The Start menu in Windows 10 displays recently installed and most used programs on the left-side so that users can quickly launch them without having to navigate to All apps section or searching for them. The feature is pretty useful to swiftly start recently used programs.
Many of you might want to see all installed programs instead of recently installed and most used programs as soon as you open the Start menu. Or you might have accidentally turned off the all apps list and want to turn it on again.
Luckily, you can configure the Windows 10 Start menu to display all programs by default and hide most used (optional) and recently installed programs (optional).
Display all programs by default in Windows 10
Step 1: Navigate to Settings > Personalization > Start page.
Step 2: Here, make sure that Show apps list option is turned on. This will display all installed apps by default on the Start menu.
Step 3: If you want to hide the Most used and Recently added apps lists, turn off Show recently added apps and Show most used apps options.
Automatically expand to All Programs in Windows 7
NOTE: Windows 10 users no longer need to use this program as there is a built-in way to configure the All apps section by default.
All Programs Auto-Expander is a tiny utility designed for Windows 7 to automatically expand the All Programs section of the Start menu as soon as the Start menu is opened. That is, when you open the Start menu by clicking on the Start button or pressing the Windows logo key, Start menu shows All programs instead of recently opened and pinned programs. In other words, you don’t need to manually click the All Programs option to see all installed programs.
Clicking Back option will display recently accessed and pinned programs.
All Programs Auto-Expander was developed for Windows 7 but is compatible with the latest Windows 10 as well.
Download and run the executable to automatically jump to All programs section of Start menu without having to click the All programs option. The only downside is that the program doesn’t include an option to load with Windows, but this can be done by placing a shortcut of All Programs Auto-Expander in the Startup folder.
To place a shortcut of All Programs Auto-Expander in the Startup folder, please complete the given below instructions:
Step 1: First, right-click on All Programs Auto-Expander.exe file, click Send to, and then click Desktop (Create shortcut) to create a shortcut of the same on the desktop.
Step 2: Open the Run command box by simultaneously pressing Windows+R keys. Or, type Run in the Start and press Enter key.
Step 3: In the box, type Shell:startup and press Enter key to open the Startup folder.
Step 4: Finally, copy the previously created shortcut to this folder. That’s it! From now on, the Start menu will show All Programs instead of recently used programs.
As said before, this program is fully compatible with Windows 7 and Windows 10. If you have added the Start menu to Windows 8/8.1 with the help of a third-party tool such as the Classic Shell, you can give this tool a try!
Visit the following page to download All Programs Auto-Expander. Note that Windows might discourage you from running this program. You can simply ignore the warning and run the program. If you’re still worried, test the URL or file using Virus Total or any other on-line scanners. It’s clean!
John Shirley says
Windows 7 was much easier to use. I have just upgraded to Windows 10 because Windows 7 is not supported any longer. I have been trying for several days to backup by documents to a flash drive with no success. Backing up with Windows 7 was a breeze. Why not a 1, 2, 3, step instruction for simple tasks be included. The tutorial disc (not MS) has not been helpful. Windows 10 is unnecessarily complicated for users that use Excel, Word, Google, and AutoCAD. My IT technician told me to use Windows 7 as long as possible. He was right.
sharyn says
not easy for the computer challenged. should be more user friendly like one click its set up and done . I’ll just stay with the old way
Stella Veiga says
Windows 10 it’s another TOTAL SLOW DECEPTION !!! I wish I had never upgraded my laptop!!!
Cesar says
Them i wonder how come start menu was better than the start screen on windows 8 if at least it allowed just that without any automatization tool
Dinesh says
Or just use Classic Shell which has a built-in option to show All programs. Seriously its search is much faster and it can find apps and settings faster than Microsoft’s tiles rearranged in shape of start menu. I find it slow and no expanding folders on right means it’s a deal breaker.