Find and open apps with the Start menu, search and the taskbar

An app is a program: Notepad, Microsoft Edge, Claude. Your PC comes with dozens. There are three ways to open one.

Search: the fastest way

1. Press the Windows key once. The Start menu opens with a search box at the top. You can also click the search box or the magnifying glass on the taskbar.
2. Type the first letters of the app's name, for example edg for Microsoft Edge.
3. The best match shows at the top, with the word App under its name. Press Enter to open it.

Search also offers web results, files and settings, so read the top line before you press Enter. If the top result is not the app, press the down-arrow key to move down the list, or click the app directly.

The Start menu

Click the Start button, the Windows logo on the taskbar, or press the Windows key. On Windows 11 the menu shows a grid of pinned apps and a Recommended list of recent files. Click All or All apps at the top-right to see every app in alphabetical order. On Windows 10 the alphabetical list is on the left and the pinned apps are tiles on the right.

The taskbar

The taskbar is the bar along the bottom of the screen. Click an icon once to open that app. An icon with a small line or dot under it is an app that is already open; clicking it brings its window to the front. The yellow folder is File Explorer, which the next step is about.

If the taskbar is hidden, move the pointer to the bottom edge of the screen and wait. It slides up.

Keep an app on the taskbar

When an app is open, its icon appears on the taskbar. To keep it there after you close the app:

1. Right-click the icon on the taskbar.
2. Click Pin to taskbar.

Later you will pin the Claude app, because you will open it every day. To remove an icon, right-click it and click Unpin from taskbar. You can also pin an app to the Start menu: find it in the All apps list, right-click it, and click Pin to Start.

The Microsoft Store

Some apps come from the Microsoft Store, a shopping-bag icon on the taskbar or in the Start menu. It works like the app store on a phone. The guide tells you when to use it.

Practice

1. Press Windows, type calc, press Enter. The Calculator opens.
2. Close it with the X at its top-right.
3. Open it again from search, and pin it to the taskbar using the steps above. Then unpin it again.