delayed or even shelved depending on various factors. Microsoft experiments with several new experiences in the Insider channels, and only rolls them out to the general public if they meet its stability and performance standards.
