Customizing Windows 10 Start Menu By Tom Krauser

When you get a new computer with Windows 10 the “default” Start Menu can be overwhelming with the “junk” that Microsoft puts on the Start Menu by default. There are a lot of games, Microsoft programs, internet links to selected topics, and offers for products you may need to subscribe to such as Office (See Free Software article for free Office replacement). Most of these I personally do not find useful at all and I customize the menu to make it more usable for me. I will explain several things you can do to make the Start Menu and Taskbar (bar across bottom of screen) more useful to you.

Stretching the Start Menu The first thing I like to do is to “stretch out” the Start menu to the maximum size allowed on your screen. This way when you start organizing the menu you know where things are going to show up on your screen as you “group” them.

To “stretch” the Start Menu put your cursor on right edge of the Start Menu until you see the double arrows (<-->). For example, put your cursor where the black ends on the right in the picture above and you should get the double arrow. Then hold down the “left” mouse button and then “drag” the Start Menu to the right until it will not stretch any further. Then do the same thing to the “top” of the Start Menu. This will give you the maximum size Start Menu. Remember the Start Menu only appears when you click on the Microsoft Window in the lower left corner or push the Window key on the keyboard (usually second key from bottom left of the keyboard between Ctrl and Alt).

Eliminating (Unpinning) Unwanted Icons The next step is to eliminate (unpin) the icons that you will not use or have no interest in. Removing icons from the Start Menu does not remove the actual program but only the shortcut icon. You can always add the program icon back later is you want it on your Start Menu. To delete or “unpin” an icon put the cursor over the icon and “right click” the mouse to bring up the options menu. You will have the option to “Unpin from Start” so select this option. Repeat this process for all the icons you want to remove or unpin. If you remove all the icons in a “group” the group label will also disappear.

You can also “unpin” icons from the Taskbar by “right clicking” on the icon and selecting “Unpin from taskbar”.

Adding New Icons to Start Menu and Taskbar Program icons can be added from the icons on the desktop or from the Start Menu. To “pin” an icon on the Desktop to your Start Menu put your cursor over the icon and “right click” to bring up the options menu. Then select “Pin to start” to add that icon to the Start Menu. If you would also like that icon on the Taskbar at the bottom of the screen, right click on the icon again and select “Pin to taskbar”. Repeat this for all the icons on your Desktop you want to add to the Start Menu or Taskbar.

For programs click “All apps” on bottom left of Start Menu, then go down the alphabetical list of programs and when you see a program you would like to add the icon to the Start Menu or Taskbar, right click on that program item and select “Pin to Start”. Pinning an item to the Taskbar is a little different because you first select “More” then “Pin to Taskbar” from the sub-menu. If you see a “folder” with a down arrow to the right of it that means that there are “sub- programs” under it so click on the down arrow to see the sub-programs.

When icons are added to the Start Menu they usually are added to the bottom of the Start Menu. You can now “grab” these icons by holding the left mouse button down and “dragging” the icon to the area or group that you want the icon in.

You can also rearrange the icons on the Taskbar by “grabbing” them and moving them to the order you want them to appear on the Taskbar. For example, I like all my “Browsers” on the left of the Taskbar in the order of my use preference.

Creating Groups of Icons I like to group my icons into logical groups. Usually on the far right of the menu I create a group of icons called “Utilities” where I put system utilities so they can be accessed easily. This includes icons for your anti-virus, malware, Task Manager, or any other “utility” programs you have installed. If the group already exists and has a name you can click on the name and rename the group or if you drag an icon into a new group that does not have a name, you can name it by clicking in the area above the new group. A new group has to have at least one icon in it to allow it to be named.

You can rearrange all the icons on the Start Menu so they are located where they make the most sense to you. For example, I like to drag all my “browser” icons to the upper left of the Start Menu so I can find them quickly.

After you have moved the icons into groups you should recheck the stretch of the Start Menu again.

Sizes of Icons Icons on the Start Menu can be different sizes (Small, Medium, Wide, and Large). The default size for a new icon is usually “medium” as most of the icons in the picture above are. Wide takes up two spaces (Example: Mail and Store icons). Large icons take up four spaces and Small icons take up ¼ of a Medium space so you could put 4 icons in the space of 1 Medium icon.

Start Menu Settings There are several settings you can change for the Start Menu. To access the Start Menu settings: Click on the Setting icon (gear), click on “Personalization”, click on “Start” to bring up the Start Menu options.

Show more tiles on Start: Notice that a group of icons is 3 wide. You can increase this to 4 wide in a group by turning on.

Show app list in the Start Menu: This causes the alphabetical list of programs to show on the Start Menu all the time so you do not have to click “All apps”.

Show recently added apps: This shows programs you recently added at the top of the Start Menu.

Show most used apps: This shows apps you use a lot.

Occasionally show suggestions in Start: This gives suggestions or ads. I do not feel this is useful and turn it off.

Use Start full screen: This makes the Start Menu take up the full screen when you click on the Start Menu. This may be useful for tablets where you may need more space for icons but I leave it turned off on PCs.

Show recently opened items in Jump Lists on Start or the Taskbar: This shows programs you recently opened.

Choose which folders appear on Start: This puts little icons on the far left of the Start Menu to let you go directly to the selected folder without having to bring up File Explorer and navigate to that folder.

Taskbar Settings There are also settings for the Taskbar that allow you customize the Taskbar. Lock the Taskbar: Locking the taskbar is handy to make sure it stays how you set it up. Unlock the taskbar later when you want to make changes or change its location on the desktop.

Automatically hide the taskbar in desktop mode: This gives more screen space on desktop by hiding the taskbar until cursor placed where taskbar would normally be or the Window key is pressed.

Automatically hide the taskbar in tablet mode: This gives more screen space in tablet mode by hiding the taskbar until cursor placed where taskbar would normally be.

Use small taskbar buttons: If you want to show more of your apps on the taskbar, you can show smaller versions of the buttons.

Use Peek: Use the Peek feature to take a quick look at what’s on your desktop behind all of the open windows.

Replace Command Prompt: Replaces Command Prompt with the Window PowerShell in the menu when you right click the start button or press Windows Key+X

Show badges on Taskbar buttons: A badge on a taskbar button is an alert to let you know that some activity is happening or needs to happen with that app.

Taskbar location on screen: Places the task bar on Left, Top, Right, or Bottom of the screen.

Combine taskbar buttons:

Always, hide labels. This is the default setting. Each app appears as a single, unlabeled button, even when multiple windows for that app are open.

When taskbar is full. This setting shows each window as an individual, labeled button. When the taskbar becomes crowded, apps with multiple open windows collapse into a single app button. Tap or click the button to see a list of the windows that are open.

Never. This setting shows each window as an individual, labeled button and never combines them, no matter how many windows are open. As more apps and windows open, buttons get smaller, and eventually the buttons will scroll.

Select which icons appear on the taskbar: Allows you to select which icons appear by turning them on or off.

Turn system icons on or off: Allows you to turn off/on system icons.

Multiple Displays: When using multiple displays you can configure the taskbar for the other screens.

Show taskbar on all displays: Shows the taskbar on all displays when On, otherwise, only shows taskbar on “primary” screen.

Show taskbar buttons on: Lets you choose which monitor taskbar buttons appear on.

Combine buttons on other taskbars: See above.

Task View icon on Taskbar: On the Taskbar near the search window is an icon that looks like a rectangle with a smaller rectangle on each side. This is called the Task View and when you click it all the open windows are placed side by side so you can see all open windows. Click it again to return to the “stacked” view.

An Annoying Feature One feature I have found annoying when organizing the Start Menu is that sometimes when you are trying to move an icon into a space in a group that already has an icon in it that the two icons are placed in a “sub-group” as smaller icons. It appears that these subgroups can hold about 9 icons. Usually the icon already in the space moves out of the way to drop the moved icon in its space but sometimes a sub-group gets created. Ensure that the other icon moves before releasing the left mouse button. If the other icon does not move try moving past it then back. The only way I have found to undo this subgroup is to remove both icons in the sub-group and add them again.