Are you still using the Start Menu to launch apps in Windows?

The Windows Start Menu has always been an essential tool for Windows users to launch programs, access system settings, or change the system’s power state.

Microsoft modified the Windows operating system significantly in the latest versions. Windows 10 introduced taskbar pinning, live tiles in the Start Menu, and several other changes.

Windows users could now pin apps to the taskbar, to access them directly from there. Start Menu and desktop were the two other locations for shortcuts, but many switched from using the Start Menu or the desktop to using the taskbar.

Not all apps can be placed on the taskbar, but the most essential five or ten can. It did not really help that Microsoft added lots of noise to the Start Menu in Windows 10 and removed functionality from the Start Menu in Windows 11.

My Start Menu usage has decreased significantly with the release of Windows 10. I have pinned apps that I use every day to the taskbar and use the Start Menu only for launching other apps. I do not have those pinned specifically, but use search to do so.

I never use search to find files, Everything is far superior to that, and use the Start Menu only for switching users or shutting down the PC. Settings can be opened with Windows-I, and there is little in the Start Menu that I use besides the two mentioned use cases.

It does not really help that Microsoft considers adding more ads to the Start Menu, and that you can’t even remove the Recommended section, which I consider absolutely useless, entirely.

Image credit: SIphotography/depositphotos.com

'Are you still using the Start Menu to launch apps in Windows?' first appeared in Weekly Tech Insights, a free weekly newsletter that you can sign up to here.