How to Customize the Windows 10 Start Menu

The Start Menu is back and has once again become the pivotal point of Windows. How could Microsoft ever remove the iconic Start Menu in the first place? It’s different though, with the classic design now integrating the tiles introduced with Windows 8’s Start Screen.

If used well, the tiles can add a lot of value to your Windows experience. In particular, visually-minded users will appreciate the creative freedom that tiles offer. Here we’ll show you the potential of tiles and along the way you’ll learn about their different features, as well as other ways to customize the Start Menu.

Manage Your Tiles

On a classic desktop PC, tiles may seem like a waste of space. Once you’re using Windows 10 on a hybrid or mobile device, however, where scrolling through menus can be tedious, tiles quickly become indispensable.

Tile Basics

You can pin almost any item to the Start Menu (right-click > Pin to Start) and it will show up as a tile. We’ve previously shown you how you can manage your tiles, i.e. Unpin from Start, Resize, or re-arrange them. Just right-click or long-press a tile to see which options come up, drag-and-drop a tile to move it around, and don’t miss out on the option to give a group of tiles a descriptive name through the title bar.

Edit Name & Icon of Start Menu Tiles

Don’t like the name of a given tile in your Start Menu? Right-click the tile, select Open file location, then rename the respective file in Windows Explorer. While you’re at it, you can also change the icon used for the tile. In Windows Explorer, right click the file, select Properties, in the Shortcut tab click Change Icon…, and select a given icon or Browse… for an alternative one on your computer.

This will work for desktop programs and most shortcuts, but not for Universal Windows apps, unless…

Create Shortcuts to Universal Windows Apps

Shortcuts can help you access a file or app from various locations. Universal Windows apps don’t provide an obvious way to create a shortcut, but we know of two different methods. The first is almost too simple; try to drag an app from the Start Menu to the desktop. What you’ll get is a shortcut on the desktop and the app will still sit in your Start Menu.
Alternatively, you can open the Applications shell folder, which hosts all applications installed on your computer, including Universal Windows apps. Press Windows key + R to open the Run dialog (or long-press the Start Button and select Run from the Power Menu), type shell:AppsFolder, and select OK . From here you can create shortcuts to any of your applications.

Once you have created a shortcut, you can rename it, change its icon, and pin it to your Start Menu. That’s how you can create custom icons for Universal Windows Apps.
Add Chrome Web Apps

Chrome lets you add any website to the Windows Taskbar. Although in Windows 10, it actually adds them to the Start Menu as a tile. Click the Hamburger icon in Chrome, go to More Tools > Add to taskbar…, and check Open as window.

The tile will now launch the website in an app-like window, without distracting toolbars or tabs. This is particularly neat for websites like Gmail, Facebook, or YouTube.

Manage the All Apps List

Compared to previous Windows versions, the All Apps list appears stale and is difficult to navigate. Moreover, you cannot easily remove items, unless you’re happy to uninstall them. With the file location trick already described above, however, you regain some flexibility.
Classic desktop software is added to the All Apps list with a folder, but you really just need the Dropbox application shortcut in that list. When you right-click and item and select Open file location, you will access the Programs directory, based on which the All Apps menu is created. This is where you can move shortcuts or create additional folders. For example, I could move the Dropbox shortcut from the Dropbox folder to the Programs directory, then delete the Dropbox folder.
You have to reboot for the latter to take effect.
Also note that you can quickly jump to a different location in the All Apps list by clicking or long-pressing a letter, then selecting your target from the menu that comes up.