I’ve shown the following tips and methods to many people, and they end up loving Windows 8 afterwards. Remember, the Start Screen is your customized “Start”…so make it yours!
Note: This article and video refers to Windows 8.1, which is the free upgrade for Windows 8 users.
Tip #1: Keep It Simple
You don’t have to pin everything to your Start Screen. Keep it simple, and to what you want to use (and see) the most.
Remember, you can always view ALL your programs (watch the above video to see how that’s done) or just start typing to find what you want (also in the video). If you understand that part, you’ll feel less inclined to clutter up your Start Screen.
Pin to the Start Screen what you use the most, or frequently.
Don’t pin things that you rarely if ever use. Remember, you can always get to them easily and fast!
Tip #2: Group ‘Em
Just like in my video, group apps so you can have them in meaningful places. Just like you wouldn’t throw all your clothes into one drawer, don’t do the same thing to your Start Screen. Make it easy for your eyes to find what you want. You can even create ‘temporary’ groups. For example, let’s say you are going on a trip. You can create a folder(s) on your computer (or better yet, on SkyDrive) and pin the folders, websites, maps, etc, to this group called “World Cruise”.
Here are some ideas for groups (pick and choose, or create your own!):
Friends & Family
Productivity
Office
Games
Entertainment
Photography
Travel
To rearrange groups, go to the “minus” icon in the lower right-hand corner. From there, you can move around the groups. Touchscreen users can simply pinch to minimize, then rearrange groups.
To name a group(s), right-mouse click an empty part of the Start Screen and choose customize. Touchscreen users can swipe up from the bottom.
Tip #3: Enable Desktop Wallpaper
To make going back and forth between the desktop less jarring, turn on the desktop wallpaper! Just like in the video, it looks beautiful and truly makes understanding the Start Screen as a Start Menu replacement more understandable. Right mouse-click your taskbar in desktop mode, select ‘properties’, go to ‘navigation’ tab, and check “Show My Desktop Background in Start”.
You can also enable this from the Start Screen by showing your ‘charms bar’, go to ‘settings’, then ‘personalize’. The last tiny wallpaper icon will always be your desktop wallpaper.
Tip #4: Pin People
It doesn’t matter if you have a ton of people you are “friends” with on Facebook, or “follow” on Twitter…we usually only really care about updates from certain ones. With the Start Screen, you can make this very easy on you! In the “People” app, you can connect different accounts to it (such as Facebook, Twitter, Skype, etc.) and “pin” people (or accounts of business, such as Microsoft) to your Start Screen. That way, whenever there is an update, you’ll see it on the Start Screen and you don’t even have to go to a website or another app!
If a person or account typically posts pictures (for example, the “Peanuts” account as shown in the picture below posts an image often to their Twitter account) opt for the “Large” tile size. If you choose the “Wide” tile size, the image will not show completely (but that may be ok with you, it’s your call!).
Tip #5: Pin Websites
Do you find yourself always going to a certain website? Then pin it! It’s easy to do when you use Internet Explorer 11 via the Start Screen. Click the “Star” icon (Favorites) and then click the “Pin” icon to pin it to your Start Screen. Some websites, such as Bing which is shown in the screenshot below, enable their website to display live tile information such as a picture and trending searches (all websites can do this if they enable it). Otherwise, it will be a plain icon (such as “The Verge” website icon also shown below).
What to pin? Your favorite or most visited websites such as your work webmail, banking, social media sites, etc. Sure your “Favorites” in the browser is still there, but this is a fast way to get to things. Just click the icon and you’re taken to the site!
Tip #6: Pin Folders
Face it, you end up going to a particular folder (or folders) on your computer all the time. Or, honestly, you often forget where that folder is! With Windows 8.1, you can “pin” your folders to the Start Screen. This works with a folder on your computer hard drive (“C” drive), a network drive (like on your work computer), or even on a cloud based drive (such as Microsoft SkyDrive).
Just right mouse-click a folder and select “Pin to Start”. From there, go to your Start Screen and move the folder wherever you’d like! When you click the folder, it will bring you to the desktop and open the folder for you. Life is good.
Tip #7: Search Better
If you used Windows 7, you’re used to this already from the Start Menu back then. When you get to the Start Screen in Windows 8.1, just start typing for a program, file, or whatever you’re looking for! In the screenshot below, I’m looking for my Microsoft OneNote program. All I have to do is start typing and it constantly autocompletes with things it believes I’m searching for (which is often correct). The first (top) options will normally be your programs or apps. All you have to do is press your “enter” key (or click the result) and your program opens. It’s fast!
If you click the magnifying glass icon next to the search box, you’ll be brought into the ‘search’ page which even brings you web results which look fantastic. So if you’re looking for “London” you’ll see files, music, and other things on your computer in addition to search results form the web such as videos, weather, websites, etc. It’s a great feature (but you can always use the ‘down’ arrow above the search to select just ‘files’ or something like that.
Another reason the search is much better with Windows 8, is you’ll see more “results”. In Windows 7, it was limited normally to just 3 options in the tiny Start Menu to the point it was useless. Now, you’ll get more options visible to you.
Just like in my video, group apps so you can have them in meaningful places. Just like you wouldn’t throw all your clothes into one drawer, don’t do the same thing to your Start Screen. Make it easy for your eyes to find what you want. You can even create ‘temporary’ groups. For example, let’s say you are going on a trip. You can create a folder(s) on your computer (or better yet, on SkyDrive) and pin the folders, websites, maps, etc, to this group called “World Cruise”.
Here are some ideas for groups (pick and choose, or create your own!):
Friends & Family
Productivity
Office
Games
Entertainment
Photography
Travel
To rearrange groups, go to the “minus” icon in the lower right-hand corner. From there, you can move around the groups. Touchscreen users can simply pinch to minimize, then rearrange groups.
To name a group(s), right-mouse click an empty part of the Start Screen and choose customize. Touchscreen users can swipe up from the bottom.
Tip #3: Enable Desktop Wallpaper
To make going back and forth between the desktop less jarring, turn on the desktop wallpaper! Just like in the video, it looks beautiful and truly makes understanding the Start Screen as a Start Menu replacement more understandable. Right mouse-click your taskbar in desktop mode, select ‘properties’, go to ‘navigation’ tab, and check “Show My Desktop Background in Start”.
You can also enable this from the Start Screen by showing your ‘charms bar’, go to ‘settings’, then ‘personalize’. The last tiny wallpaper icon will always be your desktop wallpaper.
It doesn’t matter if you have a ton of people you are “friends” with on Facebook, or “follow” on Twitter…we usually only really care about updates from certain ones. With the Start Screen, you can make this very easy on you! In the “People” app, you can connect different accounts to it (such as Facebook, Twitter, Skype, etc.) and “pin” people (or accounts of business, such as Microsoft) to your Start Screen. That way, whenever there is an update, you’ll see it on the Start Screen and you don’t even have to go to a website or another app!
If a person or account typically posts pictures (for example, the “Peanuts” account as shown in the picture below posts an image often to their Twitter account) opt for the “Large” tile size. If you choose the “Wide” tile size, the image will not show completely (but that may be ok with you, it’s your call!).
Do you find yourself always going to a certain website? Then pin it! It’s easy to do when you use Internet Explorer 11 via the Start Screen. Click the “Star” icon (Favorites) and then click the “Pin” icon to pin it to your Start Screen. Some websites, such as Bing which is shown in the screenshot below, enable their website to display live tile information such as a picture and trending searches (all websites can do this if they enable it). Otherwise, it will be a plain icon (such as “The Verge” website icon also shown below).
What to pin? Your favorite or most visited websites such as your work webmail, banking, social media sites, etc. Sure your “Favorites” in the browser is still there, but this is a fast way to get to things. Just click the icon and you’re taken to the site!
Face it, you end up going to a particular folder (or folders) on your computer all the time. Or, honestly, you often forget where that folder is! With Windows 8.1, you can “pin” your folders to the Start Screen. This works with a folder on your computer hard drive (“C” drive), a network drive (like on your work computer), or even on a cloud based drive (such as Microsoft SkyDrive).
Just right mouse-click a folder and select “Pin to Start”. From there, go to your Start Screen and move the folder wherever you’d like! When you click the folder, it will bring you to the desktop and open the folder for you. Life is good.
If you used Windows 7, you’re used to this already from the Start Menu back then. When you get to the Start Screen in Windows 8.1, just start typing for a program, file, or whatever you’re looking for! In the screenshot below, I’m looking for my Microsoft OneNote program. All I have to do is start typing and it constantly autocompletes with things it believes I’m searching for (which is often correct). The first (top) options will normally be your programs or apps. All you have to do is press your “enter” key (or click the result) and your program opens. It’s fast!
If you click the magnifying glass icon next to the search box, you’ll be brought into the ‘search’ page which even brings you web results which look fantastic. So if you’re looking for “London” you’ll see files, music, and other things on your computer in addition to search results form the web such as videos, weather, websites, etc. It’s a great feature (but you can always use the ‘down’ arrow above the search to select just ‘files’ or something like that.
Another reason the search is much better with Windows 8, is you’ll see more “results”. In Windows 7, it was limited normally to just 3 options in the tiny Start Menu to the point it was useless. Now, you’ll get more options visible to you.
Tip #8: Program Overload
Are you one of those people who need to see everything? You also probably liked the old Start Menu where every single program was listed. If so, you’ll still love Windows 8.1! At the bottom of the start screen is a “down arrow” in a circle. Click it to reveal every single app and program on your computer. Yes, the seas have parted.
Better yet, you can group (using the down arrow next to the “Apps” title) by name, date installed, most used, or category. Now that’s nice!
Now, this article is just about using the Start Screen, but if you would prefer to just be brought to the “Apps” view, and skip those Start Screen…yes, you can do that! Via the Desktop, right-mouse click the taskbar, then select “properties”. Then choose “navigation” tab, and you’ll see a plethora of options! Check-marking “Show the Apps view automatically when I go to Start” will have you bypass the Start screen each time you click the Start button. If you’re strictly a desktop program user, select the “List desktop apps first in the Apps view…” also.
Bonus Tip: Pin Email Folders
If you’re like most people, your email account has “folders”. Perhaps for bills, friends and family, newsletters, and such. If you’re really fancy, you have “rules” set up in your email to automatically “filter” emails to these folders (for example, you have your car loan payment bill emails automatically filtered to your “Car Loan” folder). You can pin that folder to your Start Screen easily and see when new emails come in (this is great for work as well too, where you’ll probably want to pin the folder for your Boss to the Start Screen).
In the Mail app within Windows 8, right-mouse click a folder you wish to pin. Click the “Manage Folders” icon that appears at the bottom, then click “Pin to Start”. You’ll then have the option to choose the size of the tile.
On your Start Screen, your email folder live tile is ready to be placed wherever you’d like! In the screenshot below, my “Microsoft” folder appears below my main “Mail” live tile.
Are you one of those people who need to see everything? You also probably liked the old Start Menu where every single program was listed. If so, you’ll still love Windows 8.1! At the bottom of the start screen is a “down arrow” in a circle. Click it to reveal every single app and program on your computer. Yes, the seas have parted.
Better yet, you can group (using the down arrow next to the “Apps” title) by name, date installed, most used, or category. Now that’s nice!
Now, this article is just about using the Start Screen, but if you would prefer to just be brought to the “Apps” view, and skip those Start Screen…yes, you can do that! Via the Desktop, right-mouse click the taskbar, then select “properties”. Then choose “navigation” tab, and you’ll see a plethora of options! Check-marking “Show the Apps view automatically when I go to Start” will have you bypass the Start screen each time you click the Start button. If you’re strictly a desktop program user, select the “List desktop apps first in the Apps view…” also.
If you’re like most people, your email account has “folders”. Perhaps for bills, friends and family, newsletters, and such. If you’re really fancy, you have “rules” set up in your email to automatically “filter” emails to these folders (for example, you have your car loan payment bill emails automatically filtered to your “Car Loan” folder). You can pin that folder to your Start Screen easily and see when new emails come in (this is great for work as well too, where you’ll probably want to pin the folder for your Boss to the Start Screen).
In the Mail app within Windows 8, right-mouse click a folder you wish to pin. Click the “Manage Folders” icon that appears at the bottom, then click “Pin to Start”. You’ll then have the option to choose the size of the tile.
On your Start Screen, your email folder live tile is ready to be placed wherever you’d like! In the screenshot below, my “Microsoft” folder appears below my main “Mail” live tile.
alanpeto