Charms Bar Port is a free and open-source software on GitHub that aims to bring back Charms Bar to Windows 11. The Charms bar is a UI element in Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 that provides quick access to common tasks, such as search, sharing, and settings. It is accessed by swiping in from the right edge of the screen. It got removed when Microsoft launched Windows 10 but now, you can restore it using a third party by open-source developer.
In the Windows 10, Microsoft killed Charms Bar for some reason. There came a few software after that which aim to restore it and then metro start menu but now those tools don’t exist anymore. But luckily, the Charms Bar Port that I am talking about in this post works and gives the same experience as the original UI in Windows 8 and Windows 8.1.
How to Add Charms Bar from Windows 8/8.1 to Windows 11?
Download the developer build from this GitHub release. After that, just extract it and then you will see the main “Charms Bar Port.exe” file. In addition to this, you will also have to install the Dotnet Runtime 7 from here.
Just double click on the EXE file and then it will start running instantly. Now, you just need to move the mouse at the top corner and the Charms bar will be displayed on the right side.
You can use it to launch the Start menu. Or, you can also open the device settings and the Windows Search tool. Just hover over to the top and then it will show up there.
This new CharmsBar can also be invoked when you are in some other app. Basically, you can launch it anytime to open Windows settings and more.
In this way, you can now use this simple app to bring back Charms Bar to Windows 11. The process is simple and straightforward. It has support for touch devices as well and it has some bugs. Also, the transitions are a bit lagging but all will be resolved in the coming updates and you will be able to download the stable build from the developer himself.
A little caveat:
The build I have linked above is kind of a developer build is one of the forks of the original repository. You can check out the original repository here and then download the official build from there when it is available. Right now, the developer build is not a stable build and you may face some issues on your PC when you will use it
Closing thoughts:
If you are missing the Windows 8 and 8.1 desktop in Windows 11 then worry not as you can now bring back the Charms Bar from it on your Windows 11 desktop. It can also work on Windows 10 but I haven’t tested it there yet. If this is something that you think is interesting then just go ahead and give it a try. And then let us know what you think about having Charms Bar in Windows 11.
