The Start Menu gives you easy access to your installed programs, folders, files, computer, and many more settings. Obviously you can open programs, files, or folders with desktop shortcuts, but it can’t replace the importance of the Start menu because the latter offers more in-depth options in an organized way.
This guide will show you how to customize the Windows 7 start menu to include or exclude items according to your preferences.
You can customize it by changing its properties. Right click on the “Start” button and click on the Properties option.
Go to the “Start Menu” tab. Here you will find the option “Power button action”. Click the dropdown next to it. You will get different power options. Select the action you want after pressing the power button.
If you want your computer to go into “Sleep” or “Hibernate” state instead of shutting down, choose one of them instead of “Shut down”.
Here is a screenshot of the power button.
Click the “Customize” button provided in the Start menu tab in the properties panel. The Customize Start menu window will appear. Here you can find various option buttons like “show as link, show as menu, do not show this item”, etc.
You have to choose any one of them.
For example below panel if you select “Show as menu” then when you hover over this option in start menu it will expand and show all the items in it.
Similarly you can customize other options.
Let’s take a look at each option with a checkbox. We’ll try to understand what these options mean and how they can affect the Start menu.
Start menu customization options
Connect to – It shows all available wireless, dial-up, and VPN connections that you can connect to.
Devices and Printers – Shows all devices, printers, and jobs associated with the PC.
Enable context menu and drag and drop – This option gives you the ability to right click on any item on the start menu. You can also drag and drop files from there. To take advantage of this facility, select this option.
Help – Displays Windows help and support links on the start menu.
Mark newly installed programs – Check this option, now go to start menu and click “All Programs”. You will see all the new programs you have installed on your computer highlighted.
Open submenus when I pause on them with the mouse pointer – Select this option. Now hover over the option with the menu. For example, when you hover your mouse over “All Programs”, a list of programs will automatically appear without clicking on it.
Recent Items If you select this option, the Recent Items link will appear. Hover over it and it will display a list of files last opened on your computer. You can easily switch to one of those files by clicking on it.
Run command – Displays the run command option in the start menu. Useful for those who don’t know that the keyboard shortcut for the run command is Win (Windows Key) + R.
Search Programs and Control Panel – Select this option to include installed programs and various control panel options in the search results. If you do not select this option, you will not find any results if you search for any program or control panel options. Compare the screenshots below.
unchecked the option
Option selected
Sort All Programs Menu By Name – If you select this option, all menu items are sorted alphabetically. If it is not selected then all items will appear in the order of installation.
Use large icons: To increase the size of the icons that appear on the start menu, select this option. Otherwise, the size of the icons will be reduced.
Number of recent programs to display You can decide how many programs will appear in the start menu list. You can assign a value from 0 to 30.
Note: If you set the value to 30, it will not necessarily show 30 recently opened programs in the list. It depends on your PC’s screen resolution and the number of pinned items.
The number of recent items to show in the jump list: The jump list shows a list of last opened programs and other options. Jump Lists can appear both on the taskbar and on the start menu. You can decide how many recent items to show in the Jump list. In the screenshot below there are a total of seven items in the list.
You can increase or decrease the number of items in the reel by choosing numbers from 0 to 60.
That’s how you can customize the start menu in Windows 7. Share any start menu tricks you know in the comments.
Categories: How to
Source: thpttranhungdao.edu.vn/en/
