The Start button is a part of the Microsoft operating system for a long time. You can find the Start button in Windows XP, Vista, and 7. However, Microsoft has removed the Start button in Windows 8 and finally added them back in Windows 8.1. The latest Windows 10 also comes with a beautiful Start menu.
Windows 10 allows you to access the Start menu or Start screen by clicking on the Start button or pressing the Windows logo key on the keyboard. Most of us prefer to open the Start menu by clicking on the Start button on the Windows taskbar. However, if you prefer to use a keyboard shortcut (Windows logo key) to open the Start menu on Windows 10 or want to remove the Start button for any reason, it is possible to use a third-party tool.
If you always use a keyboard shortcut to open the Start menu, the Start button may be useless for you, and want to get rid of this; you can take the help of third-party freeware. There is no built-in function on Windows 10 to remove the Start button from the PC; hence we will take the help of free tools: StartIsGone and Start Killer. Both these freeware applications serve the purpose; hence you can download and use any of them.
Before proceeding with further steps, ensure that hiding or removing the Start button using a third-party tool will not obliterate the Start menu from your PC. Once you deactivate the application, the Start button will appear again. Even you can access the Start menu by pressing the Windows logo key from the keyboard. Similarly, to access the power menu, you can use the Windows logo + X keyboard shortcut. That means disabling or removing the Start menu from software will not remove the built-in features of Windows 10. You can still enjoy all the features of the Start button even by hiding them.
Windows 10 Start Button Hider
Hide Windows 10 Start menu with Start Killer
Start Killer is a free program specially designed to disable or hide the Start button on Windows PC. With Start menu Killer, you can easily hide the Start button. Just download the installer or portable program and run it on your PC. If you download a portable version of this program, there is no need to install it on your PC. Just run them and start hiding the Start menu.
There is no GUI of this application to change the settings; however, you can access the Settings of this program by right-clicking on its icon on the System Tray. If you want to see the Start menu, To see the Start button again, exit the Start Killer program by right-clicking on the Start Killer icon in the system tray.
Start Killer comes with two executable files, one for 32-bit and another for the 64-bit operating system. Before running the app, make sure you have double-clicked on the right application. Furthermore, this free utility is compatible with Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8.1, and Windows 10.
You can download this tiny Start Killer from its official website.
Hide Windows 10 Start menu using StartIsGone
StartIsGone is another free application that serves the purpose, and it also removes the Start button from Windows PC. It is also a portable program to hide the Start button on the taskbar. Just download and run this freeware tool to start hiding the Start button immediately.
When running, its icon will remain visible on the system tray. To see or unhide the Start button, right-click on its tray icon and select the “Exit” option. If you want to load it with Windows Startup, right-click on its icon on the System tray and select the option, “Run at startup.” There is also an option available to hide its icon on the system tray; it is useful when you don’t want to unhide the Start button.
This application is compatible with Windows 10 and Windows 8.1. There are two separate executable files for 32-bit and 64-bit OS; hence before running, make sure you have selected the right application. You can download this tiny freeware from here.
Note: During our test, we noticed that both the applications hide the Start button and Taskbar icons which were added manually. If you only want to hide or remove the Start button, but want to see the custom Taskbar icons, then it might not be your choice.
