The Start screen is the first thing you see after logging into your Windows 8 account. The Modern UI Start screen replaces the Start button and Start menu in earlier versions of Windows. Users can use the Start screen to launch apps, switch to desktop, organize apps, and search for apps, settings, & files.
Now that Microsoft has replaced Start screen with Start menu in Windows 8, you may be wondering how to search for apps, settings and files in Start screen. While You can open the Search charm by moving mouse cursor the upper-right or lower-right corner of the screen and then clicking Search when you see the Charms bar, you can also search for apps or settings by simply typing in the Start screen.
To search for apps:
The Start screen doesn’t feature a search box or search tile because you can directly search from the Start screen. That is, to search for an installed app, simply switch to the Start screen and then start typing the app name that you want to open to see the search result.
For instance, simply type Notepad in Start screen and then press enter key to open Notepad.
To search for settings:
If you want to search for admin tools or any other settings, start typing the name when you are in the Start screen and then change the scope of your search to Settings to see the results.
For example, if you want to open Device Manager from Start screen, first type Device Manager in the Start screen, and then under Apps on the right side of your screen, click or tap Settings to see Device Manager in search result. Click or tap Device Manager to open it. If you prefer using a hotkey, use Windows + W to search for settings.
To search for files:
When you are in the Start screen, start typing the name of the file you are looking for and then change the search scope to Files on the right side (see picture) to filter results by files. Keyboard addicts can use Windows + F hotkey to open file search.
To search Windows 8 Store:
You can even search the Store without first opening the Store app. To search for an app, start typing the name of the app in the Start screen, and then change search scope to Store to see the result in Store app. We recommend you follow our how to search Windows 8 store guide for detailed instructions.
We suggest you check out the following video posted by official Building Windows 8 blog to know more about Start screen search.
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