With a simple trick, you can completely hide the Start menu in Windows 10. Here’re the steps you should follow to do so.
One of the best things about Windows 10 is its Start menu. You can access almost any program directly from the Start menu. All you have to do is search for it by typing it in the start menu. If needed, you can even pin the most used programs to the Start menu for quick access. Since Windows supports live tiles, the pinned application can show live data. For example, the weather tile in the Start menu shows live weather without ever needing the app to be opened. Add to that, when you right-click on the Start menu, you will see a Power User menu with additional options. For most Windows users, restarting or shutting down the system via the power user menu is the quickest way. Put simply, the Windows Start menu is hugely useful and versatile.
To use the Start menu, you don’t necessarily need the start button on the screen. You can just press the Start or Win key on your keyboard. If you want to access the Power User menu, you can simply press the “Win + X” keyboard shortcut. If you want to gain some space on the taskbar, you can remove or hide the Start menu in Windows 10. This is especially useful for laptops with small screens.
In this quick and simple guide, let me show you the steps to hide the Start menu or start button in Windows 10.
Hide the Start menu in Windows 10
Windows 10 has no built-in option to hide the Start menu. However, you can use a free application called “StartIsGone” to completely hide the Start button. What’s best, you can still open the Start menu by pressing the Start menu. Here’s how you can use the software.
- First, get StartIsGone from here.
- After downloading, open the ZIP file.
- Extract the “x64” folder to your desktop.
- Open the x64 folder.
- Double-click on the “StartIsGone.exe” file.
As soon as you open the StartIsGone file, the Start menu will be hidden automatically. As long as the program is running in the background, you will not see the start icon on the taskbar.
As I said before, you can still open the Start menu by pressing the “Start” or “Windows” key on your keyboard. To open the Power User menu, press the “Win + X” keyboard shortcut.
Run program at startup
If you want the start button to hide always, open the StartIsGone application, right-click on its icon on the taskbar and select the “Run at startup” option. This action will add the application to the Windows 10 startup list. consequently, the program will start with Windows and hides the Start menu as soon as you log into the system.
That is all. I hope that helps. If you are stuck or need some help, comment below and I will try to help as much as possible. If you like this article, check out how to pin folders to the Start menu.
