Start-menu commands are a click away. If you don’t like the Start menu’s default layout, you can change it. Changes you make apply only to you, the logged-on user.

To choose a Start-menu item:

• Click the item.
or
Use the arrow keys to navigate to the item and then press Enter.
or
Press any arrow key once to move out of the Search box, press the key of the item’s first letter, and then press Enter.
If two or more items have the same first letter, press that letter repeatedly until the desired item is highlighted and then press Enter.

Tips

• A menu item with a right-pointing arrow (such as Recent Items in Figure 2.2) opens a submenu when you click or point to it.
• If you open the All Programs menu, you can click the word Back to close it again.
• If you prefer the old one-column Start menu, right-click the Start button and choose Properties > Classic Start Menu > OK. See also “Restoring the Old Windows Look” in Chapter 4.

Adding items to the Start menu
Icons in the Start menu are shortcuts—links to computer or network items such as programs, files, folders, disks, webpages, printers, connected hardware, and other computers. You can add items to the Start menu by dragging and dropping or by pinning. You also can remove or reorder items.

Tip

• Changing or deleting a shortcut has no effect on the item that it’s linked to. Removing a shortcut won’t uninstall a program, delete a file or folder, or erase a disk, for example.

To pin an item to the Start menu:
1. Locate the item (icon) that you want to display at the top of the menu.

2. Right-click the icon and choose Pin to Start Menu (Figure 2.3).
or
Drag the item to the Start button (Figure 2.4 and Figure 2.5).

Tips

• If you don’t know the item’s location, choose Start > Search, use the Search box to find it, and then drag it from the results list to the Start button. If you’re looking for a program (rather than a document, folder, or disk), type the program name in the Start menu’s Search box, right-click it in the results list, and choose Pin to Start Menu.
• If you can’t drag icons onto the Start menu, or if right-clicking the menu has no effect, turn on Start-menu dragging and dropping: Right-click the Start button and choose Properties > Customize > check Enable Context Menus and Dragging and Dropping > OK.
• Hold down Shift when you right-click a file in a folder window, and Pin to Start Menu will appear in the shortcut menu.
• You can’t pin items to the classic (one-column) Start menu.

To move a pinned item:

• Drag the item to a new position (Figure 2.6).

To remove a pinned item:

• Right-click the item and choose Remove from This List (Figure 2.7).

Figure 2.6 The horizontal black line shows where the item will land when it’s dropped.

Figure 2.7 This technique works in both the Pinned Items and Most Frequently Used Programs lists. In the Pinned Items list, you also can choose Unpin from Start Menu.

Figure 2.3 You can right-click a program in the Start menu, in Windows Explorer, in Computer, or on the desktop. For documents, pictures, folders, and disks, use drag-and-drop.

Figure 2.4 You can pin a program, folder, file, or even a disk to the Start menu by dropping it on the Start button.

Figure 2.5 The Start menu pops open if you pause on the Start button while dragging, letting you drop the item in the desired position.