4 December 2012

How to Add Start Button in Windows 8

Published at | 12/04/2012 Categories: ,


If you installed the new Microsoft Windows 8 on your system, the first thing you will notice when you navigate to the Desktop is the missing Start button. The Windows 8 came with major changes and new features like the Metro design. Instead of the Start button, now you have the Start screen that applications are tiled. You can add or pin application to Start screen and most importantly the Metro applications dynamically update. For Desktop users who used to the classic Start button in older versions of Windows like Win 7 or XP jumping from the Desktop version to the Metro style is a little difficult. If you want to add the Start button to the Desktop in Windows 8 and access all your applications directly within the Desktop, then you have two solutions for this problem. The first one is to create a new toolbar on the Taskbar and the second one is to use a utility application.

Let me start with the first solution. To add a simple Start Menu on the desktop, follow these steps:

Step 1
Right-click on an empty space of Taskbar and if Lock the taskbar is selected, un-lock it.



Step 2
Select Toolbars>New toolbar.



Step 3
In front of the Folder, enter the path below and then click on Select Folder.




Step 4
The new Start Menu toolbar will be created, just drag it to the most left side of the Taskbar. You can click on the small arrows to access the start menu.



The second solution is to use utility applications. There are lots of applications on the Internet that add start button to your desktop. Some of them are free and some are not. Among them, Start8, Classic Shell and StartMenu8 are majority used by developers.

I personally prefer the Classic Shell because it is a free and open source and also gives you lots of options to tweak the start menu. Also you can directly access the Metro applications from the Start Menu. You have options to customize its look, Fonts, Search box and many more. Click on images below to go to the corresponding websites:

Start8

 Classic Shell

 StartMenu8
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