Windows 8 removed the Start Menu and now if you want to see all the apps that you have installed on your system, you have to go to the Start Screen, right-click and then click on All apps. I personally find this very annoying since previously I could just click on Start and All Programs!
When you click on All apps, you get a list of your Metro apps (now called just Apps) and your regular desktop apps as you scroll to the right.
I’m not sure why Windows 8 made the process longer, but it’s annoying. In this article, I’ll show you a method to create a desktop shortcut that will bring you straight to the All apps screen from the desktop and activate the search charm so you can quickly find the app you want to run.
To get started, go to the desktop and right-click and then choose New – Shortcut.
Now in the location box, go ahead and type the following line:
%windir%\explorer.exe shell:::{2559a1f8-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}That is basically a Windows 8 shell command, but you really don’t need to worry about that. All you need to do is copy and paste that into the text box like shown below:
Click Next and give the shortcut a name and click Finish. Now just double-click on your new shortcut, which should look something like this:
You will get the list of all apps plus you will see the Search charm pop up so you can start typing to filter the list of apps. If you don’t want to see the Search charm, just click anywhere off of it and it will disappear.
That’s about it! I have found this a lot faster than going through the Start Screen and right-clicking. If you want to make it even faster, right-click on the shortcut and Pin to Taskbar.
Now you can one the All apps screen from the desktop with one click. Not too bad! If you have found a better solution for getting to the All apps folder from the desktop, post your solution here! Enjoy!