Start Screen - Metro Apps - Change Number of Rows in Windows 8

How to Change Number of Apps Tile Rows on Start Screen in Windows 8 and 8.1​

   Information

This tutorial will show you how to increase or reduce the number of default apps rows of tiles that are displayed on your Start screen in Windows 8 and Windows 8.1.

   Note

By default, Windows 8 and 8.1 automatically detects what your current screen resolution is, and then automatically sets how many rows will be for the apps and other pinned items on the Metro Start screen based on the screen resolution size. This is usually only 3 to 5 rows by default.

For example: If you have a 1920 x 1080 (horizontal x vertical) screen resolution, then you would have 6 rows by default. You could either reduce the number of rows to a minimum of 1 row, or increase it up to a maximum of 6 rows for this screen resolution size.

See table under step 6 in OPTION THREE below for more on this.

EXAMPLE: Apps Rows Set from 5 to 6 on Start Screen
NOTE: This is with a 1900 x 1080 screen resolution.

OPTION ONE

Change Number of Apps Tile Rows on "Start" Screen using "Show More Tiles"

   Note

This option is only available in Windows 8 and 8.1 if your screen resolution is set to 1920 X 1200 or above, and available on Surface tablets. If not, then you will need to use OPTION TWO or OPTION THREE below instead.

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1. If you have not already, turn off "Make everything on your screen bigger".​

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2. Go to your Start screen.​

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3. While on your Start screen, open the Charms bar, and click/tap on the Settings charm. (see screenshot below)​

NOTE: You could also press the Windows + I keys while on the Start screen to open the Settings charm directly.​

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4. Click/tap on Tiles at the top of the right "Settings" flyout. (see screenshot below)​

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5. Do step 6 or 7 below for what you would like to do.​

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6. To "Show more tiles" on Start Screen​

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A) Move the Show more tiles slider to the right to say Yes, and go to step 8 below. (see screenshot below)​

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7. To Not "Show more tiles" on Start Screen​

NOTE: This is the default setting.​

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A) Move the Show more tiles slider to the left to say No, and go to step 8 below. (see screenshot below)​

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8. You can click/tap on a empty area of the Start screen to close the Tiles flyout.​

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OPTION TWO

To Change Number of Apps Tile Rows on "Start" Screen using VBScript File

   Note

This option only works in Windows 8, and no longer works in Windows 8.1.

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1. If you have not already, turn off "Make everything on your screen bigger".​

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2. Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below.​

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Change_Number_of_Apps_Tile_Rows_on_Start.vbs​

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3. Save the .vbs file to your Desktop.​

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4. Double click/tap on the downloaded .vbs file to run it.​

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5. If prompted, click/tap on Open.​

NOTE: If you like, you can stop getting the Open prompt by unblocking the downloaded .vbs file.​

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6. Follow the instructions in the vbscript dialog pop-up boxes until finished. (see screenshot below)​

NOTE: You'll notice that the script will let you know what range you are able to set for your specific PC to help.​

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7. If this did not help, then also try changing the DPI scaling for the Start screen. It may take a bit of experimenting to find the scale that works best for you though.​

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OPTION THREE

To Change Number of Apps Tile Rows on "Start" Screen in Registry Editor

   Note

This option only works in Windows 8, and no longer works in Windows 8.1.

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1. If you have not already, turn off "Make everything on your screen bigger".​

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2. Press the Windows+R keys to open the Run dialog box.​

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3. In Run, type regedit, and click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below)​

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4. If prompted by UAC, then click/tap on Yes.​

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5. In regedit, navigate to the location below. (see screenshot below)​

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HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ImmersiveShell\Grid

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6. In the right pane of Grid, double click/tap on Layout_MaximumRowCount. (see screenshot above)​

NOTE: If you do not have the DWORD Layout_MaximumRowCount, then right click on an empty space in the right pane of Grid, click/tap on New and DWORD (32-bit) Value, then type Layout_MaximumRowCount and press Enter.​

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7. Using the table below as a guide, type in how many apps tile rows you want, and click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below)​

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   Note

The table below will give you the default and maximum number of apps tile rows you can usually set with your current screen resolution. Generally, the larger the vertical resolution the more app tile rows you are able to have.

   Note

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• The minimum amount of apps tiles rows must be 1.
• The maximum amount of apps rows in the table below is determined by the value of the Layout_MaximumAvailableHeightCells DWORD in the same registry location from step 5.

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Screen Resolution (HxV)	Default	Max	Min
800 x 600	3	3	1
1024 x 768	4	4	1
1152 x 864	5	5	1
1280 x 720	4	4	1
1280 x 900	5	5	1
1280 x 960	5	6	1
1280 x 1024	5	6	1
1400 x 1050	6	6	1
1440 x 900	5	5	1
1600 x 900	5	5	1
1680 x 1050	6	6	1
1900 x 1080	5	6	1
1920 x 1080	6	6	1
1920 x 1200	6	7	1
2560 x 1920	6	10	1

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8. Close regedit.​

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9. Sign out and in to apply.​

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10. If this did not help, then also try changing the DPI scaling for the Start screen. It may take a bit of experimenting to find the scale that works best for you though.​

OPTION FOUR

To Restore Default Number of Apps Tile Rows on Metro Start Screen

   Note

This option will work no matter if you used OPTION ONE, OPTION TWO, or OPTION THREE above.

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1. Click/tap on the Download button below to download the .bat file below, and run it.​

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Restore_Default_Number_of_Apps_Rows.bat​

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2. If prompted, click/tap on Run and Yes (UAC).​

NOTE: If you like, you can stop getting the Run prompt by unblocking the downloaded .bat file.​

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3. You will now notice your screen flash as explorer is restarted to apply the registry changes.​

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That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

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• How to Open the "Start" Screen in Windows 8 and Windows 8.1
• Change Your Start and Sign in Screen Background and Color in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Change Start Screen Tile Icon and Name in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Pin or Unpin a App, Folder, or Drive on the "Start" Screen in Windows 8
• How to Pin and Unpin Websites from IE10 to Start Screen in Windows 8
• How to Name or Rename a Group of Apps on "Start" in Windows 8 and Windows 8.1
• How to Resize App Tiles to be Smaller or Larger on "Start" in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Organize Apps into Groups on "Start" in Windows 8 and Windows 8.1
• How to Turn "Make everything on your screen bigger" On or Off in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Download a "Start" Screen Shortcut in Windows 8
• How to Change the DPI for Modern UI in Windows 8
• How to Sort Items on Your Apps Screen in Windows 8.1
• How to List Desktop Apps or Store Apps First on Your Apps Screen in Windows 8.1

 

[vlad7777]

Hi, I have Sony Vaio Duo 11 with Windows 8 64bit. I run the "Official" final release of Windows 8 Pro. My Computer Screen resolution is 1080P (1920X1080 Native) , but the Modern UI does not let me increase the number of rows to more than 3.
When I go to settings – the option to increase number of rows does not exist.
I tried modifying the registry as described above and I have
"Layout_MaximumRowCount" key set to 5 (also tried 6) – did not help.
.The other two keys in the registry:
“Layout_AvailableHeightCells” and
“ Layout_MaximumAvailableHeightCells” both set at 3 and any attempt to change the value reverts back to 3 after reboot or re-logon.
What is very strange is that when I change the screen resolution to a lower resolution like 1280 X 768 or any other value below 1080P - I get more rows in the UI.
Also, the option on “PC Settings” à “Ease of Access” à “Make everything Samller’ is greyed out and a note states “Your PC display does not support this setting” – but I have the full HD 1080P display!
I need some help on this. I hope someone has the solution.

 

[Brink]

Hello Vlad, and welcome to Eight Forums.

You might see if using the tutorial below to adjust your DPI scaling settings for the Start screen may help with your screen resolution set to (1920X1080 Native). You may need to try different values until you get it how you like it.

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/19209-dpi-change-modern-ui-windows-8-a.html

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[davebold370]

Hello there, I'm new to the forums and I was looking through to find a way to reduce the maximum amount of columns allowed in each section of the windows 8 start screen.

The first block has two columns while the second block has 4 columns. I organize my programs using these blocks, but I don't have enough apps to file this block of tiles up thus, i have two tiles that protrude out and makes it nasty looking.

I have found this and much more information like this, but nothing to solve the problem.

When I lower the row count, it lowers it horizontally and cause the protrusion to worsen. So, is there a way to limit the number of tiles in each block?

 

[Brink]

Hello Dave, and welcome to Eight Forums.

For columns, about all you can do is organize them into groups how you like.

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/4870-start-screen-apps-organize-into-groups.html

Hope this helps some,
Shawn

 

[davebold370]

Thank you. I was looking for a method to reduce the maximum tiles. But you are right, origination is the only thing that can be done in this case.

 

[vlad7777]

Hello Vlad, and welcome to Eight Forums.

You might see if using the tutorial below to adjust your DPI scaling settings for the Start screen may help with your screen resolution set to (1920X1080 Native). You may need to try different values until you get it how you like it.

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/19209-dpi-change-modern-ui-windows-8-a.html

Hope this helps,
Shawn

Shawn,

Thank you very much for steering me to the right solution.

I had to add a screen size key (which was not in my Registry)

Then I set screen size 12.1" - this did not help.
I then changed the screen size to 13" and this worked and produced 5 rows.

I did not go any further (although my native screen resolution should be good for default 6 rows) - but I stopped at 5 - it is much better than 3.

Wonder why we have to go through such mods to achieve what supposed to be automatic setting...

Thanks again
Vladimir

 

[Brink]

Vladimir,

I'm happy to hear that you got it sorted.

It would be nice to have a nice UI option to be able to quickly change this without having to manually do it. Maybe in a future update.

 

[Brink]

Updated OPTION TWO in the tutorial to make changing the number of apps tile rows on your Start screen easier to do automatically with a VBScript file.

 

[IownAmoneyPit]

Brink (Shawn) I just discovered another resolution of 1280 x 900 which allows a Default/Maximum of 5 rows that can be added to the table contained in Option Three , step #6 of your tutorial.

This resolution would be suitable for Laptops with a maximum height restriction of 900 (IE:1600 x 900) pixels & limited resolution settings.

In my case I also had to add this resolution to the list of available resolutions as a custom resolution.

 

[Brink]

Thank you sir. Added.

 

[lmod]

The manual registry edit still works in W8.1 Preview. My 1900x1200 monitors were limited to 6 rows, even after setting the "Show more tiles" slider was set to "Yes." After adding the Registry value I now have 7 rows.

 

[Brink]

Thank you for confirming it in Windows 8.1 Preview lmod.

 

[zeemo71]

My res is 1366x768 and I cannot seem to keep it at the row count I want, I change it then I cant sign out thru start screen or start8 so I ctrl-alt-del and sign out that way and it changes the row count but then a little while later it just changes back.

 

[Brink]

Hello Zeemo, and welcome to Eight Forums.

I would suspect that it may be an issue caused by Start8. If you like, as a test, temporarily uninstall Start8, restart the PC, and try the tutorial again to see how it works to determine if Start8 may be at fault.

 

[Microsoft]

Hello Mr. Shawn Brink;
Thank you for this useful tutorial....
Please check this link. It doesn't work and when you click on this link, you will go to the home page of Eight Forums site instead of downloading that vbs file.


Regards...

 

[Brink]

Hello Mr. Shawn Brink;
Thank you for this useful tutorial....
Please check this link. It doesn't work and when you click on this link, you will go to the home page of Eight Forums site instead of downloading that vbs file.
View attachment 28168

Regards...

Hello Amir Mohammad Karami,

Sorry about that. The link should be working now. Please try again.

 

[TheGardnerII]

First of all: the tuturial worked perfect (after doing the DPI scaling) and I successful changed my tile rows from 3 up to 6 in Windows 8.

Now on 8.1 (updated from 8.0) - all seems different. I (again) have only 3 rows and did the tuturial again (all keys and dwords were gone after the update) but it won't work anymore.
If I use the "more tiles" function (now available in 8.1) I can change the tile rows from 3 to 4, but thats all....

Why I can't increase it up to 6 or 7, if my tablet have a resolution of 1920x1080?

Even if I run the tablet on a 23" monitor with 1680x1050 its showing me 6 rows...
Has somethings changed in 8.1 now?

 

[TheGardnerII]

GOT ITttttttt!

This was the solution for my problem: http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/6894-make-everything-your-screen-bigger-turn-off.html
Turn it off and now I have 7 (S E V E N) rows on 1920x1080. Yay!

 

[Brink]

Hello TheGardnerII, and welcome to Eight Forums.

Perfect. Thank you for posting back with your results.

 

[Daniel290881]

Solution for Windows 8.1 ?

Hi,

I am using Windows 8.1 on a notebook with a native resolution of 2560x1440. I have the options "Smaller" and "Show More Tiles". From start up i have 6 rows of tiles in Windows 8.1, sometimes i have 7 and last days i had one situation where i had 10. And everything on the same display.

I saved the grid file from registry of 10 rows, but it didnt work. I only have 6 or 7 now anymore.

Does anyone know if there is a trick like in Windows 8 for WIndows 8.1 ?

For those who are interesd, Registry Grid File with 10 Rows is in attachement.

View attachment GRID.reg


Screenshot 6 Rows:



Screenshot 10 Rows: