The World According to Mitch

The day to day ramblings of an IT Professional (and so much more…)

What Happened to My Start? Turning off ‘Metro’ in Windows 10

I think we were all relieved when Microsoft agreed to put the Start Button back in Windows 8.1… Of course, it led to the Start Screen instead of a menu, but it was a start. So when they announced that Windows 10 would have the actual Start Menu back, there was a general sigh of relief. Everyone saw the pictures, and those of us who joined the pre-release were thrilled when it was put in.

So when I upgraded to the final bits yesterday I didn’t like what I saw… I clicked the Windows icon in the corner and got a full screen ‘Metro’-esque Start Menu. What the…?

Okay calm down… they haven’t changed their minds. All you have to do is turn off the Start full screen option. Do this:

1) Click on the Windows icon (Start Menu), click on the menu icon at the top to bring up the options.

2) Click on Settings.

3) In the Settings screen click Personalization.

4) In the Personalization screen click the Start option in the left pane, then disable Use Start full screen.

5) Close the Settings window, and then click Start again.

There it is! We have our fully customizable Start Menu back. Just like you asked for Smile

Windows 10 is going to take us all some getting used to… but if you stick with it, you’ll get the hang of it Smile

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Mitch Garvis

August 5, 2015

Metro Interface, Start Menu, Windows 10

7 responses to “What Happened to My Start? Turning off ‘Metro’ in Windows 10”

Steve Bark

August 5, 2015 at 5:07 pm

Thanks, Mitch. I haven’t pushed the button for my upgrade yet, but when I do I will not have to wonder why it didn’t look like the pictures I have been seeing on the web. The start menu seems to inflame such emotion in many, that it is almost better to switch the subject to politics. 🙂

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Cindy

June 15, 2016 at 9:17 pm

This did not work on my new laptop… I tried it over and over again and even did a warm-boot thinking maybe that was why it didn’t revert back to the old “Start” formatted screen. I am still stuck with this Metro screen no matter what. Very frustrating to say the least. Why can’t Microsoft just stick with the gold-standard Windows 7 and stop changing!

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DWIGHT WHITEWATER

January 31, 2017 at 4:22 pm

The setting in start was already off. I’m still stuck with metro ui. Who in their right mind would want this interface other than a stoned out techie at microsoft

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name required

June 20, 2019 at 12:30 am

This doesn’t help at all. IT was alraedy turned off. I’ve tried various combinations of turning it back on/off/rebooting/etc. This has no affect whatsoever for me.

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Anonymous

April 23, 2020 at 7:42 am

I mean, all of you guys. When Windows 8 came out, everybody asked for Start Menus. Now Start Menu is brought back, everybody wants Start Screen back. That just felt weird.

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Mean Daddy

December 31, 2020 at 2:33 am

Just an observation: The myriad users politely asking where their start screen went, or how to get it back, are not asking the right questions. The commonality I see in their questions/frustration/blind rage (I admittedly am in the third category) is the pure hatred of the travesty of the Metro UI. Even more infuriating are the smug fan boys, masquarading as moderators/pros, who are little more than Microsoft sychophants swooning in the headiness of their power to insult, ignore, talk down to customers who have paid the heavy price of Microsofts long history of putting out broken, untested, unsupported functionality that they bought out on the cheap and never properly incorporated into its whole OS.
Just do something for once that values your longstanding paying customers more than the out of touch over indulged children appropriating the job title of developers. Metro is crap! Lose it.

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1. Mitch Garvis
  
  December 31, 2020 at 2:36 am
  
  For the record, I am not one of them. I was not a fan of the Metro UI when it was released in Windows 8… but how it has evolved into Windows 10 I am quite pleased with.
  
  Reply