How-To

Find an App by its First Letter on the Windows 10 Start Menu

By Brian Burgess

Updated December 24, 2020

Do you use the Start menu in Windows 10 to launch apps? Check out this handy time-saving tip to find apps easier.

If you use the Start menu on Windows 10 it can be annoying having to scroll through a ton of apps to get to the one you want to open. A feature you might not know of is the ability to find an app easier by pulling it up by its first name. Here’s how it works.

Find Apps on Windows 10 Start Menu by First Letter

Open the Start menu by clicking the Start button or pressing the Windows key on your keyboard. When the Start menu opens you’ll find a long list of the apps you have installed listed alphabetically in the left column. To narrow down what you’re looking for, select any letter from the list.

That brings up a full menu of all the letters in the alphabet. It also includes an option for symbols and numbers for an oddball app name like 7zip, for example.

Select the letter of the app you’re looking for, in this case, I am using the letter “M”.

That brings me directly to the list of apps that all start with the letter “M”. Then I can easily select the app I want.

That’s all there is to it. A simple but effective tip that will make navigating and finding apps from the Start menu much easier. If you use the Start menu to open your apps it’s a real time-saver.

The Start menu on Windows 10 is pretty robust and there are several ways to customize it so it works best for you. Check out some of our other articles l like how to make the Start menu full screen, hide the Most Used Apps list, and how to create Start menu tile groups.