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James Webb

James Webb

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Windows 10 Start Menu Opens Programs in New Window

Nov 10 2015 9:35 PM
Hi All,
 
I have had windows 10 for a while now, so far I haven't had any problems, just the occasional annoyance that can be fixed with a quick search on line.
 
I do however have a problem that I can't find a solution for and was wondering if anyone else had managed to fix this. I mainly have the issue with chrome but it applies to all applications. When I search for a program in the start menu, I would prefer that if the program is already running that that program is then brought to the top / brought to focus.
 
For example, if I have chrome already open but I have it minimised and I'm using another application, I want to be able to:
 
  • Hit the start button
  • Type Chrome
  • Hit Enter
  • See the existing chrome window appear.
Whereas at the moment a whole new window of chrome will appear, leaving the original window minimised. It's not a major issue but its a small annoyance.
 
After searching on line I have found answers on how to do the OPPOSITE to this, where a new instance of chrome is opened. This was achieved as follows:
 
 How to open a new window of a desktop app from the Start screen

http://winaero.com/blog/how-to-open-a-new-window-of-a-desktop-app-from-the-start-screen/

  • Open Registry editor and go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ImmersiveShell
  • Right click ImmersiveShell, and create a new key called Launcher.
  • At HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ImmersiveShell\Launcher, right click in the right pane and create a new DWORD value called DesktopAppsAlwaysLaunchNewInstance.
  • Double click it and set its value to 1.

enter image description here

  • Log off and log in back or just restart Explorer as we showed in this previous post.

That's it. Now try launching a Desktop app from the Start screen. It will always start a new instance.

 magicandre1981 - http://superuser.com/questions/631967/how-do-i-make-windows-8s-start-menu-always-open-applications-with-open-as-new
 
Naturally I assumed changing this registry value to 0 would mean that the start menu would never open an application in a new instance. Needless to say it didn't work.
 
So my question is really, is anyone else having a similar issue and has anyone found a solution to this?
 
Many Thanks,
James Webb 
 

Answers (1)