Windows has been known for its Start menu and the good old start button for ages. But in the latest variant of Windows, Windows 8, it dropped a bombshell on its users and came out with a full fledged start screen for tablet support. Also, the start button was missing, the power option was gone, and everyone was in a state of panic or confusion about what they were dealing with.
Windows 8.1 brought back the Start button, but the Start screen was still annoying for desktop and laptop users. With Windows 10, Microsoft understood that users want flexibility. Few would prefer the full fledged start screen, while others might like the simple menu. The Windows 10 Start screen has gone through a lot of changes in the beta itself and we finally have a polished product with amazing customization options.
So let's see some of these customization options that we can get in the Windows 10 Start menu.
Change the look
Compared to Windows 7 and 8.1, the Windows 10 Start menu is highly customizable. You can resize it, change colors, and group tiles as you like. You can resize it directly using the resize option by using the mouse on the edges of the tiles. It can be expanded leaving only 30% of the real estate on either side. If you want to take it a step further, just enable the Fill Screen Start Menu which we will see later.
Start menu color can be changed from Custom > Colors . Any color you choose here will carry over as the Start menu color with tiles that don't support live update. There is no option to color the tiles separately and only one solid color is allowed like last update. There is an option to automatically choose colors based on the background, if you are feeling lazy.
Cool tip: Find out how to give colors to the prominent white title bar in Windows 10.
Pin Library Folders to Start Menu
Windows 7 allowed access to a few folders directly from the Start menu like Video, Downloads, and Pictures . These folders are not added to the Windows 10 Start menu by default. You have the Settings and File Explorer only by default in the Start menu. But there is enough space to hold some of the commonly used folders. The option to add these folders is in Windows' Settings .
To add the folders, right-click on the desktop and choose the Personalize option. Here, navigate to the Start section and click on the Choose the folders that appear on Start option .
Now all you have to do is toggle the switch on the items you want to add.
The thing to note here is that the more folders you add to the Start menu, the more frequently used items will be removed. But again, this will depend on how much room you have for icons, and if your Start menu is big enough, you won't lose anything.
Pin Windows Settings to Start Menu
Just like frequently used folders, you can also pin frequently changed settings. In the early days with Windows 10, you'll find yourself tweaking a lot of settings and pinning them to the menu could help a lot. To pin a specific Windows modern setting, open the one you need, just right-click on it and select the Pin to start option .
These settings will not appear in the main Start menu (the section on the left) but they will be added as a tile on the right. Similarly, you can also add the traditional Control Panel settings by the same right-click > Pin to Start option.
Recover splash screen
If you're a fan of Windows 8's full-screen splash screen, or want to use the full-screen view on a tablet, that can be done too. Right-click on the desktop and choose Personalize . Here, navigate to the Start option and select the Use Full Screen Start option .
That's it, you will get your Windows 8 back as your startup screen. But you can still use all options on the left sidebar.
Group tiles
If you want to group similar tiles together, like games and settings, you can do so using a simple drag and drop. After adding tiles to the menu, click and drag them to the bottom of the Start menu. At the very end, you will see a horizontal divider that will only appear when you are at the bottom edge of the Start menu.
Drop the tile there and it will be added as a new group. You can then rename the group and add more tiles to it.
Conclusion
That was about it about the new Windows 10 Start Menu customization. But if you think we've missed something, let's start a discussion in our form so everyone can participate.
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