With its tiles and list of programs, the Start menu offers quick access to apps and files. You can easily adapt it to your needs.
After the failure of Windows 8, Windows 10 saw the return of the Start menu, in a version enriched by tiles. If the default version does not suit you, you can customize it. Here is how to do it.
1 – Change the menu color
- Click on the search box next to the Start button and type colors. Click on Color settings in the results list.
- Uncheck the box Automatically choose an accent color from my background and click on a color from those offered.
- Scroll down the window and check the box Start, taskbar and notification center.
2 – Change the menu parameters
- In the color window, click Home in the list on the left. You access a wide choice of options for the Start menu. You can, for example, put more tiles per column, remove the list of applications and not display the suggestions.
- You can also change the icons that appear in the column to the left of the menu. To do this, click on Choose the folders displayed on the home screen. A list of switches is then displayed to choose the items to display. The image below shows the result of the changes.
3 – Resize the menu
By clicking on the edge of the Start menu tile area, it is easily possible to change its size by moving the mouse while holding the button down. You can also click on the corner of the box to change both the height and the width.
4 – Work on the tiles
- To move a tile, click and drag it while holding the mouse button down. Right-clicking on a tile allows you to change its size, or even remove it from the area if you are not using it. It is also possible to freeze a tile whose content changes regularly by clicking on More in the contextual menu, then on Disable dynamic thumbnail.
- To add an app to the tiles, right-click its icon, then click Pin to Start menu.
- If you have too many tiles, it is possible to group them into folders. To create a folder, drag and drop one tile onto another tile (click on the tile and move it while holding the mouse button down). The two tiles are then grouped together in a folder which opens by clicking on it and closes by clicking on the box containing an inverted V (see image below). You can then add more tiles to the folder, always with drag and drop.
- To remove a tile, click on the folder and then drag and drop the tile to another location.