Microsoft restores movable taskbar and resizable Start menu in Windows 11 September 2026 update

Microsoft has finally restored the movable taskbar to Windows 11, ending a stretch of nearly five years in which the operating system pinned its main navigation bar to the bottom edge of the screen. The change arrived on September 8, 2026 inside the KB5124008 cumulative update, packaged with a resizable Start menu and a rebuilt Windows Search experience that can be stripped of Bing and Microsoft Store results.

BleepingComputer reported on September 8 that the same update carries the September 2026 Patch Tuesday security patches, described as mandatory because they address roughly 1,000 vulnerabilities discovered in previous months. IT-Connect reported on September 9 that this was the largest Patch Tuesday Microsoft has ever released, with 973 vulnerabilities fixed, 113 of them rated critical, and 723 of those flaws affecting Windows itself.

Pureinfotech reported on September 8 that Windows 11 builds 26200.9445 for version 25H2 and 26100.9445 for version 24H2 arrive as KB5124008, the September 2026 Security Update, with deployment usually beginning at 1 PM Eastern. Owners of Windows 11 23H2 receive a separate package, KB5122880, which delivers fixes but no new features. Windows 11 24H2 reaches the end of support in October 2026, making this one of the final updates that branch will receive, and the new interface work rolls out gradually through a Controlled Feature Rollout, so availability varies by region, hardware and configuration.

Key Facts

KB5124008 moves Windows 11 25H2 to build 26200.9445 and Windows 11 24H2 to build 26100.9445. IT-Connect lists the companion release for 23H2, KB5122880, as build 22631.7582, while Pureinfotech lists that same update as build 22621.7582. Windows Latest reported on September 8 that the offline installer weighs 4,934.9 MB for x64 machines and 4,771.5 MB for arm64 machines, and that the package installs under the label 2026-09 Security Update (KB5124008) (26200.9445).

The taskbar work is the centerpiece. Users can place the bar at the bottom, top, left or right of the screen, and the control lives under Settings, Personalization, Taskbar, Taskbar behaviors, Taskbar position. Tooltips, flyouts and animations still originate from the taskbar, and most customization settings keep working in every location, including the option never to combine icons. Two limitations apply: the search box and the smaller taskbar layout are currently supported only for the top and bottom positions. The Taskbar behaviors section of Settings is now expanded by default, and a new smaller taskbar option reduces both icon size and the height of the bar itself while keeping Start, Search and the system tray reachable.

The Start menu gains Small, Large and Automatic sizes, selectable through Settings, Personalization, Start, Start menu size. The Recommended section is renamed Recent, its toggle is decoupled from File Explorer and the taskbar jump list, and users can hide their name and profile picture. The Start settings page is redesigned with independent toggles for Pinned, Recent and All. Windows Latest reported that the Large size can occupy more than 70 percent of the screen, and that the rename fixed a bug in which turning off Recommended also removed the Recent section elsewhere.

Windows Search gets a simplified home page and clearer labels showing whether a result comes from an app, a setting, a file, a web result or a Microsoft Store suggestion. A new control at Settings, Privacy and Security, Search lets users disable web and Store suggestions so that only local results appear, and File Explorer launches its Home page faster. Administrator Protection begins rolling out after being disclosed in October 2025 under KB5067036; it ships off by default, is enabled through Microsoft Intune using OMA-URI or through Group Policy, and pairs just-in-time privileges with profile separation. Microsoft says it is not a formal security boundary. The WMIC utility is removed from 24H2 and 25H2, although WMI itself remains supported.

Analysis

What this really means is that Microsoft has conceded a long argument about control over the desktop. For years it shipped a taskbar users could not relocate, and the reversal now arrives not in a marketing driven feature release but inside a mandatory security update. That packaging is deliberate. Because KB5124008 carries the September 2026 Patch Tuesday fixes, the movable taskbar reaches machines whether or not their owners were waiting for it, which guarantees faster adoption than an optional preview build could ever achieve.

The scale of the security payload gives Microsoft unusual leverage. BleepingComputer reported on September 8 that the update is based on 24H2, which is why 25H2 receives the same package, and that this is the ninth Patch Tuesday of 2026. IT-Connect put the total at 973 fixed vulnerabilities, including 113 critical and 723 affecting Windows. A release that every Windows 11 machine is expected to install becomes an efficient delivery vehicle for interface changes that Microsoft previously held back for fear of disruption.

The bigger picture here is a product strategy built around catch up rather than surprise. The movable taskbar, the smaller taskbar and the decoupled Recommended feed all restore behaviour that Windows 10 offered in some form, and the Bing free search experience answers years of complaints that local queries were being hijacked by web results. Microsoft is not shipping a new interaction model, it is removing friction from the old one. That is a quieter kind of progress, but it is also the kind that shows up in daily use rather than in a launch event.

Why It Matters

For a large share of Windows users the taskbar position was a daily irritation rather than a technical detail. Multi monitor setups, ultrawide displays and vertical side panels all make a bottom locked bar awkward, and the Windows 10 era ability to move it was the most visible thing Windows 11 removed. Restoring it after almost five years signals that Microsoft will revisit decisions it once treated as settled.

The Bing free search setting may matter more. Windows Latest reported on September 8 that users can now fully disable Bing and Microsoft Store results inside Windows Search so that only local results appear, which turns the search box from a promotional surface back into a local index and gives enterprises a documented way to cut outbound query traffic from managed machines. Timing adds weight too: Windows 11 24H2 reaches the end of support in October 2026, so this is effectively a last major release for that branch before users move to 25H2.

Microsoft also shipped supporting packages in the same cycle, including .NET 8.0.31 under KB5126104, .NET 9.0.20 under KB5126105, a .NET Framework update under KB5126052 and Malicious Software Removal Tool v5.145 under KB890830. The update fixes bugs introduced by the August optional preview KB5120998, among them broken mouse pointer styles and colours, black desktop wallpapers, personalization failures and Microsoft Teams and Outlook crashing on Arm64 PCs. Microsoft says it is not aware of any known issues with KB5124008 or KB5122880, although IT-Connect noted the updates had been available for less than 24 hours.

Next Up

The immediate task for administrators is sequencing. Because the updates are mandatory and carry hundreds of critical security fixes, Microsoft has warned users not to skip the release, and Windows Latest reported that its own tests saw downloads take up to 30 minutes and installation another 15 minutes on some PCs. Offline installers of roughly 4.9 GB let slower or restricted networks absorb that traffic on their own schedule.

After that, attention turns to the Controlled Feature Rollout that decides when the movable taskbar, the smaller taskbar, the resized Start menu and the Bing free search controls actually reach individual machines. If that staged delivery stretches, the loudest complaint about Windows 11 will be answered in code long before it is answered on screen. Whether Microsoft extends four position support to the search box and the compact layout, and whether 25H2 is the branch where that gap closes, are the questions that will define the next cycle.