Installing the In-Place Update

To manually install the Windows 11 update at a time of your choosing, go into your start menu and search for Software Center or navigate under Microsoft Configuration Manager to Software Center:

Open

Next, click on Updates on the left-hand side and click on Windows 11, version 23H2 and click Install:

Open

The update will begin to install. You will want to leave your computer plugged in and turned on while it installed, preferably connected to a dock if using a laptop.

Common Preference Tweaks

Start Menu

By default, the Windows 11 Start Menu is in the middle of the taskbar. To change your Start Menu location to be on the left (like it was in Windows 10), right click on your taskbar and then click on Taskbar settings:

Then, scroll down to Taskbar behaviors and change your Taskbar alignment from Center to Left:

This will move the Start Menu and Search Box back to the Left side:

Search Box / Icon

If you would like to change the search box on your taskbar to just an icon, that option is also available in the same Taskbar settings, along with some other personalization options:

Right Click Menu

You may notice that in some cases when you right click the list of options that comes up isn’t as long as it was in Windows 10. In order to see the full list, you will need to click on Show More Options at the bottom of that menu. Alternatively, you can hold the Shift key when you right-click and it will show the full menu:

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