How to activate the new Start menu on Windows 10

Microsoft describes the new Start menu as providing a "more streamlined design" by applying a "uniform, partially transparent background" to Tile. Of course, third-party apps still have their own colors, for example Netflix.

Released with Windows 10 build 20161, the new Start menu is in beta, so not all computers have this feature ready. The user must activate it through the installation steps.

To get the Windows 10 build 20161 update, the first step is to sign up for Windows Insider. This is a program that allows users to experience Windows operating system versions before they are widely announced. However, using the demo means accepting the risk of more errors.

To activate the new Start menu on Windows 10, users go to Start> Settings > Update & Security then select the Windows Insider Program item .

The next step, select Get started and connect to your Microsoft account under Link an account . The user then chooses to participate in the test program by clicking Dev Channel , confirming it again. The change will take effect after the computer is restarted.

Go back to the Settings menu > Windows Update , at which point the Dev Channel item appears . After clicking, continue to click Resume updates (or Check for updates ), restart to receive the latest updates for Windows Insider members, in this case Windows 10 build 20161.

Once the computer is back on, the user will get a Start menu with beautiful Fluent style, the same color tiles and partially transparent.

According to Tomsguide , there are cases where after completing the above steps, the computer still won't appear a new Start menu. At this point, to experience the user must accept the risk of using a 3rd party software called ViveTool to activate.

However, the tool starts with the command line interface, and is relatively difficult to use. So casual users should wait until Microsoft introduces the Start menu to the official update.

Lesley Montoya

Update 21 August 2020