Page 55 - Windows 10 May 2019 Update The Missing Manual: The Book That Should Have Been in the Box

Program-group folders. Another set of folders is designed to trim

down the Programs menu by consolidating related programs, like
Games, Accessories (little single-purpose programs), and
Maintenance. Everything in these folders is described in Chapter 8.

How to Customize the Apps List

You can’t add anything to the apps list yourself. Nor can you change the
order.

You do, however, have several opportunities to redesign the apps list. To

find these special switches, open → → Personalization → Start. Now
look over your options:

Eliminate the “Most used” list. Maybe it would be best that your
boss or your spouse didn’t know what you’ve been up to. In that

case, turn off “Show most used apps.” When you next inspect the
Start menu, you’ll be happy to see that the top-center chunk, where
the recently used programs are usually listed, is creepily blank.

Tip

If there’s just one compromising listing here, no big deal; right-click its name and, from the
shortcut menu, choose More → “Don’t show in this list.” It’s gone.

Eliminate the “Recently added” list. Similarly, you can get rid of

the second section of this menu, where Windows displays apps
you’ve recently installed. Just turn off “Show recently added
apps.” (You can also hide just one item in this list, using the

technique in the previous Tip.)

Eliminate the entire apps list. Weird but true: you can ask

Windows not to show the apps list at all (turn off “Show app list in
Start menu”). Instead, you get only two columns in the Start menu:
the places column and the tiles. Your Start menu is now more

compact and tidy—an arrangement that’s not for everyone, but just