Use the Built-In Mini Start Menu in Windows 8

Use the Built-In Mini Start Menu in Windows 8



Windows 8’s main interface doesn’t include the Start Menu. But there’s
a hidden mini one, and here’s how to get to it.


Windows 8’s tile-based interface and its Desktop are noticeably missing a Start menu.
As you know from “Bring Back the Windows Start Menu to Windows 8”, there’s a way
to add one back. But you may not need to do that, since there’s already a mini start
menu built right into the operating system, and you can get there whether you’re on
the main tiled interface or on the Desktop.

There are two ways to do it: Either right-click the bottom-left corner of the screen or
press Windows key+X. Either way, the mini-menu pops up (Figure 1; its formal name
is the Power User menu) with plenty of choices.


The choices are generally self-explanatory, although some of them don’t necessarily
lead you where you may think. “Programs and Features,” for example, sends you to a
Control Panel applet that lets you uninstall Desktop programs, look at Windows
updates you’ve installed, and turn certain Windows features on or off. The Mobility
Center sends you to an applet that lets you do things such as change your display
brightness, change your screen orientation, change presentation settings, and similar
options—and the truth is, it’s not particularly useful, so you might want to stay away.



Figure 1.
Windows 8’s mini start menu

Hacking the Hack
You can edit the apps that show up on the Power User menu. In Windows Explorer, go
to

C:\Users\User Name\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\WinX

where User Name is your account name. (First, make sure that you can view hidden files in Windows
Explorer—in the Windows 8 Desktop, launch File Explorer, click the View tab on the
toolbar, and turn on the “Hidden items” checkbox. That displays folders and files that
are normally hidden from view.) When you do that, you’ll see three folders: Group1,
Group2, and Group3. Each of these groups contains shortcuts to one of the apps that
show up on the Power User menu. Group1 contains the Desktop; Group2 contains the
Control Panel, Run, Search, Task Manager, and Windows Explorer; and Group3
(Figure 2) contains two for the Command Prompt (one of which is an Admin command
prompt), Computer Management, Device Manager, Disk Management, Event
Viewer, Power Options, Programs and Features, System, and Windows Mobility
Center.


Figure 2.
The Group3 folder and its shortcuts

If you look closely at the Power User menu, you’ll notice that these groups correspond
to three groups on it, separated by faint lines. Group1 is at the bottom, Group2 just
above that, and Group3 at the top.

To edit the Power User menu, you simply make changes to these folders. If you delete
a shortcut, for example, it no longer appears on the Power User menu. If you add a
shortcut to another folder, it appears on the menu wherever you place it—for example,
if you put it in Group1, it appears at the bottom. And you can also add new folders
called Group4 and so on, to add other groups to the mini Start menu, ready for you to
add shortcuts.

Sign out of Windows and then sign in again, and the changes will take effect.



See Also
• “Bring Back the Windows Start Menu to Windows 8”
• “Hack a Quick-and-Dirty Start Menu for the Desktop”