On Windows 11, Microsoft updated the Task Manager UI with XAML/WinUI. This brings it to par with the overall Windows 11 design language. However, thanks to Microsoft’s shoddy implementation, there are few takers for the re-design and it’s also a bit slower compared to the old task manager UI. That being said, you can still launch the Task Manager with classic UI. In fact, you modify the Task Manager’s shortcut in the Start menu to always launch with the classic UI.
In this article, I will show you how to open Task Manager with the classic UI and modify the Start menu shortcut to always launch Task Manager with the classic UI.
Opening Task Manager with Classic UI
1. Press Windows key + R to open the Run dialog box.
2. In the Run window, enter taskmgr -d and click OK.
3. This will launch the Task Manager with the classic UI.
Here, “-d” means Disable XAML.
Always open Task Manager with Classic UI
Rather than using the run command all the time, you can modify the task manager shortcut in the Start menu to make it always open in the classic UI. That way, you can open classic Task Manager from the Start menu. Here’s how.
Note: You need administrator rights to modify the Task Manager shortcut.
1. Open File Explorer by pressing the Windows key + E shortcut.
2. Go to the C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\System Tools folder.
A quick tip: Copy the path, paste it into the File Explorer’s address bar and press Enter.
3. Right-click on the Task Manager shortcut and select Properties.
4. In the ‘Target’ field, add a space at the end, enter “-d” (without quotes), and click OK.
5. Click Continue.
That’s it. From now on, whenever you open the task manager from the Start menu, it opens in classic mode.
And there you have it! This is how you can open the classic Task Manager when you don’t want to use the modern Task Manager.
This tip was first found by thebookisclosed on X (twitter).
