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Home » How To » How to Personalize Windows 8 Start Screen

How to Personalize Windows 8 Start Screen

November 9, 2012

The Start screen is the first screen that you get to see when you unlock your PC. It replaces the traditional Start button seen in previous Windows versions, and contains commonly used programs displayed in a tiled format. Depending on the number of tiles the Start screen holds, the screen expands. Now that you can see how the Start screen looks like, how much personalizing it with apps and colors you like to see on them? Maybe you want to remove certain tiles you don’t use, add new tiles, or even change the size of the tiles. There’s a ton of ways in which you can customize the Start screen. Let’s take a look at  how to personalize Windows 8 Start Screen.

How to Personalize Windows 8 Start Screen

Before we get started, remember to login to your account using your Microsoft credentials before you personalize the computer. This will help you to export your settings when you access your account on another Windows device.

You can personalize the Start screen in a number of ways. In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to add a new background color to the Windows 8 Start screen, remove tiles you don’t intend to use very often, remove the live features on tiles, add fresh new tiles, and resize tiles.

How to Add a New Background Color to Windows 8 Start Screen

how to personalize windows 8 start screen  - add a background color

1. Unlock your PC.

2. On the Start screen, press Windows + I . Alternately open the Settings Charm.

2. Select Change PC settings.

3. In the PC settings pane, you’ll notice that the first option Personalize is selected. On the right pane, select a color from the color slider and a background design from the tiles just above it.

You can preview the changes at the top of the right pane, as you make them. Once your happy with the right colors and design, press the Windows key to head back to the Start screen and see the changes.

How to Remove Unwanted Tiles from Windows 8 Start Screen

1. Right-click the tile you want removed.

2. At the bottom of the screen, select Unpin from Start.

Done!

Don’t uninstall the app, as you might want to add it back to the Start screen at a later time.

How to Disable Live Features on Windows 8 Tiles

If you find the live information on the tiles is distracting, you can disable the live feature.

1. Right-click the live tile.

2. At the bottom of the screen, click Turn Live Tile Off.

How to Add Tiles to the Windows 8 Start Screen

1. Right-click an empty area on the Start screen and at the bottom right corner of the screen, select All Apps.

how to personalize windows 8 start screen  - pin apps

2. Right-click the app you want to add to the Start screen, and on the bottom of the screen select Pin to Start.

How to Change the Size of a Tile in Windows 8

You cannot change the size of the square tile on the Start Screen. However, you can change the size of a larger rectangular tile.

Right the large rectangular tile and from the bottom of the screen, choose Smaller.

That’s pretty much most of what you’ll want to do with the Start screen. If you have any other personalization tricks you’d like to share with us, please use our comments section.

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About Adeline Gear

Adeline is a tech enthusiast who loves exploring the latest tools and applications in the marketplace. She also loves her Android and spends time reviewing apps and playing games when she has the time.

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Comments

  1. preeth says

    November 10, 2012 at 2:02 pm

    Just what i was searching for, well written article now i can customize my windows 8 tile screen.

    Reply

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