Customizing the Windows-11 Start Menu: Tailoring it to Your Needs
The Start Menu in Windows-11 is a central hub for accessing apps, files, and settings on your computer. With its sleek design and new features, customizing the Start Menu can enhance your productivity and make it more personalized. In this step-by-step guide, we will walk you through the process of customizing the Windows-11 Start Menu to suit your needs.
Step 1: Accessing the Start menu settings
To begin customizing the Start menu in Windows-11, click on the Start button located at the bottom left corner of your screen or press the Windows key on your keyboard. This will open up the Start menu.
Step 2: Rearranging tiles
By default, you will see a grid of tiles representing apps on your computer. To rearrange these tiles, simply click and hold an app tile and drag it to a new position within the grid. You can also move tiles between different sections such as Pinned Apps or Recommended Apps by dragging them to their respective locations.
Step 3: Resizing or unpinning tiles
To resize a tile in Windows-11's Start menu, right-click on it and select Resize from the context menu that appears. You can then choose between small, medium, wide or large sizes according to your preference.
If you want to remove a tile from your Start menu completely (i.e., unpinning it), right-click on that particular tile and select Unpin from start option.
Step 4: Customizing Live Tiles (if applicable)
Some apps offer Live Tiles functionality that provides real-time information within their respective tiles in the Start menu. To customize these Live Tiles in Windows-11:
1. Right-click on a Live Tile.
2. Select More > Turn live tile off if you want to disable live updates.
3. Alternatively, choose Resize > Static if you want to keep the tile but disable the live functionality.
Step 5: Adding or removing folders
In addition to app tiles, Windows-11's Start menu allows you to add and remove folders for quick access. To add a folder:
1. Click on the Start button.
2. Locate and click on All Apps.
3. Find the folder you want to add, right-click on it, and select Pin to Start.
To remove a folder from the Start menu:
1. Right-click on the desired folder in your Start menu.
2. Select Unpin from start option.
Step 6: Changing default settings
Windows-11 also provides customization options for changing default settings related to your Start menu:
1. Open Settings by clicking on the gear icon in the lower left corner of your screen or searching for "Settings" in your taskbar search box.
2. In Settings, click on Personalization.
3. From Personalization, select Start from the left-hand side menu.
4. Here you can change options such as choosing between a full-screen or compact view of your Start Menu, deciding whether recently added apps should be displayed, enabling or disabling recommended apps feature, etc.
Step 7: Experimenting with other features
Windows-11's new design introduces several other features that can enhance your experience with customizing the Start Menu further:
- Widgets: Accessible through an icon located at top-left of your start screen when enabled through system settings (Settings
> Personalization > Widgets). You can personalize this section by adding app widgets according to preference.
- Taskbar icons: You can customize which icons appear directly in your taskbar by right-clicking anywhere on it and selecting Taskbar Settings from context menu that appears.
By following these steps and exploring additional customization options available in Windows-11's settings menus, you'll be able to tailor your Start Menu exactly according to your needs and preferences!