Quick guide to change Windows 10 Start Menu back to classic

• The Start menu is where most work begins on your Windows computer.
• The Windows 10 Start menu is a massive improvement from that of Windows 8 /8.1, but many users still prefer the classic Start menu .
• For more easy-to-follow DIY guides on different tech elements, visit our How-To section.
• Windows 10 comes packed with amazing features . Improve your knowledge of the operating system with our Windows 10 articles.

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It’s understandable why you may be looking to change Windows 10 start menu to classic. Some people consider the Windows 7 and XP Start menu to be more useful than that of Windows 10.

When Windows 8 dropped, there was an uproar from users regarding the fullscreen Start menu. Despite Microsoft responding by modifying the Start menu in Windows 8.1 and later, fans took things into their hands and devised ways to get back the classic Start menu.

How do I change the Windows Start menu to classic?

How do I switch back to the classic view in Windows 10?

1. Download and install Classic Shell.
   
2. Click on the Start button and search for classic shell.
3. Open the topmost result of your search.
4. Select the Start menu view between Classic, Classic with two columns and Windows 7 style.
5. Hit the OK button.
6. Back up the selected styles as XML.
7. Apply the settings.

Customize the Start Menu in Windows 10

Enable full-screen mode

1. Click on the Start.
2. Select the Settings icon.
3. Select Personalization.
4. Hit the Start from the left sidebar.
5. Click the Switch button below the Use Start Full-Screen text.

Change the size of the start menu

1. Click on the Start button.
2. Take your cursor to the edge of the Start Menu, so it turns to a double-sided arrow.
3. Click on it and drag it up or down to resize.
4. Release your cursor when you’re done.

Pin an application to the Start menu

1. Locate the application.
2. Right-click on the application to be pinned.
3. Select the Pin to Start.

Unpin an application from the Start menu

1. Open the Start
2. Right-click on the application.
3. Select Unpin from Start.

Change application tile sizes

1. Click on the Start
2. Right-click on the application.
3. Select Resize.
4. Select the option of your choice.

Add folders to the Start menu

1. Click on the Start menu button.
2. Select Settings.
3. Click the Personalization tile.
4. Choose Start from the sidebar.
5. Click Choose which folders appear on Start.
6. Toggle on or off the applications on the screen.

Move tiles in the Start menu

1. Click on the Start button.
2. Click and hold on the tile.
3. Drag-and-drop the tile to your desired position.

Rename groups of tiles

1. Click on the Start
2. Select the tile for renaming.
3. Delete any text in the Type field
4. Rename the tile.

Change the Start menu color

1. Click on the Start
2. Select Settings
3. Click the Personalization
4. Pick a color from Windows colors.
5. Mark the checkbox for Start, taskbar, and action center under Show accent color on the following surfaces.

Turn off Live Tiles

1. Click on the Start menu button.
2. Right-click on the live tile.
3. Click the Move.
4. Select the Turn live tile off option

We hope that this guide has proven useful in your case and that you now have the Start Menu and icons in the exact way you wanted.

Feel free to let us know if this guide has helped by using the comment section below.

Manage Windows 10 Start and taskbar layout

Applies to

• WindowsВ 10, Windows Server 2016 with Desktop Experience, Windows Server 2019 with Desktop Experience

Organizations might want to deploy a customized Start and taskbar configuration to devices running WindowsВ 10 Pro, Enterprise, or Education. A standard, customized Start layout can be useful on devices that are common to multiple users and devices that are locked down for specialized purposes. Configuring the taskbar allows the organization to pin useful apps for their employees and to remove apps that are pinned by default.

Taskbar configuration is available starting in Windows 10, version 1607.

Start and taskbar configuration can be applied to devices running Windows 10 Pro, version 1703.

For information on using the layout modification XML to configure Start with roaming user profiles, see Deploy Roaming User Profiles.

Using CopyProfile for Start menu customization in Windows 10 isn’t supported. For more information Customize the Default User Profile by Using CopyProfile

Start options

Some areas of Start can be managed using Group Policy. The layout of Start tiles can be managed using either Group Policy or Mobile Device Management (MDM) policy.

The MDM policy settings in the table can also be configured in a provisioning package using Policies > Start. See the reference for Start settings in Windows Configuration Designer.

The following table lists the different parts of Start and any applicable policy settings or Settings options. Group Policy settings are in the User Configuration\Administrative Templates\Start Menu and Taskbar path except where a different path is listed in the table.

Start	Policy	Local setting
User tile	MDM: Start/HideUserTile Start/HideSwitchAccount Start/HideSignOut Start/HideLock Start/HideChangeAccountSettings Group Policy: Remove Logoff on the Start menu	none
Most used	MDM: Start/HideFrequentlyUsedApps Group Policy: Remove frequent programs from the Start menu	Settings > Personalization > Start > Show most used apps
Suggestions -and- Dynamically inserted app tile	MDM: Allow Windows Consumer Features Group Policy: Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Cloud Content\Turn off Microsoft consumer experiences Note: This policy also enables or disables notifications for a user’s Microsoft account and app tiles from Microsoft dynamically inserted in the default Start menu.	Settings > Personalization > Start > Occasionally show suggestions in Start
Recently added	MDM: Start/HideRecentlyAddedApps Group Policy: Computer configuration\Administrative Template\Start Menu and Taskbar\Remove «Recently Added» list from Start Menu (for Windows 10, version 1803)	Settings > Personalization > Start > Show recently added apps
Pinned folders	MDM: AllowPinnedFolder	Settings > Personalization > Start > Choose which folders appear on Start
Power	MDM: Start/HidePowerButton Start/HideHibernate Start/HideRestart Start/HideShutDown Start/HideSleep Group Policy: Remove and prevent access to the Shut Down, Restart, Sleep, and Hibernate commands	none
Start layout	MDM: Start layout ImportEdgeAssets Group Policy: Prevent users from customizing their Start screen Note: When a full Start screen layout is imported with Group Policy or MDM, the users cannot pin, unpin, or uninstall apps from the Start screen. Users can view and open all apps in the All Apps view, but they cannot pin any apps to the Start screen. When a partial Start screen layout is imported, users cannot change the tile groups applied by the partial layout, but can modify other tile groups and create their own. Start layout policy can be used to pin apps to the taskbar based on an XML File that you provide. Users will be able to change the order of pinned apps, unpin apps, and pin additional apps to the taskbar.	none
Jump lists	MDM: Start/HideRecentJumplists Group Policy: Do not keep history of recently opened documents	Settings > Personalization > Start > Show recently opened items in Jump Lists on Start or the taskbar
Start size	MDM: Force Start size Group Policy: Force Start to be either full screen size or menu size	Settings > Personalization > Start > Use Start full screen
App list	MDM: Start/HideAppList	Settings > Personalization > Start > Show app list in Start menu
All Settings	Group Policy: Prevent changes to Taskbar and Start Menu Settings	none
Taskbar	MDM: Start/NoPinningToTaskbar	none

In local Settings > Personalization > Start, there is an option to Show more tiles. The default tile layout for Start tiles is 3 columns of medium sized tiles. Show more tiles enables 4 columns. To configure the 4-column layout when you customize and export a Start layout, turn on the Show more tiles setting and then arrange your tiles.

Taskbar options

Starting in Windows 10, version 1607, you can pin additional apps to the taskbar and remove default pinned apps from the taskbar. You can specify different taskbar configurations based on device locale or region.

There are three categories of apps that might be pinned to a taskbar:

Apps pinned by the user

Default Windows apps, pinned during operating system installation (Microsoft Edge, File Explorer, Store)

Apps pinned by the enterprise, such as in an unattended Windows setup

We recommend using the layoutmodification.xml method to configure taskbar options, rather than the earlier method of using TaskbarLinks in an unattended Windows setup file.

The following example shows how apps will be pinned — Windows default apps to the left (blue circle), apps pinned by the user in the center (orange triangle), and apps that you pin using XML to the right (green square).

In operating systems configured to use a right-to-left language, the taskbar order will be reversed.

Whether you apply the taskbar configuration to a clean install or an update, users will still be able to:

• Pin additional apps
• Change the order of pinned apps
• Unpin any app

In Windows 10, version 1703, you can apply an MDM policy, Start/NoPinningToTaskbar , to prevents users from pinning and unpinning apps on the taskbar.

Taskbar configuration applied to clean install of Windows 10

In a clean install, if you apply a taskbar layout, only the apps that you specify and default apps that you do not remove will be pinned to the taskbar. Users can pin additional apps to the taskbar after the layout is applied.

Taskbar configuration applied to Windows 10 upgrades

When a device is upgraded to Windows 10, apps will be pinned to the taskbar already. Some apps may have been pinned to the taskbar by a user, and others may have been pinned to the taskbar through a customized base image or by using Windows Unattend setup.

The new taskbar layout for upgrades to Windows 10, version 1607 or later, will apply the following behavior:

• If the user pinned the app to the taskbar, those pinned apps remain and new apps will be added to the right.
• If the user didn’t pin the app (it was pinned during installation or by policy) and the app is not in updated layout file, the app will be unpinned.
• If the user didn’t pin the app and the app is in the updated layout file, the app will be pinned to the right.
• New apps specified in updated layout file are pinned to right of user’s pinned apps.

Start layout configuration errors

If your Start layout customization is not applied as expected, open Event Viewer and navigate to Applications and Services Log > Microsoft > Windows > ShellCommon-StartLayoutPopulation > Operational, and check for one of the following events:

• Event 22 is logged when the xml is malformed, meaning the specified file simply isn’t valid xml. This can occur if the file has extra spaces or unexpected characters, or if the file is not saved in the UTF8 format.
• Event 64 is logged when the xml is valid, but has unexpected values. This can happen when the desired configuration is not understood, elements are not in the required order, or source is not found, such as a missing or misspelled .lnk.