The best tricks for the Windows 10 start menu

Tricks Windows 10

Windows 10 has brought us back the start menu. Following the criticism received for the disappearance of this menu in Windows 8 , the Redmond company listened to users and re-implemented the start menu in the latest version of its operating system. Of course, it is a vitaminized start menu, very different from the older Windows . The new Windows 10 start menu offers us a kind of mix between the Windows 7 start menu  and the Windows 8 start screenthat so upset the majority of users. Luckily, this menu is quite configurable, being able to leave it to our liking by following a few simple steps. Although we cannot change it completely, we can try to adjust it more to our personal use of the computer. We are going to review some tricks to customize the Windows 10 start menu .

Resize the start menu

The window that appears when we click on the Windows 10 start button can be resized to our liking. If we see that it is too big or too small, we will simply have to move the cursor around the edges of the window and we will see how it transforms into the typical arrow to change the size. We can adjust the size of the window as best suits us. Thus, if we want to eliminate the shortcuts, we can configure a smaller home screen.

Tricks Windows 10

Customize shortcuts

The Windows 10 start menu is divided into two clearly differentiated parts. On the left side we have the shortcuts to the most used applications, the file explorer, recent applications, etc. It would be the equivalent of the Windows 7 start menu . And on the right side we have a kind of "boxes" , inherited from Windows 8 , which the company calls dynamic icons, and in which we have news, the application store, access icons to the applications that interest us the most or practically anything we want to put on. Let's see how we can customize the shortcuts that appear on the left. For this we will have to go to Settingsand then enter the Personalization section . On this screen we will click on Start . From this screen we can activate and deactivate the options that we want to appear on the home screen. It is possible to configure, among other things, to show or not the most used applications and recently added applications. We can also configure that the system shows us suggestions in the start menu, as well as show or not recently opened items. On this screen we also have an option to put the start screen full screen, in case we liked the way Windows 8 showed it . It is not exactly the same as the one shown in the previous version of Windows, but it is very similar.

Tricks Windows 10

Change the color of the start menu

As in previous versions of Windows , in Windows 10 we can also change the color of the start menu, the taskbar and the activity center. We can do it by entering Settings and then Personalization . If we click on Colors we will see that we have several options. The first one we see is "Automatically choose an accent color for my background . " This option will adjust the color of the menu in relation to the desktop background that we have configured, theoretically so that it combines well. If we disable this option, we can choose a fixed color.

Tricks Windows 10Tricks Windows 10

Just below this option we have another with which we can tell you to apply that same color to the taskbar and the activity center .

Tricks Windows 10

On this same screen we can select the option to make the start menu, the task bar and the activity center transparent. If we deactivate this option they will have a solid color.

Pin apps to the start menu

Nothing better to customize our start menu than to pin our favorite applications to have them at hand and to be able to run them quickly. To anchor an application in the menu we will only have to click on All applications , find the application that we want to place in the menu and drag the application icon. The right part of the start menu is divided into sections. If we pass the cursor over the space that remains between the blocks, we will see that it gives us the option of giving each block a title . For example, we can have all the social media applications in the same block.

Tricks Windows 10Tricks Windows 10

Resize icons

The icons of the applications that we have anchored in the start menu can be configured to our liking. If they are too big, we can right-click on them and the option Change the size will appear . From this menu we can also unpin the application or pin it to the taskbar .

Tricks Windows 10

In this part of the screen we also have the so-called dynamic icons . They are icons that show information in real time, such as news or weather information. By clicking on them with the right mouse button we can deactivate them and also change their size.

Tricks Windows 10

Customize Start Menu Folders

We have already seen that we can configure the shortcuts that appear on the left side of the menu. We can also customize the folders that appear in this same menu. For this we will go to Settings and then to Personalize . In the Start option we have a link that says "Choose which folders you want to appear in Start" . Here we can activate and deactivate the folders that we want to appear in the start menu. We do not have available all the folders that we have on the hard drive. This section focuses only on system folders, such as Documents or File Explorer .

Tricks Windows 10

Include folders in the start menu

In addition to the typical system folders, such as My Documents or Network , we can add any folder in the start menu, on the right side. For this we will only have to go to the File Explorer and look for the folder that we want to add. Right-click on this folder and select Anchor to start .

Tricks Windows 10

Use right mouse button

We finished with a simple trick. It is not to customize exactly, but it will help us get to some system options more quickly. As we said, in the lower left we have the classic Windows Start button . If we click on it with the left mouse button, it will open the start menu we have been talking about. However, if you click on it with the right button of the mouse we will open another menu with which we can access such interesting options such as Device Manager , the Disk Management , the Task Manager , the Network Connections or Panel control .

With these simple tricks we can fully customize the new Windows 10 start menu to our liking , thus being able to have access to the applications that we really use.