Windows 10 has long enough been existing, but not all Windows users already use it. This version of Windows brings many new things to users. New Windows 10 users, especially those switching from Windows 7, will might be bumbling to use it. One of the radical things of Windows 10 is regarding the start menu.
By default, you will see a bunch of tiles when hitting the start menu button on Windows 10 and make you think “what are these?”. The good news is, you can customize the start menu of Windows 10 to make it looks simpler.
In case you are new to Windows 10, here are some tips to customize the start menu of your Windows 10.
1. Resize the start menu
Just like other Windows versions, you can click the start menu to see the installed applications and go to some settings on your Windows 10. By default, the size of start menu on Windows 10 is large enough, covering up more than half of your screen. You can resize it if you want. To do so, simply put your mouse on the edge of the panel until double-arrow icon appears. Drag it up way and right way.
2. Pin/unpin menu items
The start menu of Windows 10 consists of two main panels. The left panel lists everything you install on your system while the right one is used as a quick access. You can pin all items on the left panel to right one and they will appear as tiles. Simply right-click the item you want to pin from the left panel and and select Pin to Start.
Conversely, you can also remove tiles from the right panel (unpin). To do so, right-click the tiles you want to remove and select Unpin from Start.
3. Make your start menu looks like Windows 7
One of the major differences between Windows 10 and Windows 7 (and older Windows versions) is that Windows 7 has no tiles. The start menu of Windows 7 looks much simpler than Windows 10. If you love something simple, you can also turn the start menu of Windows 10 into simpler one and make it looks like Windows 7. To do so, you need to remove all of the tiles on the right panel one by one. Once you are done removing all tiles, you will only have a single panel when clicking the start menu button.
4. Resize the tile size
If you think that tiles are useful, you can also customize them by changing the size if you want. To resize a tile, simply right-click on it and select Resize. There are four different sizes you can choose from. But, some apps only have two different size options.
5. Turn the Live Tile off
Windows 10 has a feature called Live Tile. This feature displays headline for News and live thumbnails for Photos. It also displays a brief information related to the each tile. If you don’t like this feature, you can also turn if off. Right-click on the tile of News and Photos (and other tiles if you want) and select More –> Turn Live Tile off.
6. Change the color of start menu
By default, Windows 10 offers black as the color of start menu and taskbar. You can change it with the color you want according to your taste. To do so, open the Settings menu and go to Personalization –> Colors.
7. Set the list apps
There is a section called “Recently added” on the start menu of Windows 10. Every new app you installed on Windows will appear here. Not all Windows users impressed with it. You can disable it if you want. Open the Settings menu and go to Personalization –> Start. Search for “Show recently added apps” and slide the button to disable it.
8. Select folders to display on the start menu
If you often work with certain folders in Windows 10, you can add them to the start menu. This will save you time rafter than than opening File Explorer and starting over from there. Unfortunately, you can only add predefined folders by Windows 10 like Document, Pictures, Downloads and Videos. But still, it quite helpful.
To select folders to display on the start menu, you can open the Settings menu and go to Personalization –> Start. Click the Choose which folders appear on Start link and select the folders you want to display on the start menu.
The shortcuts to the folders you selected will appear on the start menu as follows.
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