How to Customize the Start Menu in Windows 10

Customization refers to the personalization of a software, a hardware device or a service according to your own requirements. Windows 10 offers customization in many of its features thus making them simple and easy to use for you. This customization property makes the Windows 10 environment all the more user-friendly. In this article, we will explain to you the ways in which you can customize the Start Menu in Windows 10.

Ways of Customizing the Start Menu in Windows 10

You can customize the Start Menu in the following ways in Windows 10:

Uninstall an Item from the Start Menu

For uninstalling an item from the Start Menu, you need to perform the following steps:

• Launch the Start Menu by clicking on the Windows icon.
• Right-click on the program that you want to uninstall.
• Select Uninstall from the cascading menu as shown in the image below:

Pin / Unpin an Item to Start Menu

For pinning or unpinning an item to or from the Start Menu, you need to proceed as follows:

• Launch the Start Menu by clicking on the Windows icon located at the extreme left of the taskbar.
• Right-click on the program that you want to pin or unpin.
• Select the desired action from the cascading menu as highlighted in the following image:

Pin / Unpin an Item from Taskbar

In order to pin or unpin an item to or from the taskbar, you need to perform the following steps:

• Launch the Start Menu by clicking on the Windows icon.
• Right-click on the program that you want to pin or unpin.
• Select more from the cascading menu.
• Click on the appropriate action as shown in the following image:

Run a Program as Administrator

For running a program as administrator, you need to proceed as follows:

• Launch the Start Menu by clicking on the Windows icon.
• Right-click on the program that you want to run as administrator.
• Select more from the cascading menu.
• Finally, click on Run as Administrator from the sub-cascading menu as shown in the following image:

Open a File Location

For opening a file location, you need to proceed as follows:

• Launch the Start Menu by clicking on the Windows icon.
• Right-click on the program whose file location you want to open.
• Click on more from the cascading menu.
• Then click on Open file location from the sub-cascading menu as shown in the image below:

Stretch or Compress the Start Menu

For stretching or compressing the Start Menu, you need to perform the following steps:

• Launch the Start Menu by clicking on the Windows icon.
• Now stretch or compress the Start Menu vertically or horizontally using the vertical and horizontal arrows as shown in the following image:

Show More Tiles on the Start Menu

For showing more tiles on the Start Menu, you need to proceed as follows:

• Type settings in the search section of your taskbar and click on the search result to launch the Settings window as shown in the following image:

• Now click on the Personalization tab and then click on the Start tab as shown in the image below:

• Turn the toggle button corresponding to the field saying, “Show more tiles on Start”, to the “on” state as shown in the following image:

Pin / Unpin Tiles from Start Menu

For pinning or unpinning tiles to or from the Start Menu, you need to perform the following steps:

• Launch the Start Menu by clicking on the Windows icon.
• Right-click on the tile that you want to pin or unpin.
• Select the appropriate option as shown in the following image:

Resize the Tiles in the Start Menu

For resizing the tiles in the Start Menu, you need to proceed as follows:

• Launch the Start Menu by clicking on the Windows icon.
• Right-click on the tile that you want to resize.
• Click on Resize option from the cascading menu.
• Select the desired size for your tile from the sub-cascading menu as shown in the image below:

Turn off Live Tile Updates

For turning off the live tile updates, you need to perform the following steps:

• Launch the Start Menu by clicking on the Windows icon.
• Right-click on the tile whose live update you want to turn off.
• Select more from the cascading menu.
• Finally, click on Turn Live Tile Off from the sub-cascading menu as shown in the following image:

Make Folders of Tiles by Grouping Them Together

For making folders of tiles by grouping them together, you need to perform the following steps:

• Launch the Start Menu by clicking on the Windows icon.
• Just drag a tile and drop it on another to group them together as highlighted in the image below:

Change the Color of the Start Menu

For changing the color of the Start Menu, you need to proceed as follows:

• Type settings in the search section of your taskbar and click on the search result to launch the Settings window as shown in the following image:

• Click on the Personalization tab and then click on the Colors tab as highlighted in the image shown below:

• Click on the checkbox saying, “Automatically pick an accent color from my background” and then choose any color of your choice from the color palette.

• Scroll down a little and finally, tick the checkbox corresponding to the “Start, taskbar and action center” field as shown in the following image:

Change the Appearance of App Lists on the Start Menu

In order to customize the appearance of App lists on the Start Menu, you need to perform the following steps:

• Type settings in the search section of your taskbar and click on the search result to launch the Settings window as shown in the following image:

• Click on the Personalization tab and then click on the Start tab.

• You can turn on or turn off the highlighted fields as shown in the following image as per your own requirements.

Expand the Start Menu to Span the Full Screen

For expanding the Start Menu to span the full screen, you need to proceed as follows:

• Type settings in the search section of your taskbar and click on the search result to launch the Settings window as shown in the following image:

• Click on the Personalization tab and then click on the Start tab.

• Turn the toggle button saying, “Use Start full screen” to the “on” state as shown in the image below:

Remove Suggested Apps from App Lists

For removing suggested Apps from App lists, you need to perform the following steps:

• Type settings in the search section of your taskbar and click on the search result to launch the Settings window as shown in the image below:

• Click on the Personalization tab and then click on the Start tab.

• Turn the toggle button saying, “Occasionally show suggestions in Start” to the “off” state as highlighted in the following image:

Conclusion

In this way, you can customize all the different features of the Start Menu using the methods listed above. You can always get back to the default settings by reversing the above-mentioned processes.