The Hidden start menu button in windows 8

In this article we will tell you about The Hidden start menu button in windows 8. Here’s the complete procedure.

Windows 8 was most anticipated software from Microsoft which was launched in Market during October 26, 2012 and came loaded with abundant features including support for tablets and other touch screen based systems, modern Metro UI, revamped startup screen etc. There has been lot of comments and reviews in blogs about the missing start menu button in Windows 8, which is a small orb button which will be present on bottom left corner of Start screen in Windows Desktop. It will generally provide quick access to frequently used documents, search, run, software programs, control panel, printers etc.

The start menu is one of the most widely-used and important features of Windows operating system which has remained since the earlier version of Windows 95. Since Microsoft 8 introduced a new touch based user interface, the start menu was replaced with Start screen that displays all shortcuts and running Apps in form of Tiles.  But people are concerned about missing start menu button in Windows 8 as they are used to this feature for long time. There are 3^rd party utilities which can be used for recreating the start menu in Windows 8.  There is a hidden start menu in Windows 8 which can provide all the functionality of a standard Start menu. This hidden start menu can be activated with right-click of bottom left-corner in the Desktop of Windows 8.

For users that have installed Windows 8 on their machine and feel bad about the missing start menu, they can make use of 3^rd party tools like StartMenu8 or ClassicShell which is available on websites to bring the start menu feature in Windows Desktop. Still the 3^rd party utilities can replace the original start Menu button with all essential features and if you want to get back the functionality of Start menu button without making use of 3^rd party tools, you can make use of below tips to activate the hidden start menu button in Windows 8. This hidden start menu contains various potions like Task Manager, Run, Search, File Explorer, Disk Management, Command Prompt etc.

The hidden start menu can be activated by using Shortcut keys Windows Key + X. Instead you can also right-click bottom left corner in the Start screen of Windows 8 to display hidden start menu. Microsoft has made lot of enhancements in Windows 8 including multi-touch support that makes the OS compatible with tablets and Ultra books. They have also removed the start menu completely in Windows 8 and whatever registry tricks to bring back start menu does not work with Final version of Windows 8. Removal of start menu has made it difficult to quickly access the frequently used applications, documents and power options like Shutdown or restarting the machine.

Microsoft has moved these options to Charms bar which is accessible by bringing the mouse to top-right corner of start screen.

But people who are used to Start menu will not be comfortable with using the Charms bar or Tile based Metro UI. But the advantage of Windows 8 is that it’s possible to activate the hidden start menu in Windows 8. They have renamed this as Quick Access menu which can be activated by using Win + X shortcut keys.  This hidden start menu contains all the system tools and essential features such as,

1. Power Options
2. Programs and Features
3. Accessories
4. Device Manager
5. Control Panel
6. Quick Search
7. Task Manager
8. System Settings
9. Power Options (Shutdown, restart and Hibernate the machine)
10. Run

In order to activate the Quick Access menu all you need to do is bring your mouse to bottom-left corner of start screen and right click the mouse button. This is one of the best and easiest short cuts to access the hidden start menu of Windows 8.

Hope this article about The Hidden start menu button in windows 8 helped you.