If you want to enable Windows Full-screen Start Menu, then you can do so using the Registry Editor and Local Group Policy Editor. We have already seen how to use the full-screen Start Menu in Windows 10 by making the changes from Windows Settings, now let us see these methods too
Before you begin, it is recommended to backup all Registry files and create a System Restore point.
Enable Windows Full-screen Start Menu using Registry
To turn on full-screen Start Menu in Windows 11/10 using Registry Editor, follow these steps-
- Press Win+R to open the Run prompt.
- Type regedit and hit the Enter button.
- Click the Yes button.
- Navigate to Explorer in HKLM.
- Right-click on Explorer > New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.
- Name it as ForceStartSize.
- Double-click on it to set the Value data as 2.
- Click OK to save the change.
Open the Registry Editor on your computer. For that, press Win+R to open the Run prompt, type regedit
, and hit the Enter button. It opens the UAC prompt where you have to click the Yes button. After opening the Registry Editor, navigate to the following path-
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer
However, if you want to make a full screen Start Menu only in the current user account, navigate to the same path inside HKEY_CURRENT_USER
.
In case you cannot find Explorer, right-click on the Windows key, select New > Key, and name it as Explorer.
Following that, right-click on Explorer, select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value, and name it as ForceStartSize.
By default, it carries 0 as the Value data. Double-click on it to set the Value data as 2 (Full screen Start).
Click the OK button to save changes. After that, restart your computer to find the difference.
In case you want to revert the change, navigate to the same path, and delete the value.
Turn on full-screen Start Menu using Group Policy
To turn on full-screen Start Menu in Windows 11/10 using Group Policy, follow these steps-
- Press Win+R to open the Run prompt.
- Type gpedit.msc and hit the Enter button.
- Navigate to Start Menu and Taskbar in User Configuration.
- Double-click on Force Start to be either full screen size or menu size.
- Select the Enabled option.
- Expand the drop-down list and choose Full screen Start.
- Click on the OK button.
Press Win+R to open the Run prompt on your computer. Type gpedit.msc
and hit the Enter button. It will open the Local Group Policy Editor on your computer. After that, navigate to the following path-
User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Start Menu and Taskbar
In case you want to apply the setting to all users, navigate to the same path inside Computer Configuration.
Here you will see a setting called Force Start to be either full screen size or menu size.
Double-click on it and select the Enabled option.
Then, expand the Choose one of the following sizes drop-down list, and choose Full screen Start option.
Finally, click the OK button to save the change. You might have to restart your computer to get the difference.
If you want to revert the change, open the same setting and select Not Configured.
That’s all! Hope it helps.