You have installed Windows 10 on your PC and one of the elements that immediately caught your attention is the Start menu : you were really happy with it and you loved the way it was organized by Microsoft. But as a good geek you are, you don’t want to miss the opportunity to customize it to your liking, changing its size, content and, above all, its appearance. How to change the Windows 10 Start menu

While you’re here, how about if I give you a hand and show you in more detail how to change the Windows 10 Start menu ? Do you want? Optimal! I promise you that, even if you still have some difficulties in “moving” on this Microsoft operating system, you will have no problem in completing your “business” today, as long as you follow my instructions step-by-step, this is obvious. !

Courage: let’s put aside the chatter and immediately take action. Make yourself comfortable, take your time to concentrate on reading this tutorial and, more importantly, implement the “tips” I will give you. There is nothing left for me to do but wish you happy reading!

Index

• How to change the size of the Windows 10 Start menu
• How to change the look of the Windows 10 Start menu
• How to change the contents of the Windows 10 Start menu
• Troubleshooting the Start menu

How to change the size of the Windows 10 Start menu

Do you want to change the size and position of the Windows 10 Start menu ? I guarantee you that both operations are very simple to implement. Below you will find a detailed explanation on how to proceed.

To change the size of the Start menu , you must first open it: click, then, on the button with the Windows flag (bottom left) and place the mouse cursor in the upper right corner of the Start menu (or on the top or right edge). As you can see, the symbol (← →) has appeared : resize the Start menu window by dragging the cursor to the desired position and that’s it.

If, on the other hand, you want to view the Start menu in full screen, you have to proceed directly from the Windows settings. Open the Start menu again by clicking on the Windows flag icon , press the gear icon in the left sidebar and, in the window that opens, click on the Personalization item .

At this point, click on the Start item located on the left sidebar and move the switch lever located under the heading Use full screen mode for Start to ON . Et-Voila! The game is done!

Would you like to change the location of the Windows 10 Start menu ? No problem! Start Windows Settings by clicking on the gear icon attached to the Start menu . Once this is done, click on the Personalization item and then on the one called Taskbar .

Among the items that are shown to you on the screen, locate the drop-down menu under the heading Position of the taskbar on the screen and select one of the options indicated: Left , Top , Right or Bottom (i.e. the position of default).

Alternatively, you can move the taskbar by dragging. To do this, you must make sure that the latter is not blocked: right-click in an “empty” point of the taskbar and remove the check mark from the item Lock the taskbar .

Now, move the mouse cursor anywhere on the taskbar (being careful not to click any icon) and, holding down the left mouse button, move the taskbar where you prefer: on the top edge of the screen or on one of the two side edges. As if by “magic”, the Start menu will also be moved accordingly.

If you have upgraded your operating system to Windows 11 , be aware that the above procedures are a little different. First, you need to know that it is not possible to change the size of the Start menu, nor to put it in full screen mode.

If, on the other hand, you want to change the position of the Start menu and, therefore, also of the taskbar, what I advise you to do is read the procedures that I have indicated to you in my guide on how to move the taskbar .

How to change the look of the Windows 10 Start menu

Want to customize the color and overall appearance of the Windows 10 Start menu ? Also in this case you can act directly from the system settings.

Then click on the Windows flag icon (bottom left) to open the Start menu, press on the gear icon in the left sidebar and, in the window that opens, first press on the Personalization item and then on Colors .

To change the color of the Start menu and other Windows 10 graphics, select one of the recent colors or one of the Windows colors (just click on one of the squares representing the color you prefer to set it as default). If the proposed colors are not to your liking, press the Custom Color button and create a customized color variant using the editor that appears on the screen.

Would you like to adapt the color of the Start menu and other Windows 10 graphics to the background set on the desktop? In this case, put the check mark on the item Automatically select a main color from the background and the colors of the Start menu will reflect those of the wallpaper in use.

Now, to change the color of the Windows 10 Start menu , put a check mark next to the Start box, the taskbar and the notification center under the heading Show the main color on the following surfaces . It was easy, am I right?

If you want to make the Windows 10 Start menu transparent (in addition to the taskbar and other elements of this operating system), move the switch under the heading Transparency effects to ON . You can deactivate this option at any time by repositioning the lever next to this wording to OFF .

In case you want to know how to do this even in the latest version of Microsoft’s operating system ( Windows 11 ), open the Start menu and launch the Settings app . At this point, select the Personalization tab from the sidebar and choose the Colors item . Now, in the item Choose the mode set the Custom option , while indicates Dark in the item below Choose the default Windows mode .

Once this is done, scroll down the screen and locate the Main Color section . What you need to do is choose one of the colors listed and then move the lever next to the wording Show main color on Start and on the taskbar to ON .

How to change the contents of the Windows 10 Start menu

Do you want to customize the contents of the Windows 10 Start menu by adding or deleting various applications, folders and icons? Carrying out this kind of operation is really simple: seeing is believing!

To begin with, open the Start menu by clicking on the Windows flag icon (bottom left), then click on the gear icon located in the sidebar and, in the window that opens, first select the Personalization item and then that Start .

At this point, interact with the items Show more tiles on Start , Show list of apps on Start menu , Show recently added apps , Show most used apps and Show occasionally tips on Start . All of these options allow you to turn on or off the display of certain items in the Start menu, which can help you speed up certain operations, such as launching an application you use most frequently.

Want to choose which folders to display on the Start menu? Click on the item Choose the folders to be displayed in Start at the bottom of the Start section of the Settings panel and, in the window that opens, move the switches located under the listed items to ON / OFF , based on the folders you want to view or hide (eg. File Explorer , Documents , Downloads , etc.).

In case you want to remove tiles from the Windows 10 Start menu , such as the one for the quick start of an application, right-click on the icon of the latter and select the item Remove from Start from the panel that opens.

If you want to customize the box, using the Resize and Other items in the same context menu, you can respectively select the size of the icon or perform other actions, such as deactivating the animations (if available for the icon) or adding the application to the taskbar.

If you want to put the application icons in the Start menu in order, hold down the left mouse button on the icon you want to move and drag it to the desired position. Admit it: Customizing the Windows 10 Start Menu was easier than you imagined, wasn’t it?

On Windows 11 you can change some elements of the contents of the Start menu. Launch the latter, click Settings and select the Personalization tab from the sidebar. Click on the Start item and choose which items to display: you can enable the display of recently installed apps and software ( Show recently added apps ), the most used ones ( Show the most used apps ) or the files you use the most ( Show items recently opened in the Start Menu, Jump Lists, and File Explorer ).

By expanding the Folders item instead , you can choose which icons to show in the Start menu: you can for example have a quick link to the Windows 11 settings, the network panel, specific folders, such as Documents , Downloads , Music , etc. If you want to view a feature or an icon, move the lever that you will find immediately next to the aforementioned to ON ; if not, just move it to OFF .

Troubleshooting the Start menu

If you see a critical error in the Windows 10 Start menu every time you open it, it is a symptom that something is wrong with the system files of your operating system and that, therefore, your intervention is required to restore it to its default condition. .

In this regard, if the Windows 10 Start menu does not work , my advice is to carefully read all the information I gave you in my tutorial on how to restore the Start menu , in which you will find several solutions to be able to solve the your problem.