[Tips] Restore Old Classic Programs and Apps in Windows 11

Microsoft has replaced many built-in classic apps and programs with their new UWP-based versions in Windows 11 operating system. If you want to restore all classic apps and programs in Windows 11 again, this article will help you.

Windows 11 comes with many useful native apps such as MS Paint, Calculator, Notepad, Windows Photo Viewer, Task Manager, etc. These apps and programs exist since long time in Windows operating system. Previous Windows versions such as Windows 7, Vista or XP used to come with the classic versions of these built-in programs.

Microsoft removed the classic versions of many built-in apps from Windows 11 and added new modern UWP-based apps as an alternative to those deprecated apps.

The classic apps were faster and easy to use. On the other hand, the new modern apps are a little bit slower and come with extra advanced features which make them slower and complicated to use.

Many people want to remove the new apps and bring back classic apps in their Windows 11 devices. In this article, we’ll share methods to get rid of the new UWP-based apps and restore good old classic apps and programs in Windows 11.

1. Restore Classic Windows Photo Viewer in Windows 11

Windows 11 comes with new modern Photos app as the default image viewer program. The new Photos app takes some time in opening and showing the image. The old Windows Photo Viewer tool was very fast and minimal. If you want to restore classic Windows Photo Viewer program in Windows 11, following article will help you:

[Tip] Restore Windows Photo Viewer in Windows 11

2. Restore Classic Notepad App in Windows 11

Microsoft has replaced the classic Notepad app with new UWP-based Notepad app in Windows 11. The old Notepad app still exists in Windows 11 but remains inaccessible due to the new Notepad app installation.

You can bring back the classic Notepad app by simply uninstalling the new Notepad app. Open Start Menu, go to All Apps list, scroll down to find Notepad app, right-click on the app shortcut and select “Uninstall” option. Windows 11 will ask for confirmation, accept it.

That’s it. Now open RUN dialog box by pressing WIN+R keys together and type Notepad and press Enter key. You’ll get the classic Notepad app back in your device.

Now you can create a shortcut for notepad command and place it on Desktop or pin to Start or Taskbar for quick access.

3. Restore Classic Calculator App in Windows 11

Windows 11 comes with new UWP-based modern Calculator app which is slower compared to the classic Calculator app. If you want to bring back the old Calculator program in Windows 11, you can download it from following link:

Download Classic Calculator for Windows 11

Just download above mentioned ZIP file, extract it and you’ll get both Windows XP as well as Windows 7/8/8.1 style Calculator program’s EXE files to use them in Windows 11.

Just run the EXE file in your Windows 11 device and it’ll launch classic Calculator program.

(Windows 7 style Calculator in left, Windows XP Calculator in right)

You can also create a shortcut to Calc.exe file on Desktop or pin it to Taskbar or Start Menu for quick and easy access.

4. Restore Classic MS Paint and Wordpad Programs in Windows 11

Windows 11 comes with new UWP-based Paint app and modern Wordpad app with Ribbon UI. If you want to restore classic MS Paint and Wordpad apps in Windows 11, following tutorials will help you:

[Tip] Get Classic MS Paint (without Ribbon) in Windows 7 and Later

[Tip] Get Classic Wordpad (without Ribbon) in Windows 7 and Later

Both the above mentioned tutorials were posted long time back for Windows 7 operating system. Fortunately, these methods still work in Windows 11 and can be followed to bring back the classic versions of MS Paint and Wordpad programs in Windows 11.

5. Restore Classic Task Manager Tool in Windows 11

Task Manager tool is frequently used by advanced users and experts to check for running processes and terminate unresponsive programs. You can launch Task Manager using Ctrl+Shift+Esc hotkey, using Taskbar context menu or using taskmgr command.

Microsoft has replaced the classic and faster Task Manager tool with new modern version in Windows 11. You can restore the classic Task Manager tool in your device using following steps:

The classic Task Manager tool can be launched and accessed using the extra ‘-d‘ command-line parameter. Open RUN dialog box by pressing WIN+R keys together and type taskmgr -d command and press Enter key. It’ll launch classic version of Task Manager in your Windows 11 device.

You can create a direct shortcut for taskmgr -d command and place it on Desktop or pin to Start or Taskbar for quick access.

6. Restore Classic ALT+Tab Switcher Screen in Windows 11

Alt+Tab hotkey is used in Windows operating system to switch between running programs. When you press Alt+Tab keys together, a program switcher screen is displayed containing live thumbnails of all running programs.

Windows 11 comes with a redesigned ALT+Tab switcher which shows large squared thumbnails of opened programs. If you want to bring back classic Windows 98 or XP style ALT+Tab switcher box in Windows 11, following article will help you:

[Tip] Restore Classic Alt+Tab Screen in Windows 11

7. Restore Classic Balloon Tips in Windows 11 Notification Center

Windows 10 and Windows 11 display app or system notifications in form of new modernized toasts. In previous Windows versions, the notifications used to display as balloon tips. Following image shows comparison of new toast notifications and old balloon tips:

You can disable new toast notifications and restore classic balloon tips in your Windows 11 device using following tutorial:

[Windows Tip] Disable Toast Notifications and Enable Classic Balloon Tips

8. Restore Classic File Explorer in Windows 11

Windows 11 comes with a completely revamped File Explorer developed using WinUI 3. It features new Details Pane, redesigned toolbar, search box and other UI elements. Some users might find the new File Explorer slower compared to old File Explorer.

You can restore classic File Explorer in Windows 11 using following tutorials:

How to Restore or Enable Classic File Explorer in Windows 11 (All Versions)

How to Restore Classic Details Pane in Windows 11 File Explorer

[Tip] Restore Classic This PC View in Windows 11 File Explorer

9. Restore Classic Context Menu (Right-Click Menu) in Windows 11

Windows 11 comes with a new redesigned context menu (right-click menu) developed using acrylic material design (part of new fluent design UI). The new context menu features many eye candy effects such as translucent blur, glass transparency effects along with new rounded corners. The new context menu is also referred as modern or immersive context menu.

If you don’t like the new context menu and want to bring back Windows 10 style old context menu in Windows 11, following article will help you:

How to Restore or Enable Classic Context Menu in Windows 11 (All Versions)

10. Restore Classic Taskbar in Windows 11

Taskbar in Windows 11 comes with a completely revamped design which has been developed from scratch. It now appears in the center of bottom screen area and is referred as Centered Taskbar. Since it’s a new piece of development, there are many limitations and restrictions present in Windows 11 Taskbar.

Following article will help you in restoring Windows 10 classic Taskbar in Windows 11 operating system:

How to Restore or Enable Classic Taskbar in Windows 11 (All Versions)

11. Restore Classic Start Menu in Windows 11

Microsoft has highly revamped the Start Menu in Windows 11. The new Start Menu has been developed from scratch and lacks lots of functionality and customization options.

If you don’t like the new Start Menu and want to restore classic Start Menu in Windows 11, you can follow the instructions given in following article to add Windows 7 style Start Menu in Windows 11:

How to Restore or Enable Old Classic Start Menu in Windows 11 (All Versions)

12. Restore Classic Theme and UI in Windows 11

You might have noticed redesigned title bar buttons and other UI elements in above screenshots. You can get the similar user interface in your Windows 11 device using our exclusive classic theme which we released recently for Windows 11.

Following screenshot shows classic theme applied in Windows 11 using the theme:

You can download and use the classic theme in your Windows 11 device from following article:

Enable Classic Theme and UI in Windows 11 Using AskVG Theme

[TIP] How to Restore Full Classic Scrollbar in Windows 11

13. Use ExplorerPatcher to Bring Several Classic Features Back to Windows 11

ExplorerPatcher is a 3rd party freeware which allows users to restore many classic features in Windows 11 operating system such as Windows 10 Taskbar, Start Menu, Windows 7 File Explorer, etc.

It can also restore classic drive grouping, classic system properties, hide or remove navigation bar and search box and enable legacy file transfer dialog box in Windows 11.

You can download and use ExplorerPatcher from following article:

Download ExplorerPatcher to Restore Classic UI and Features in Windows 10 and 11

14. Few More Articles to Restore Classic Features in Windows 11

Following are a few more articles to restore classic features and tools in Windows 11 which have been either removed or restricted from the operating system:

[Tip] Access Classic System Properties in Windows 11

[Tip] Restore Classic File Transfer Dialog Box in Windows 11

[Tip] Restore Classic Print Screen (PrtScn) Key Behavior in Windows 11

[Tip] How to Disable / Enable Rounded Corners in Windows 11

[Tip] How to Restore Classic Windows Mail App in Windows 11

Disable New Metro Boot Loader and Restore Classic Boot Loader in Windows 8/10/11