Hello, I’m CathyAnne. In the last lesson, we discussed the Start Menu edit box and search filters. If you didn’t review that lesson, I’ll place a link to the first two Windows 11 lessons in the video description.

Today, I’m going to pick up where we left off with the Start Menu.

I’ll discuss pinned applications, the All Apps button, Recommended List, the User Button, and Power options.

We’ll revisit the NVDA command to read the focused control (NVDA-TAB). Aside from this command, everything you’ll learn today are Windows commands.

Thanks for joining me! This is Windows 11 Start Menu: Part two.

Pinned Applications

Pinned applications are beneath the Start Menu edit box. Some people find pinned applications a hassle to access and dismiss them. I like pinned applications. There are some applications I use infrequently but are important. I pin these applications to the Start Menu. When I need them, I pop into pinned applications. Pinned applications keeps me from searching high and low for an application whose name I simply can’t remember!

To access pinned applications:

- - Open the Start Menu (WINDOWS KEY or CTRL-ESCAPE)
  - Press TAB once

Focus is on pinned applications.

Navigate pinned applications in a couple ways:

- - ALL FOUR ARROW KEYS
  - First letter navigation
    - If you have multiple pinned applications that start with the same letter, you’ll notice circular navigation
    - In Windows, you always end up back where you started, you can’t get lost

Pinned applications vary depending upon who built the computer or if a user has pinned or unpinned applications.

Pinned applications are in rows and columns. You must use ALL FOUR ARROW KEYS or letters to navigate pinned applications.

Press ENTER to open a pinned application.

Press ALT-F4 to close applications.

Read the focused control with NVDA-TAB. This is an NVDA command.

Manage Pinned Applications

Manage pinned applications with the Windows Application Menu. Open the Windows Application Menu in a couple ways:

Focus on a pinned application and press one of the following:

- - WINDOWS APPLICATION KEY (the key next to the right CTRL key)
  - SHIFT-F10

The Windows Application Menu opens.

Press UP and DOWN ARROW to navigate menu options. Press ENTER to activate a menu option.

Menu options vary depending upon the pinned application. Menu options may include:

- - Move to Front – Move the selected application to the first pinned application position
  - Unpin from Start – Unpin the application from the Start Menu
    - This doesn’t remove applications from the computer, it removes the pinned icon from the Start Menu
    - The application is still on your computer and can be accessed via the Start Menu search edit box or all apps list
  - Open File Location – Open the folder containing the selected shortcut
  - Pin to Taskbar – Pin the application to the Windows Taskbar
  - App Settings – Open the application settings interface
  - Uninstall – Uninstall an application from your computer
    - This may open an uninstall wizard
    - Follow the steps to uninstall the application
    - If you uninstall an application, it’s removed from your computer

Using the Windows Application Menu, you can manage pinned applications.

To close a menu without taking an action, tap ESCAPE.

Notice menu navigation:

- - Focus on a pinned application
  - Open the Windows Application Menu (WINDOWS APPLICATION KEY or SHIFT-F10)
  - Press UP ARROW
  - Focus is placed on the last menu option
  - Press UP and DOWN ARROW
  - Notice focus moves in a circle
  - Once again, you can’t get lost in Windows

Pin an Application to the Start Menu

Pin an application to the Start Menu from search results.

To pin an application to the Start Menu:

Unpin an Application from the Start Menu

Unpin an application from the Start Menu in the pinned applications list:

- - Open the Start Menu (WINDOWS KEY or CTRL-ESCAPE)
  - Press TAB once to focus in the pinned applications list
  - Navigate the list with ALL FOUR ARROW KEYS or first letter navigation
  - Select the application you want to unpin
  - Open the Windows Application Menu (WINDOWS APPLICATION KEY or SHIFT-F10)
    - Press UP and DOWN ARROW to navigate menu options
  - Select and press ENTER on “Unpin from Start”
  - The application is unpinned from the Start Menu
  - It’s still on your computer
  - It’s just no longer available in the Start Menu

All Apps Button

Activate the “All Apps” button to display all installed applications and websites. The applications and websites are in a simple list.

To activate the “All Apps” button:

- - Open the Start Menu (WINDOWS KEY or CTRL-ESCAPE)
  - Press TAB until focus is on the “All Apps” button
  - Press SPACEBAR to activate the button
    - In Windows, SPACEBAR activates most buttons
    - If SPACEBAR doesn’t work, press ENTER
    - I’ll elaborate in future lessons
  - Installed applications are in a plain list
  - Navigate the list with Windows list box navigation commands
    - UP and DOWN ARROW
    - PAGE UP and PAGE DOWN
    - HOME and END
    - First letter navigation
      - Pressing a first letter navigates to the first application beginning with the selected letter
      - Press DOWN ARROW to review applications beginning with the same letter
    - Applications are listed in alphabetic order
    - Select an application and press ENTER to activate it
    - Press ALT-F4 to close applications
    - To close the Apps list without taking an action:
      - Press TAB until focus is on the “Back” button
      - Press SPACEBAR to activate the button
      - The Start Menu is restored to the default view

Practice accessing and closing the “All apps” list. Incorporate this with the other Windows skills you’ve learned.

Focus on an app in the “All Apps” list and open the Windows Application menu (WINDOWS APPLICATION KEY or SHIFT-F10).

Press UP and DOWN ARROW to navigate menu options. Press ESCAPE to close the Windows Application Menu and return to the apps list.

Notice how options vary depending upon which application is selected.

Change the “All Apps” View

Change the “All Apps” view to an alphabet listing with a button at the top of the “All Apps” list.

- - Open the “All Apps” list by activating the Start Menu “All Apps” button
  - Press Home to focus on the top list option
    - Depending on Start Setting configurations, you may have one or more All Apps categories:
      - Recently Added
      - Most used
      - Recently opened
    - If none of the above are enabled, focus is placed on the first letter “A”
  - Press SPACEBAR

The “All Apps” list changes to an alphabet. Press ALL FOUR ARROW KEYS to select a letter. Press ENTER to focus on the first app beginning with the selected letter. The list changes back to the standard “All Apps” list.

Focus is placed on the first app beginning with the selected letter. Return to the alphabet list by moving to the top app list item (Home) and pressing SPACEBAR. You can also press SPACEBAR on any Apps list letter heading.

Press ESCAPE at any time or press SPACEBAR on the first alphabet list item. It may be one of the aforementioned categories or the letter “A” depending upon Start Menu settings.

To restore the Start Menu, activate the “Back” button. To access the “Back” button:

- - Press TAB until focus is on the back button
  - Press SPACEBAR to activate the button

Take some time to explore the All Apps list. Change it to an alphabet listing and switch it back to the default list.

If you get lost or confused, tap ESCAPE until the Start Menu closes and start fresh. You can’t do any damage or harm anything by exploring the Windows Start Menu. I heartily encourage you to play.

Recommended List

A list of recently accessed documents is at the bottom of the Start Menu. This list can be hidden in Start Menu options. If you don’t have a recent documents list, it’s disabled in these options.

The Recommended list is beneath pinned tiles. To access the Recommended List:

- - Open the Start Menu (WINDOWS KEY or CTRL-ESCAPE)
  - Press TAB until focus is on the first recommended option
  - It follows the “All Apps” button in the TAB and SHIFT-TAB rotation
  - Press ALL FOUR ARROW KEYS to navigate recommended documents
  - These documents change according to your computing history. As you access documents, they’re added at the top and older documents are removed from the bottom
  - Select a document and press ENTER to open it in the associated application
  - Press ALT-F4 to close applications

Recommended List Windows Application Menu

Two options are available in the Recommended Documents Windows Application Menu.

- - Select a document in the Recommended document list
  - Open the Windows Application Menu (WINDOWS APPLICATION KEY or SHIFT-F10)
  - Press UP and DOWN ARROW to select an action
  - Menu options are:
    - Open File Location – Open the folder in which the document resides in File Explorer
    - Remove from list – Remove the document from the Start Menu recommended list
      - The document remains on the computer but is removed from the recommended list
    - Press ESCAPE to close the menu without taking an action
    - Focus returns to the Start Menu

More Button

A “More” button is just beyond the recommended list box. Focus on the button and press SPACEBAR to expand the documents list and show more documents.

The pinned applications and “All Apps” button are hidden and a list of recent documents is displayed.

Use list box navigation to access recommended documents.

- - UP and DOWN ARROW
  - PAGE UP and PAGE DOWN
  - HOME and END

Press ENTER to open a document in the associated application.

Press ALT-F4 to close applications.

Press TAB or SHIFT-TAB to select the “Back” button.

Activate the “Back” button (SPACEBAR) to restore the default Start Menu view.

User Account

A User Account button is at the bottom left of the Start Menu. This button opens a drop-down list with User Account options.

Press SHIFT-TAB to navigate to the bottom Start Menu controls. You’ll hear your account name.

Press SPACEBAR to open a drop-down list with account options.

Press UP and DOWN ARROW to navigate the following:

- - Change account settings – Open your user account settings
  - Lock – Lock the computer
  - Sign out – Sign out of your account
  - If you have one, your network homegroup may be listed

Press ENTER to select an option.

Press ESCAPE to close the account drop-down list and return to the Start Menu.

Power Options

Power Options are on the bottom right of the Start Menu. To access Power Options:

- - Open the Start Menu (WINDOWS KEY or CTRL-ESCAPE)
  - Navigate to the “Account” button (SHIFT-TAB)
    - I mention SHIFT-TAB because SHIFT-TAB moves focus to the bottom of a dialog or the Start Menu
    - Use SHIFT-TAB to access the bottom control
  - Press RIGHT ARROW until focus is on the “Power” button
    - There may be multiple options to the right of the Account button
    - This Start Menu area is user configured
    - The Power button will be on the far right
  - Press SPACEBAR to activate the button
  - A drop-down list has four options
  - Press UP and DOWN ARROW to navigate the options
    - Sign-in Options – Open user account sign-in settings
    - Sleep – Put the computer to sleep
    - Shutdown – Shut down the computer
    - Restart – Restart the computer
  - Press ENTER to activate an option
  - Press ESCAPE to close the drop-down list without taking an action

I had you press SHIFT-TAB to focus on the Account button. In Windows, navigation is circular. You could press TAB multiple times to get to the bottom control or press SHIFT-TAB to immediately focus on the last page control.

This is handy in Windows dialogs with dozens of controls and options.

Practice using these commands in your everyday computing life.

Reading the focused control and contents (NVDA-TAB) is sure to become a favorite!

Please take some time to explore the skills learned in this lesson. Each lesson in this series builds upon previous lessons.

Review

While exploring the Start Menu, you’ve learned some basic Windows controls:

- - Edit box – insert text
  - List box (Pinned Apps, All Apps, Recommended Documents)
    - UP and DOWN ARROW
    - PAGE UP and PAGE DOWN
    - HOME and END
  - Buttons (Apps and More)
    - Press SPACEBAR to activate buttons
    - If SPACEBAR doesn’t work, press ENTER

Listen for these controls in your every day computing life. Edit boxes, list boxes, and buttons are all standard Windows controls that can be accessed using the instructions in this lesson.

If you found this video helpful, please like, subscribe, and turn on notifications. I’m curious how far this video is reacing. Please comment below where you are from and how you found this video. I’d love to learn more about you.

I’m CathyAnne. A recording transcript is available at www.cathyanne.com. Thanks for joining me. I’ll see you next time! Thanks George.

Windows 11 with NVDA – The Start Menu: Part Two