The Start screen in Windows 8 displays your most-used apps, pinned apps, and live tiles. While it’s easy to change the default background picture and color of the Start screen, Windows 8 doesn’t let you change the default number of rows on the Start screen.
If you have set a custom picture as Start screen background or if you want to give your Start screen a more minimal look, you can reduce the default number of rows on the Start screen.
Not too long ago, we showed you a workaround to reduce the default number of rows on the Start screen in Windows 8. While editing Windows Registry is relatively straight-forward, not all users are comfortable with the method.
Change the number of rows on Windows 8 Start screen
Users who would like to lower the default number of app rows that appear on screen without manually editing the Registry can now download a little tool named Windows 8 Start Screen Tiles. Windows 8 Start Screen Tiles enables you lower the default number of rows on the Start screen.
As you probably know, Windows doesn’t allow you increase default number of rows on the Start screen. For instance, if the screen resolution is 1440 x 900, Windows displays five rows on the Start screen. You can use Windows 8 Start Screen Tiles only to lower the rows number.
Another important thing is that you can’t configure the Start screen to display zero number of rows. That is, there must be at least one row on the Start screen.
Just download, extract the zip file to get Win8StartScreenTiles.ex_ file, rename the file to Win8StartScreenTiles.exe, run the tool, and then select the number of rows you would like to see on the Start screen and finally click Apply button. That’s it! Windows 8 Start Screen Tiles tool is compatible with both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows 8.
Download Windows 8 Start Screen Tiles
