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   How do I get the start button back in Windows 8?
  </title><base href=https://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch001374.htm><link href=https://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch001374.htm rel=canonical><link href=https://www.computerhope.com/ch.css rel=stylesheet><script async src=https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js></script><meta content=text/html;charset=utf-8 http-equiv=Content-Type><meta content=width=device-width,initial-scale=1.0 name=viewport><meta content="Steps on how to get the start button like previous versions of Windows back in Windows 8."name=description><meta content="How do I get the start button back in Windows 8?"itemprop=name><meta content="Steps on how to get the start button like previous versions of Windows back in Windows 8."itemprop=description><meta content=https://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch001374.htm property=og:url><meta content="Steps on how to get the start button like previous versions of Windows back in Windows 8."property=og:description><meta content="How do I get the start button back in Windows 8?"property=og:title><meta content=article property=og:type><meta content=summary name=twitter:card><meta content="How do I get the start button back in Windows 8?"name=twitter:title><meta content="Steps on how to get the start button like previous versions of Windows back in Windows 8."name=twitter:description><meta content=@computerhope name=twitter:creator><meta content=https://www.computerhope.com/issues/pictures/win8_1_start.gif property=og:image><meta content=https://www.computerhope.com/issues/pictures/win8_1_start.gif itemprop=image><link href=https://www.computerhope.com/issues/pictures/win8_1_start.gif rel=image_src><link href=https://feeds.feedburner.com/LatestNewPagesOnComputerHope rel=alternate title=RSS-Feed type=application/rss+xml><link href=https://www.computerhope.com/cdn/apple-touch-icon.png rel=apple-touch-icon><link rel="shortcut icon"href=https://www.computerhope.com/cdn/favicon.ico type=image/x-icon><script>(function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':
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However, there are a few ways to mimic the Windows Start button and Start menu combination. Read through the following to find the best option to suit your needs.<div class=tip><span class=title> Tip </span><p>If you want to access the <a href=/jargon/c/commprom.htm> command prompt </a> , Event Viewer, or Windows Explorer, try using the shortcut <a href=/jargon/w/winkey.htm> <kbd class=winkey> Windows key </kbd> </a> + <kbd> X </kbd> before trying the suggestions below. This shortcut key combination opens a menu containing these options and more.</div><h2>The Start button</h2><p class=tab>With the Windows 8.1 update, Microsoft has added a Start button that takes you to the Start Screen. This update does not, however, return the <a href=/jargon/s/startmen.htm> Start menu </a> found in previous versions of Windows. If you're ok with the Start Screen and only want the Start button, we recommend updating to Windows 8.1, as it is the fastest solution and updates are important. If you still want the Start menu (not the same as Start screen), proceed to the following sections of this page.<h2>Create a Windows Start menu toolbar</h2><p class=tab>The Start menu can be made into a <a href=/jargon/t/toolbar.htm> toolbar </a> , which allows you access to all the programs you would normally see in All Programs. To do this, follow the steps below.<div class="tip tab"><span class="title note"> Note </span><p>Adding this toolbar will not look like the normal Windows Start menu. It will be on the right side of the Windows Taskbar as a little arrow that shows a list of programs.</div><ol><li>Make sure show hidden files is enabled.</ol><ul class="arrow noprint tab"><li><a href=/issues/ch000516.htm> How do I view hidden files and folders in Windows? </a></ul><ol start=2><li>Right-click the <a href=/jargon/t/taskbar.htm> Taskbar </a> and click <b> Toolbars </b> and then <b> New toolbar </b> .<li>Browse to C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows and select <b> Start menu </b> and choose <b> Select Folder </b></ol><p class=tab>Once these steps are completed, a new Start menu section on the Taskbar appears. This new section contains all the programs located in the Programs folder in the standard Windows Start menu.<h2>Install a third-party add-on</h2><p class=tab>There are multiple third-party tools that can be installed in Windows 8 that can mimic the Start button and Start menu found in previous versions of Windows. Below are our suggestions on which third-party tools to try.<ul><li><b> <a class=external href=http://lee-soft.com/vistart/> ViStart 8 </a> </b> - A great, free utility to add a Start menu almost identical to what was in <a href=/jargon/w/windows7.htm> Windows 7 </a> . It includes the ability to <a href=/jargon/s/skinz.htm> skin </a> and lots of other features.<li><b> <a class=external href=http://www.classicshell.net/> Classic Shell </a> </b> - Another free, <a href=/jargon/o/opensour.htm> open source </a> , software tool to add the Start menu and other previous Windows features to Windows 8.<li><b> <a class=external href=https://www.stardock.com/products/start8/> Start 8 </a> </b> - Another great tool for adding the start button to the <a href=/jargon/t/taskbar.htm> Taskbar </a> .</ul><div class=additional><h4>Additional information</h4><ul class=additional-information><li><a href=/tips/tip200.htm> Top 10 Windows 8 tips and tricks. </a><li>See the <a href=/jargon/s/start.htm> Start button </a> and <a href=/jargon/w/windows8.htm> Start screen </a> definitions for further information and related links.<li><a href=/jargon/w/windows.htm> Microsoft Windows help and support. </a></ul></div></article><div class=bottomad><ins class=adsbygoogle data-ad-client=ca-pub-3999293766533555 data-ad-format=auto data-ad-slot=6514780129 style=display:block> </ins><script>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});</script><div class=related><ins class=adsbygoogle data-ad-client=ca-pub-3999293766533555 data-ad-format=autorelaxed data-ad-slot=9849691723 style=display:block> </ins><script>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});</script></div></div><div class=cf id=meta_wrap><ul class="options cf"><li class=useful-page><span class=nolink> Was this page useful? </span> <a class=first-child href=/cgi-bin/feedback.cgi?yes rel=nofollow> Yes </a> <a href=/cgi-bin/feedback.cgi?no rel=nofollow> No </a><li><ul><li class=feedback><a title="Give us your feedback about this page"href=/feedback/ rel=nofollow> Feedback </a><li class=email><a title="E-mail Computer Hope"href=/contact/ rel=nofollow> E-mail </a><li class=share><a title="Share this page with friends and social networks"href=/share/ rel=nofollow> Share </a><li class="first-child print"><a onclick="window.print();return false;"title="Print a copy of this page"href=# rel=nofollow> Print </a></ul></ul></div></div><footer><form action=https://www.computerhope.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi class=cf method=post><input class=sbar name=q title=Search><button>Search</button></form><ul class=cf><li class=recent-pages><ol><li class=widget-title><h5>Recently added pages</h5><li id=ra1><li id=ra2><li id=ra3><li id=ra4><li id=ra5><li><a href=/whatnew.htm> View all recent updates </a></ol><li class=useful-links><ol><li class=widget-title><h5>Useful links</h5><li><a href=/more.htm> About Computer Hope </a><li><a href=/sindex.htm> Site Map </a><li><a href=/forum/> Forum </a><li><a href=/contact/> Contact Us </a><li><a href=/issues/ch000586.htm> How to Help </a><li><a href=/chtop10.htm> Top 10 pages </a></ol><li class=social-networks><ol><li class="widget-title first-child"><h5>Follow us</h5><li><a class=facebook href=https://www.facebook.com/computerhope/> Facebook </a><li><a class=twitter href=https://twitter.com/computerhope/> Twitter </a><li><a class=pinterest href=https://www.pinterest.com/computerhope/> Pinterest </a><li><a class=youtube href=https://www.youtube.com/user/Computerhope/> YouTube </a><li><a class=rss href=/rss.htm> RSS </a></ol></ul><div class=copyright><a class=blogo href=/> </a> © 2021 Computer Hope <br><a class=legal href=/legal.htm> Legal Disclaimer - Privacy Statement </a></div></footer></div><script async src=https://www.computerhope.com/ch.js></script><div id=tt></div><script>(function(){window['__CF$cv$params']={r:'6a6f0171bb9929b4',m:'BGGRv.gvaDPitTR2qRMCi0Cr4KslMoVfA0muahVH8ic-1635705561-0-Ad47fXZFXiiGoYelqM3BOP+JE8UIhSNsj/518kYWKegGP6Q8NvEJu+ul8hyqB7qMde3SRoctvYQzRwl9a6LYFQo1WBj2cd58UKMQk8Fz6ByxfrECOFm6Om8w+UN8GuFD+aqrITxwFbGfS+MhGO9pRRI=',s:[0x8090265388,0xf4d8b4ed3f],}})();</script>