How to Change the Height of the Windows 7 Start Menu
Information
This will show you how to increase and decrease the height of the Windows 7 Start Menu without displaying Recently Opened Programs and without Displaying Sub-menus.
Note
Many users would like to change the height of the Start Menu in Windows 7. There are many reasons for why a user would want this. My personal reason is so that all the programs in the All Programs list of the Start Menu will display without my having to scroll up and down the list.
The problem is that the Start Menu is dynamic and, it would seem, cannot be manually sized. Two existing methods of changing the height of the Start Menu are to 1) display recently opened programs; and 2) display the sub-menus that appear on the right side of the Start Menu, such as Documents, Downloads, and Games.
However, for those who would rather not display recently opened programs and not have some useless sub-menus displayed, a third, more flexible way exists, and this tutorial will cover that method.
The problem is that the Start Menu is dynamic and, it would seem, cannot be manually sized. Two existing methods of changing the height of the Start Menu are to 1) display recently opened programs; and 2) display the sub-menus that appear on the right side of the Start Menu, such as Documents, Downloads, and Games.
However, for those who would rather not display recently opened programs and not have some useless sub-menus displayed, a third, more flexible way exists, and this tutorial will cover that method.
Here's How:
1. Right-click on the Start button and select Properties.
2. In the Start Menu tab under Privacy, check the Store and display recently opened programs in the Start menu box.
3. Click on the Customize button at the top right corner in the Start Menu tab.
4. Under the Start menu size section on the bottom, change the Number of recent programs to display to a number between 8 and 30, where 8 is a shortest Start Menu and 30 is the tallest (for certain screen resolutions, try a lower number, such as 18).
NOTE: The default number of recent programs to display is 10.
5. Click on the OK button to save this setting.
6. In the Start Menu tab under Privacy, uncheck Store and display recently opened programs in the Start menu. Click on the Apply button.
NOTE: The trick of how this method of resizing the Start Menu works is that even when the Store and display recently opened programs in the Start menu box is unchecked, Windows still keeps the size of the Start Menu to the last setting of Number of recent programs to display.
7. Click on the Start Menu and look at its current height. If you are fine with the current height, just click the OK button of the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties window. Otherwise, repeat steps 2 to 6 until you arrive at the desired Start Menu height.
Hope this helps,
Victor Ly
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