Troubleshooting Guide
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Chapter 4:
Windows 8.1 Personalization
Just switched to Windows 8 or 8.1 and everything looks different? Indeed, the new Metro Design can be a bit confusing at first. This section is dedicated to helping you customize the look and feel of your new operating system. As such, you’ll learn how to change colors and backgrounds, as well as how to work with the Start Screen like a pro.
The option to boot directly into desktop upon 
startup seems rather trivial, but it was missing when Windows 8 came out. Users who really wanted this to be a default option were forced to download third-party software to enable it. Luckily, Microsoft listened to their feedback and this feature has been made available in Windows 8.1, along with a few more interesting Desktop-related functions that we will cover in this guide.
If you are still running Windows 8, then there is no need to wait any longer and you should upgrade to Windows 8.1, as the process is fairly easy and quick (not to mention free).
Booting to Desktop, Start Screen or Apps View in Windows 8.1
Windows 8.1 allows you to boot into three different views after startup – the Start screen, the Desktop and the Apps view. For PC users who are used to older versions of Windows, the most logical of the three is to boot straight into Desktop. This will not be set as your default option, but it is easy to change it and here’s how:
Open the Control Panel and type in “Navigation” in the Search box.
Now select Taskbar and Navigation from the offered results.
A new screen will open and you should select the Navigation tab.
In this tab you can customize your boot settings (see the screenshot below):
a. To boot to Desktop select “When I sign in or close all apps on a screen, go to the desktop instead of Start” and (click or tap) on OK. The next time you sign in to your PC, you will immediately go to the Desktop.
b. To boot to Start (in case this is currently not the case) select “When I sign in or close all apps on a screen, go to the desktop instead of Start” and click OK.
c. To boot to Apps View select “When I sign in or close all apps on a screen, go to the desktop instead of Start”, but this time also check the box that says “Show the Apps view automatically when I go to Start”.
Customize your boot settings.
Extended Options from the Start Button
The Desktop view in Windows 8.1 features the Start button in the lower-left corner. At first glance the button only has one purpose – clicking (or tapping) on it will take you to the Start screen. Users who used previous versions of Windows will find this a little bit unintuitive as the Start Button used to have a much more important purpose. Namely, clicking on it used to bring out the Start menu.
Clicking on the Start Button used to bring out the Start menu.
However, this button has an additional purpose now – just right click on it (or press and hold) and an extended options menu will appear. Here you will have quick access to various utility tools such as the File Explorer, Search tool, Run tool, the Command Prompt and Power Options. At the very bottom, you will also see the option to shut down or sign out which should be a lot more intuitive.
Unfortunately, the menu is not exactly very user friendly, but despite this, a lot of PC users will probably be using it a lot. Windows 8.1 is full of new (yet hidden) tricks and shortcuts. You can learn a lot about them by reviewing the new Windows 8.1 keyboard shortcuts.
The Start screen is the default screen that you’ll always see in Windows 8.1 (unless you change your settings so that you boot to Desktop) and as such it has a very important role. In fact, Microsoft calls it “the heart of your PC” 
because this is where you can open apps and desktop programs.
The screen is a big change from previous versions of Windows and it takes some time to get used to it. In this guide, we’ll help you understand and customize the Start screen in Windows 8.1 as well as provide some advanced tips for a more productive workflow.
Add or Remove Apps from the Start Screen
Adding applications to the Start screen (represented as tiles) or removing them is very easy. Microsoft prefers to call the process “pinning”, but it shouldn’t be confused with the process of pinning apps to the taskbar which is visible only via the Desktop.
To pin (add) apps to the Start screen do the following:
From the Start screen, you can swipe up from the middle of the screen (or click the arrow button in the lower-left corner with the mouse) in order to open the Apps View.
This is a list of all your available apps. Browse through it and find the app that you want to pin.
Tap or right click on the app to select it.
Now just tap or click on the Pin to Start option.
To unpin (remove) apps from the Start screen do the following:
Open the Start screen and locate the app that you want to unpin.
Press and hold (or right click) the app tile.
Tap or click on the Unpin from Start option in the bottom bar of your screen.
Organize the Tiles and Tile Groups on the Start Screen
Since the Start screen is a central hub for your apps and social accounts, it was designed to be highly modular and customizable. You can do just about anything you want – choose apps, resize tiles and move everything wherever you want. Generally, you probably want to organize the Start screen so that your most important apps and Windows tools are always accessible. We’ll go over all the things you can do directly on the Start screen.
You can move tiles on the Start screen:
While in the Start screen, press and hold (or click and hold with the mouse) the tile you want to move.
Windows will respond to your input and set the tile to be “draggable”. The animation that highlights the tile will show you that the tile is selected and ready to be moved.
Drag the tile across the Start screen and place it where you want.
You can resize tiles on the Start screen:
From the Start screen, press and hold (or right-click) the tile you want to resize.
Tap or click the Resize option in the bottom bar.
Choose the size you want (Wide, Medium or Small)
You can also create your own groups of tiles:
Once in the Start screen, press and hold (or right click) all of the tiles you want to group together.
With all of the tiles selected, 
you can now drag them to an open space. Once you see a gray column appear behind them, release the tiles. This is enough to create a group; however, you can still customize it.
The current group will be unnamed so you should tap (or click) where it says Name group above the tile group to rename it.
Now that you’ve created a couple of groups, you can also move a group of tiles:
From the Start screen, you can use the pinch gesture to zoom out (or you can click the zoom icon in the lower-right corner of your screen).
Once you’re zoomed out just press (or click) and hold any part of the tile group and drag it freely across the Start screen.
Once you’ve finished moving the groups, you can tap or click anywhere outside of the groups to return to the previous zoom settings.
Change the Start Screen Background Image
There are three different types of background in Windows 8.1 and they’re spread across three different screens: the Sign In screen, the Start screen and the Desktop. You can unify the screens to use the same background image if you wish and we’ll show you how to do it.
To just change the background on the Start screen do the following:
From the Start screen open the Charms bar and tap or click on Settings.
Click or tap on the Personalize section.
Here you’ll have access to various visual settings and you can choose your background image, background color and the accent color. The latter two are global settings, while the background image will only be seen on the Start screen.
If you’ve already set a background image on your Desktop and you want it to be visible on the Start screen you can do the following:
Open Start by swiping in from the right edge of the screen and then tapping Start. (Or, if you're using a mouse, point to the lower-left corner of the screen, move your mouse all the way into the corner, and then click Start.)
Once again open the Charms bar and then tap or click on Settings to enter the Personalize options.
Among the recommended Start screen background, you’ll also see your desktop background in the bottom-right corner. Click or tap on it to set it as background for the Start screen as well.
The Start screen’s background will automatically link to the Desktop’s background image path. As such, every time you change the Desktop’s background it will immediately reflect on the Start screen as well.
Themes are just one of the personalization methods that are available in Windows 8.1 and they allow you to enjoy better user experience on your Desktop screen. You can choose pre-built themes or edit them, as well as create your own custom ones. In this guide we’ll show you how to get started with theme creation in Windows 8.1 and how to share them with others. If you’re looking for customization settings related to the Start screen, you can take a look at our guide about customizing the Start Screen.
Using Themes in Windows 8.1
A theme is a combination of backgrounds, color pallets, sound effects and screen savers. The last two are optional, but often included with most pre-built themes. You can, however, customize each theme and turn screensavers off if you so desire. If you’ve used Windows 7 before, then the concept and the settings will look very familiar and intuitive.
To get started with themes in Desktop, just right click (or press and hold) anywhere on the Desktop for a settings menu to appear. From the list, select the option Personalize. This will open the personalization menu for Windows 8.1 themes.
The themes are divided into four categories:
My themes – here you will see all of the themes that you’ve personally created, edited or downloaded from the Internet.
Windows default themes – these are the pre-built themes that come with Windows.
Installed themes – these are also pre-built themes but they were included by a third-party, possibly the equipment manufacturer.
High contrast themes – these are meant to help with ease of access in Windows by providing special themes that make the items on the screen easier to distinguish and use. You can read more about other tools like this one in our ease of access in Windows 8.1 guide.
You can select any of the themes and apply it to your Desktop. After it’s been set as the current theme, you can click on it to edit the things you want to change.
The edited theme will appear as a new one in the My Themes section and your original theme will not be altered.
Creating and Sharing Themes in Windows 8.1
You’re not limited to the default themes that come with your installation of Windows and you are free to create your own. While we can’t give you any advice regarding the creative aspect, we can guide you through the technical process. To create your own theme in Windows 8.1, do the following:
Right click on the Desktop and open the Personalization settings. Now let’s handle every element of the theme one-by-one.
At the bottom of the window you’ll see the Desktop background image. Click on it to change it and click or tap on Save changes.
At the bottom of the window you’ll also see the Color options. Click or tap on them to select the color palette for your window borders and taskbar.
You can tap or click on Automatic to let Windows choose the optimal color palette based on your current Desktop background image. Once you’ve chosen the colors, click or tap on Save changes.
If you wish to change the sound effects, click on Sounds options at the bottom of the window. You will now see a list of sounds called the Sound Scheme, which allows you to mute sound effects or to select any of the presets that are installed.
Finally, you can also change the screen saver via the Screen Saver options at the bottom of the window.
This theme will now be applied to your PC and will appear under the My Themes category as an unsaved theme. You can locate it in this directory and click on Save theme. This will save the theme as a user preset and if you ever change your theme in the future, the theme you saved will still be available.
In case you want to share this theme with other users, you’ll be happy to know that the process is easy and automatic. Every theme can be saved as a .themepack file which is compatible with other PCs running Windows.
The process is rather simple – just locate your theme and right click on it. You’ll see the option Save theme for sharing. Click on it to save your theme as a .themepack file and choose the name and directory of the newly exported theme.
