Thank you for pointing these questions out, pelaird. I welcome luciensabre let us know if any of this is incorrect, as we will keep an eye here to control variables and attempt to reproduce the reported problem.
To clarify where we're at, here's what I think we know:
Do you have the taskbar set at the top or bottom?
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The screencap in the initial post appears to show a bottom aligned taskbar.
Is the start button aligned left or centered?
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In testing while controlling for the other reported reproduction steps, neither alignment has reproduced the issue on our end. I admit it still couldn't hurt to know, but this notably doesn't seem to make a difference if the other variables/changes since the problem started can't be controlled.
Do you have the Enhanced taskbar turned on?
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In the initial post of the issue, it was reported "I tried resetting Start11 to default setting", with the claim that this didn't help. However, I can see it may be worth reiterating after everything else that has been tried. It can be tried again and noted if the Enhanced taskbar makes a difference. Please let us know if resetting your settings to the default at any point causes the problem to stop occurring.
What specific Windows Personalization settings are you using?
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These settings also fall under the potentially useful category. However, this category is shared with a massive range of Windows settings and advanced options. In light of no available Sandbox Client option (being Windows 11 Home and not Pro), the Clean Boot suggestion was offered as the most efficient way of controlling all such variables. However, I'm more than willing to run another round of testing if it's believed any Windows settings have been changed from their defaults since the problem arose. This just doesn't seem to be the case with the insistence from luciensabre. Again, correct me if I'm wrong and feel free to post your settings for a 2nd look. We can also add "Settings -> System -> Display ->Scale & layout" changes to that list of settings that might be helpful to know.
If you turn off custom start button, does the Windows default start button load properly after a restart?
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This may have been overlooked as a seemingly rudimentary consideration, especially considering the purge method has been attempted with its associated reboot. However, it's a fair consideration to try and could possibly be useful to confirm with certainty, as is often the case with technology troubleshooting.
Thank you again for looking out.
Adam McGuinness
Stardock Customer Support Specialist