If you have been reading my articles for awhile, you know that ever since Windows 8 first came on the scene, I have been tweaking the Start menu in hopes of finding a better way to organize and launch my applications. Well, in the Creators Update, Microsoft has put forth a new way to display and use the Start menu with a feature called Show App List In Start Menu.

When Microsoft first showed this feature last fall in a Windows 10 Insider Preview, it was actually named just the opposite: Hide App List In Start Menu. Of course, the previous name was more appropriate. Regardless of what it’s now called, the feature offers tremendous flexibility in how you display and use the Start menu.

Show App List In Start Menu is enabled by default. So to take advantage of this feature, you have to disable the Show App List In Start Menu setting. Let’s take a closer look.

The Show App List In Start Menu feature

You can see that right out of the box, so to speak, that the Start menu in the Creators Update looks the same as in the previous version of Windows 10 (Figure A). The All Apps list appears on the left and the tiles appear on the right.

Figure A

The Start menu in the Creators Update looks the same as in the previous version of Windows 10.

SEE: Windows 10 Creators Update: The smart person’s guide

To access the Show App List In Start Menu feature, you right-click on the Taskbar and select Taskbar Settings, as shown in Figure B. When the Settings > Taskbar screen appears, select the Start tab.

Figure B

You can easily access the Settings > Taskbar screen by right-clicking on the Taskbar.

When the Settings > Start screen appears, locate and turn off the Show App List In Start Menu toggle, shown in Figure C.

Figure C

On the Settings > Start screen, turn off the Show App List In Start Menu toggle.

Now, when you then access the Start menu, you’ll see that it displays just the tiles, as shown in Figure D. This is called the Pinned Tiles view. In the upper left, you’ll see two new buttons that allow you to switch between the Pinned Tiles view, which is the default, and the All Apps view.

Figure D

On the far left of the Start menu, two new buttons allow you to switch between the Pinned Tiles and All Apps views.

When you click the All Apps button, the Start menu displays the All Apps list, as shown in Figure E.

Figure E

When you click the All Apps button, the Start menu displays the All Apps list.

If you click the hamburger icon at the top left of the Start menu, you’ll see a menu showing the new button titles, as shown in Figure F.

Figure F

The menu displays the new button titles.

A slight drawback

While it is nice to be able to quickly and easily switch between All Apps and Pinned Tiles views, the Start menu will always return to the Pinned Tiles view by default. Not really a deal breaker, but I would have preferred to have the Start menu retain the view I select.

More Windows how-to’s

What’s your take?

What do you think of the Show App List In Start Menu feature? Does it make the Windows 10 Start menu more appealing to you? Share your thoughts with fellow TechRepublic members.