Windows 8.1 Start Screen And It’s Settings

Here we are with a new article on Windows 8.1 Start Screen and a detailed review on it’s modified settings; compared to Windows 8. As promised in previous review about Windows 8.1 Preview and Windows 8.1 Start Button, we are going to discuss about the Start Screen and it’s settings this time!

The layout and look of Windows 8.1 preview is same as that of Windows 8. But if you have a closer look, then you will see what Microsoft did to make users feel comfortable. First let’s have a look at the Start Screen image below.

Windows 8.1 start screen

As you can see there’s no much difference in the start screen compared to Windows 8. But as discussed in previous article, when you move your mouse to bottom left corner, the Start button appears. And also a new arrow button is added; which is indicated in the above image. In Windows 8, all the apps and shortcuts of installed software used to appear in the start screen itself. But now, all those are arranged in a window below. You just need to click on the arrow shown in the above image and then you will see a window containing all the apps. If you find it difficult to find your favorite app in this huge list, a search bar is also given to find the app you like.

windows 8.1 apps screen

Windows 8.1 Start Screen Settings:

Now as you know, to bring up the settings of the Start Screen, just move your mouse to the right side and you will see: Search, Share, Start, Devices, and Settings options. Choose the Settings Option and then you will see: Personalize, Tiles, and Help.

Personalize:

Choose the personalize option and you will see various background images, background colors, and accent colors. In background images, you can choose the given backgrounds to set them on your start screen or else the last icon in the collection is your desktop background. Choose that to set your desktop wallpaper as the Start Screen background (like shown below). The background colors list is for choosing the background of Start Screen and your Lock screen login too. The Accent color is for changing the font color.

windows 8.1 start screen colors

Tiles:

The Tiles option in settings doesn’t make much difference. If you want to modify the tiles, then you can just modify them, while you are on start screen. Let’s see how!

Right click anywhere on the Start Screen and you will find an option called Customize in the corner. Click on this option or just right click on any of the tile, then you will see that the apps become light in color and you can see options to Name the groups.

windows 8.1 start screen customize

So, now you can name the groups and modify icons properties. Right click on any tile and you will see options like: unpin from start, uninstall, resize, and turn live tile off. The resize variations available are: small, medium, wide, and large. The small tiles can’t animate like other live tiles. So, choose the option according to your choice.

windows 8.1 start screen tile settings

Another interesting addition in Windows 8.1 is, you can select multiple tiles by right clicking one by one and move them together. If you want to unselect any tile then left click on it. To come out of all these settings, just left click somewhere outside twice.

Verdict:

All these new changes are provided to make the user feel comfortable and lively. Looks like Microsoft is trying hard to compete with other Operating Systems in the market.

Let’s see more changes what Windows 8.1 has for us in the next review.