Download windows 8 home screen. How to add an application to your home screen

The Windows 8 Start Screen is a Microsoft innovation that has pleasantly (and some unpleasantly) surprised users. This is exactly what distinguishes this operating system to a greater extent from its predecessors. The initial screen appeared instead of the usual "Start" menu.

Some thought home screen Windows 8 is very convenient tool- all the necessary programs are at hand in a pleasant way, in addition, there are informational interactive tiles (weather, news, etc.). Others perceived it as something unusual, uncomfortable and strive to get rid of it.

In this article, I'll walk you through all the features that Windows 8's Start screen has to offer and show you how to use it correctly. And then you will understand that this is a very useful innovation.

How to turn Windows 8 Start screen on and off at startup

The developers conceived that the initial screen will appear at the start of the system instead of the desktop. This, perhaps, is superfluous, it is enough that it can be called up by clicking on the "Start" button.

You can make it so that the Windows start screen does not appear immediately when you turn on the boot, in a simple way.

Right-click on the taskbar and select "Properties".

A window will appear in which you need to go to the "Navigation" tab. And here the option "When you log in and close all applications, open the desktop instead of the start screen" is responsible for whether the start screen will be displayed at startup or not.

Here's my little video review of the Windows 8 Start screen.

What's on the home screen

The Windows 8 Start screen has two parts. The first is "Start", which appears immediately when you click on the "Start" button.

This is the start menu

Tiles (icons) are collected here and you can manage them: delete, add, resize, group and so on.

The second part is "Applications". All programs that are installed on your computer are collected here. There is also an opportunity to choose a sorting method for applications and comfortable shape search (there is a search in the Start menu too).

This is the Applications menu

With this arrow you can switch between the two parts.

Switch between "Start" and "Applications"

How to add an app to your home screen

Any application can be added as a tile to the Start menu on the Start screen. To do this, go to the list of applications, click on the desired program right-click and select "Pin to Start Screen".

Adding an app to the home screen

How to remove an app from the Start screen

Any tile can be removed from the Start menu of the Windows 8 Start screen. To do this, right-click on the tile and select Remove from Start.

Removing an app from the home screen

Organize your home screen

The Windows 8 Start screen is a very flexible tool. It allows you to adjust yourself in almost endless possibilities.

Moving tiles

It couldn't be easier. Grab the tile with the mouse and drag it to the desired location

Drag tiles

Resizing tiles

To make a tile larger or smaller, right-click on it and select "Resize".

Resize tiles

Grouping tiles

The Window 8 home screen allows you to group tiles. To do this, select the desired tile (or several tiles by holding Ctrl key) and drag it to the free area until a gray vertical stripe appears.

Create groups of tiles

Each group of tiles can be given a name. To do this, right-click on the free space and select "Name groups".

Give the groups names

Tile groups can be swapped. To do this, you need to click on the button with the minus icon at the bottom right and you can drag the groups with the mouse.

Operating room home screen Windows system 8 has undergone some changes compared to more early versions Windows OS. Immediately after booting your computer or laptop, you will not see the usual desktop. On the other hand, a new Metro tiled interface will appear in front of you. In general, this is the same Start button, only in a slightly different form.

But after switching to the desktop, the Start button, which is familiar to many users, will not appear on the taskbar. This problem can be solved. Read the article: How to return Start to Windows 8. Moreover, you can configure it so that it looks like in Windows 7 or XP.

You can also install gadgets in Windows 8 and use different keyboard shortcuts to have fast access, for example, to computer settings or search.

Now let's get back to the main question and customize the Start screen so that it is convenient to work with Windows 8.

Here we have a wide field of action: you can add or remove tiles from the Metro screen, resize them, move them, create groups.

Press the key combination Win + I and select "Changing computer settings"... Or swipe from the right edge to the center if you have a touchscreen.

In the tab Lock screen you can select a screensaver and customize the applications that will be displayed on the lock screen.

In the tab Home Screen choose a suitable color and background for your screen.

On the "Avatar" tab, you can put an image for your local or Microsoft account.

Return to the Metro home screen by pressing the Win key on your keyboard. If you want to hide any tiles from the screen, select them with the right mouse button or press and hold the tile with your finger, then press Unpin from Start Screen.

If you select one tile, then in the menu below you can change its size or remove the application from the computer.

You can scroll the screen either with your finger, if the touch screen, or using the mouse wheel. In order to move the desired tile to another part of the screen or group, press and hold it with the mouse or your finger, and move.

If there are tiles on the screen that change the image: weather, photos, travel, select the desired tile and select from the menu below "Disable dynamic tiles", the tile will take on a static look.

Now let's see how to work with groups of tiles. To do this, you need to change the scale of the main screen: bring two fingers from the top and bottom edges of the screen to the center, scroll the mouse wheel while holding down the Ctrl key, or click on the "-" sign in the lower right corner.

The groups are separated by a wide band. Hover over one of the groups and you will see the boundaries of its area. Groups can be swapped, to do this, press and hold one of them with your finger or mouse and drag to the desired place. For example, a group containing infrequently used applications can be moved to the end.

To name a group, select it with the right mouse button or hold it down with your finger. Then select from the menu "Name the group".

To create new group, on the home screen, press and hold the tile with your mouse or finger, then drag it outside the gray bar.

If you have a lot of groups created, you can use the zoom out for the Metro screen and quickly jump to the desired tile. This is not to turn the wheel or flip the screen with your finger.

To add the desired shortcuts to the home screen, right-click on an empty spot and go "All Applications".

Then select the one you want with the right mouse button and choose an action from the menu list below. For example, you can pin an application to the Start screen or taskbar.

To pin an application to the Start screen, you can also right-click on it and select from the context menu Pin to Start.

Optionally, you can also create buttons for quickly shutting down or restarting your computer, and add them to the desired group on the Metro screen. For example, I have such a button called Time to rest. By clicking on it, the operation of the operating system is terminated. I have already written about how to create shortcuts for quickly shutting down the computer. Read the article by following the link. I will only clarify: to turn it off, use shutdown command/ s / t 0, to reboot shutdown / r / t 0.

After I finished writing this article: Windows 8 start screen customization, my Metro screen looks like this. Now I have quick access to all the programs I need.

There are pretty good options for personalizing the Start screen, but in Windows 8.1 they have expanded even more and allow you to customize almost every aspect of it. The new release has increased the choice of colors and patterns, including animated ones, and there are some less obvious improvements to be aware of.

Patterns and colors

The most obvious customization options are available right from the home screen. Just click "Settings" and select "Personalize".

Everything is arranged almost the same as in Windows 8, but there are much more possibilities. There are twenty options available in the list of background patterns, including six animated, twelve static, blank background(matching the background color) and the Desktop wallpaper. The choice of background and foreground colors is also very wide, especially compared to Windows 8. Together, this allows you to completely customize the Start screen to your liking. Here are some examples where only the pattern, background and foreground colors are different.

Tip: If you intend to frequently switch between the Start screen and the Desktop, you should use the same background for them - this will soften the harshness of the transition from one interface to another.

Tiles

Pinning administrative utilities. Old-school IT administrators and IT pros will appreciate the ability to pin admin tools to the Start screen. To do this, press the Settings charm on the home screen and select Tiles.

Enabling and disabling "live" tiles. The main advantage of Windows 8.1 in general and the Start screen in particular is the ability of tiles to update and show up-to-date information in real time. Nevertheless, some would prefer to do without it - and they have such an opportunity. To turn off the update for one or more tiles, select them and select the option "Turn Live Tile Off" in the panel that appears. You can enable updates back in the same way, just keep in mind that some tiles are simply not dynamic.

Replacing the home screen

Users desktop computers it might be worth replacing the start screen with the Applications screen, which shows a static, but complete list of all installed programs... As I already told in the article "", this can be done in the properties of the taskbar, on the "Navigation" tab. The option you want is called Show the Apps view automatically when I go to Start. Optionally, the list of applications can be sorted into categories to make it even more convenient.

Synchronization setup

When you use a Microsoft account (as it should), Windows 8.1 automatically syncs a ton of settings, including the Start screen, so that you can work in a familiar environment on all computers. It's worth exploring these settings as not all Start screen options sync by default.

Start screen sync settings are found under PC Settings | SkyDrive | Synchronizing Settings ”(PC Settings | SkyDrive | Sync Settings).

The following options are available:

Sync your settings on this PC. This option must be enabled for the settings for this computer synchronized.

Start screen. When this option is enabled, tiles and their placement are synchronized across all computers. By default, this option is disabled, and if you enable it, curious side effects will appear. For example, modern applications not installed on the current computer may appear on the Start screen, and if you click on the tile of such an application, it will be automatically installed.

Appearance. By default, this option is enabled and is responsible for synchronizing the pattern, background color and foreground of the Start screen (as well as other settings not related to the Start screen). If you prefer to use different settings on different computers, it is better to disable this option.

Materials (edit)

Of course this operating system is, in a sense, a sensation. A new, revolutionary, still not used on a PC, interface and a bunch of new features, in addition to the old ones ... By the way - about the old ones ... Where did they go and how to work now?

Windows 8: Basic Navigation

As soon as you start the system, you are presented with a screen that looks very unusual for Windows. All applications and programs on it are laid out in the form of tiles, and not icons, as usual. This interface is called Metro, and it is more familiar to those who use touch screens... So if you have tablet device, then you certainly know exactly what to do with such a screen. If not, just roll the mouse wheel back and forth.

But that is not all. If you want to return to a more familiar desktop for you, just find the corresponding square in the proposed menu, or press the Win key.

Such a familiar and familiar Desktop will appear in front of you.

The "Start" button in the new OS has disappeared completely and irrevocably, and this at first leads to some stupor. However, if you tweak the Start screen properly, things aren't as bad as you might think.

At first, on an unconfigured screen, the tiles are rather chaotic and contain a lot of unnecessary and useless information. You hardly need the weather in Delhi or the rating of the securities. However - if you need it, then you may well leave it. It's about how to get rid of everything unnecessary, and everything you need, on the contrary, is to make it as noticeable as possible so that you don't have to look for it for a long time.

First of all, we carefully look at the tile, and if we decide that we do not need a certain square, we simply right-click on it and select "Unpin from the Start Screen".

After we remove all unnecessary, we do the reverse operation. Namely: click on a free area of the screen with the right mouse or type "Win + Z" and in the menu that appears, select the item "All applications". After that, select what we need, right-click on it and attach it to the initial screen.

After that, it remains only to press Win and see what we have done. Something else is not quite what we would like? Then let's continue.

You can shuffle all the tiles on the screen like a deck of cards. It is enough just to hook the square with the cursor and drag it wherever it is convenient for you. As soon as you hook the square, a special divider appears on the screen, which allows you to arrange all the tiles in groups. Thus, you can select several work groups for yourself on the screen, which will be quite easy and convenient for you to use. In order to launch any application, you just need one light click on its square.

If you right-click on the square, then you can run the application as an administrator, pin it to the taskbar, and generally do whatever you want with it, up to deleting it.

Welcome screen (login) and start screen in Windows 8, in contrast to the predecessor systems, they give the user much more possibilities individual customization... Now you can change their background and content without using third-party programs... Also in the G8 it became possible to log in with a picture password and choose what will open after logging in: the initial screen, desktop, or a list of installed applications.

The Windows 8 welcome screen does not have a background image - it is painted over with the color you selected during system installation.

If you don't like this color, you can install another one. In addition, you have the opportunity to create your own account avatar and customize the appearance of the home screen (background, number and position of tiles) to your liking.

Windows 8's native styling features are enough for most users. And for those who want to step further and, for example, change the logo that is displayed when Windows startup, you will have to resort to help special utilities... Next, we will talk about how to use them, but for now we will consider changing the welcome screen and user avatar using the system.

Personalizing your computer using Windows 8

Change the background of the home screen and welcome screen

After Windows installations the home screen background will be the same color as the welcome screen. At first it's just a solid color fill. After activating the system, you will have access to the settings that allow you to set a graphic image or desktop wallpaper as the background.

To change the appearance of the Start screen and the background of the Welcome screen, do the following:

Open up side panel Charms: Press Windows Key + C or swipe from the right top corner down (or from the bottom right - up). Click on the "Search" icon.

You can also open the search from the Windows button menu ("Start"), where you need to select the "Find" item:

Alternatively, click on the "Magnifier" icon on the home screen:

Next, enter "personalization" in the search bar and select "Change the background and colors of the initial screen" from the found.

Choose from 20 pictures and customize it to your liking: Windows 8 provides the ability to change both the main background and the color theme of image details. In addition to the home screen, changes will be applied to your account's welcome screen and a number of other system elements.

To display the desktop wallpaper on the Start screen, open context menu taskbar, click "Properties",

go to the "Navigation" tab and in the "Home" section check "Show desktop background".

Here you can also specify what will be opened first when you log in: the desktop, the start screen, or the list of applications.

Change user avatar

Account Avatar Windows user 8 linked to accounting Microsoft record and when synchronizing various devices working under this OS, it will be the same everywhere.

To set or change an avatar, open the Charms bar and click "Options".

Click Change Computer Settings.

Select from the list of options " Accounts».

To select an avatar, click "Browse" and select the desired picture. Or turn on your camera and take a photo.

By default, the search is performed in the Pictures folder. By clicking "This PC" you can specify a different folder.

Choose any picture you like. The system does not impose any requirements to its size and quality.

The selected image will now be linked to your account and displayed on the welcome screen.

Change the image for entering a picture password

If you have set a picture password for logging into the system, a picture for entering this password will open on the welcome screen. Initially, this will be your account image, but you can change it to something else if you wish. To do this, go to "PC Settings" -> "Accounts" again and open "Login Options". In chapter " Picture password"Click" Change ".

Confirm your details by entering a text password.

Click "Choose another picture", enter it and create a new picture password.

Changing the Windows 8 logo

The Windows logo is what we see from the start of the system until the welcome screen appears. If you don't like its appearance, you can replace it with something more attractive, but for this you will have to edit separate system files. We warn you: such manipulations are potentially dangerous - instead of room for experimentation, you can get Windows startup failure.

For change system files the utilities that we mentioned at the beginning of the article are used. Let's get to know two of them better.