Organizing App Icons on the Start Screen

When you install new apps on your Windows 8.1 computer they don’t appear in your Start screen straight away, you will need to pin them there. This is because your Start screen could become cluttered quite quickly if apps auto-pinned themselves, making it very difficult to find what you are looking for. As you add Tiles to the Start screen, it expands to the right and can get very large.

You can pin tiles to the Start screen by opening the All Apps view. This is opened with touch by swiping upward on the Start screen. With your mouse you will see a small down arrow near the bottom left of the screen. Click this to open the All Apps view.

You pin an app (or multiple apps simultaneously) by right-clicking them (touching and holding with touch) and from the App Bar clicking the Pin to Start button. You can also move Tiles around the Start screen to organize them, and hide them back to the All Apps view to help keep them organized.

Note : You open the All Apps view by swiping upward on the Start screen with your finger or by clicking the small down arrow with your mouse that appears near the bottom left of the screen.

If you are using a mouse, remember to look for the scroll bar at the bottom of your screen. You can drag this to move left and right on the Start screen. You can also use your mouse scroll wheel to pan left and right on the Start screen. 

You might want to reorganize the tiles on your Start screen so that all the apps, websites, and programs you use regularly have their Tiles on the far left of your screen, to make them easier to access. You might also install software such as Microsoft Office and want to hide the extra programs it installs, such as the Office Picture Viewer. 

Arranging the Start Screen Step by Step 

To arrange your apps, websites, and programs on the Start screen, follow these quick steps: 

• Click/Touch and then hold, drag, and drop tiles around the Start screen to rearrange them using either your finger or your mouse. 

• Hold a tile between groups to create a new group again using either your finger or your mouse. Drop it on the vertical bar that appears. 

• Remove a tile from the Start screen by touching and holding it, or right-clicking with your mouse, and then click/touch Unpin from Start from the App Bar. 

To leave the customize view click or touch anywhere in a blank space on the Start screen or press the Esc key on your keyboard.

If you unpin a Tile from the Start screen, it will be removed, but you will still be able to access it when you want to. You will notice that in the Customize view (which can also be accessed by clicking the Customize button of the Start screen App Bar) you can also name groups of tiles. You might, for example want to name then “Work,” “Internet,” and “Games.” This can help you identify your groups of apps. 

Arranging Groups of Tiles 

I mentioned previously that you can create new groups of Tiles by dragging a Tile to the space between groups and, when you see a vertical bar appear, dropping the Tile. You can also name and rearrange whole groups of Tiles simply and quickly. 

You can give groups of Tiles names by zooming out of the Start screen. You can do this in one of three ways:  

• Make an outward pinch zoom gesture with your fingers 

• Click with your mouse in the very bottom right corner of the Start screen 

• Hold the Ctrl key on your keyboard and use your mouse wheel to zoom out.

You can now drag and rearrange whole groups of tiles to arrange them however best suits you.