Windows 10 is a stylish, modern and feature-rich operating system. However, many users do not like its new Start menu: it seems overloaded and confusing. Therefore, there was a justified need to return the Start menu to its usual appearance, as in Windows 7 or even earlier versions. There are several ways to solve this problem.
Return to "classic" on Windows 10
There are a lot of options for returning the “traditional” Start menu. But most of them require the installation of third-party software. You should not be afraid of this, since such additional programs do not contain anything dangerous for your OS. In addition, there is a way to customize the Start menu exclusively using Windows 10 itself.
Setup using standard Windows 10 features
This method brings the appearance of the Start menu as close as possible to the classic one. The essence of the setting is to get rid of bulky “tiles” that occupy almost a third of the screen surface. It is completed in a matter of minutes.
- Open the Start menu, right-click on each tile in sequence and select the “Unpin from Start Screen” option. We repeat this until there are not a single tile left in the available space.
When you right-click on a tile, you can change its settings
- Once the “tile area” is free, move the mouse cursor to the right edge of the Start menu window until the double-sided arrow icon appears. Hold down the left mouse button and drag the edge of the menu to the left until it stops.
If you don't unpin all the tiles, you won't be able to resize the tiled area.
- By hiding the Windows tile display area, you end up with a Start menu that is closer to the standard version.
By leaving only the Start menu area, you will be visually closer to the “classic” look
Video: How to remove the “tile area” from the Start menu on Windows 10
Thanks to this method, the Start menu begins to resemble the “classics”, but still very distantly. Therefore, for deeper settings it is better to use special utilities. Let's look at the most popular programs that allow you to return the Start menu to its usual appearance.
The most popular programs for customizing the Start menu on Windows 10
There are many free and paid utilities for Windows 10 on the Internet that allow you to return the Start menu to its usual appearance. However, millions of ordinary Microsoft OS users have long chosen a small group of them that are the most convenient, efficient and easily customizable.
StartIsBack - select the correct version
Some top lists of “popular Start Menu customization programs for Windows 10” recommend StartIsBack. But keep in mind that not all versions of this program are suitable for Windows 10. Today there are three versions:
- StartIsBack version for Windows 8;
- StartIsBack+ version for Windows 8.1;
- StartIsBack++ version for Windows 10.
For Windows 10 OS you can only use the StartIsBack++ version.
StartIsBack++ for Windows 10
If you download a version of the program that is not intended for Windows 10, it will not run for you.
After downloading, run the installer. During installation, you can select Russian language.
The program only has a 30-day free version, after which you will have to either buy it (the latest current price is 125 rubles), or completely remove it (without leaving traces in the system registry) and install the trial version again.
After installation, a window will appear where you can immediately go to the Start panel settings by clicking on the “Configure StartIsBack” entry.
Once the installation of the program is complete, you will also be told about the main launch options using hotkeys
If you accidentally closed the installation window, but want to change the program settings, you can access them by right-clicking on the “Start” menu and selecting the “Properties” function.
The StartIsBack utility has four different settings windows, which together allow you to create a full-fledged individual style of the Start menu.
- Start menu customization window. Makes it possible to change the display order of installed programs, the size and illumination of icons, and also configure the search bar.
The Start menu customization is so rich that everyone can choose the best option for themselves.
- Appearance settings window. Helps you choose the style of the Start menu window.
The design style of the Start menu allows for fairly flexible customization
- “Switching” settings window. It includes settings for hot keys and placement of the Start icon on the monitor screen.
When assigning hotkeys, be careful that they do not duplicate other commands in Windows.
- Additional settings window. You can configure the display of all recently opened documents or running programs.
In the “Advanced” settings, you can also disable the StartIsBack++ program without removing it from the system
After completing the setup process, you will have a “classic Start”.
By changing your Start menu settings, you can check the result in real time without restarting your computer
Classic Shell - a program with wide settings functionality
This utility is perhaps the most famous, popular and convenient of all. It is available in many languages, including Russian. To return to the classic Start menu using Classic Shell:
- Go to the official website of the program, where immediately on the main page click the Download Now button to download.
- After downloading, running the program and accepting the license agreement, Classic Shell will give you the right to select the installation folder and those utility components that you would like to install. There are only four such components:
- After completing the installation and clicking on the “Start” menu, you will immediately be taken to the Classic Shell settings window. It has four tabs:
- The Start menu style settings window allows you to customize the appearance of both the menu itself and the corresponding button;
The Classic Shell program offers the classic Start menu view not only from Windows 7, but also from the earlier version of Windows XP
- the basic settings window allows you to set hotkey combinations that will be used to execute Windows commands;
Clicking the “Archive settings” button will allow you to quickly save the current settings for later access
- The cover settings window allows you to set the window background in the Start menu;
There are a total of 8 Start menu appearance styles available.
- The Start menu customization window is responsible for customizing the display of icons in the menu.
The Customize Start Menu window allows you not only to choose how individual items will look, but also to completely disable some of them
- The Start menu style settings window allows you to customize the appearance of both the menu itself and the corresponding button;
- After selecting all the necessary settings, the Start menu will take on its usual classic appearance.
Classic Shell consumes virtually no additional resources on your PC
Video: the process of installing and configuring the Classic Shell program on Windows 10
Start10 is a program with the best integration for Windows 10 style
Another utility in the “top” is Start10. It allows you to customize the visual style of the Start menu so that it will be in perfect harmony with the overall style of Windows 10. To make sure of this, just follow a number of simple steps:
- Go to the program developers page and click the Try It Free!
On the main page you can watch a video depicting the program's capabilities
- After downloading and installation, the main window of the utility will open, where you can create the desired Start menu option using the existing settings.
- The “Style” setting contains two tabs that help you customize the appearance of the Start menu: the main button, size, number and illumination of icons, etc.;
The “Style” settings window is divided into two sub-items
- the “Manage” setting is responsible for redistributing hotkeys for commands related to the Start menu;
If you have only one WIN key on your keyboard, then some settings will not be available
- The Desktop setting allows you to change the gamma and texture of the bottom toolbar, as well as hide the Start button.
Although the Start10 program supports the Russian language, it is only partially Russified
- The “Style” setting contains two tabs that help you customize the appearance of the Start menu: the main button, size, number and illumination of icons, etc.;
- As a result, we get either a strictly classic Start menu, or a more modern version with notes of WIndows 10 design.
While writing this article, the author noticed that the Classic Shell utility is the most popular among both Russian-speaking and English-speaking users. If we take into account foreign Windows 10 users, then IObit’s Start Menu and Power8 programs are also in demand. When testing the above-mentioned applications, it turned out that IObit’s Start Menu not only has much less settings functionality than other programs, but also a slower response of Start menu items. Moreover, its installation may even lead to Windows Explorer freezing or incorrect display of icons on the desktop. If we talk about Power8, its obvious advantages will be the minimal consumption of PC resources, as well as the integrated search bar, which allows you to search not only on local drives, but also on the Internet, without the need to manually launch the browser. The main disadvantage of the utility is a very specific set of settings for the Start menu and quick access panel.
Alternative way to set up for a "special occasion"
The reason for the desire to return the “classic Start” to Windows 10 may be another “special case”. Imagine that you booted up a computer with the Windows operating system, opened the Start menu and suddenly saw not the usual window, but a set of tiles expanded to fill the entire screen.
In tablet mode, not only the Start menu changes, but also the bottom toolbar
In this case, returning the normal appearance of the start menu is quite simple. The fact is that “tablet mode” is enabled on your computer. To deactivate it you must:
- Go to the “System” console settings (right-click on the “Start” menu, and then select “Options”).
In addition to disabling tablet mode, in the settings you can also enable an activation notification the next time you launch this mode
- Now, when you click the “Start” button, the usual launch window will open.
Video: how to disable “Tablet Mode” in Windows 10
Are there other ways to customize the Windows 10 Start menu to look classic? The answer is no, you can only try different third-party applications or be content with the standard system settings. This was confirmed by an official employee (moderator) of Microsoft Corporation. A similar question from a user on the Microsoft technical support website (link with original English text) was answered by the following answer (translated by the author of this article):
Unfortunately, the new Windows 10 OS does not have the option to return to the classic Start menu. If you need it that much, you can use third-party programs. But Microsoft does not recommend using third-party software and other hacking methods.
Having checked all the available methods for returning the classic view of the Start menu on Windows 10, the author of this article came to the conclusion that the optimal solution would be to use third-party programs such as StartIsBack++ and Classic Shell. These utilities showed the most stable operation, while having the widest functionality of settings.
The new Windows 10 OS has undoubtedly taken a step forward in terms of modernization, simplification, versatility and greater responsiveness to users. However, not all Microsoft innovations were to the taste of users. One of the most controversial is the emphasis on the “tiled Start menu system”, so many would like to return to the familiar “classic” Start option. And this is quite possible not only thanks to the built-in functionality of Windows 10 itself, but also, first of all, to numerous third-party programs.
