How do I make Windows 8's Start menu always open applications with "open as new window"?

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Suppose I am using Notepad for one task, and I want to open up a new Notepad window for another task. When I open Notepad from the Start menu, it simply returns me to the Notepad window I already have open. In order to open up a new Notepad window, I have to right-click on the Start menu's Notepad icon and select "Open as new window".

Is there any way I can make "Open as new window" the default setting? I always want to open a new Notepad window, and I never want to return to the existing Notepad window (who would???).

76987

Posted 2013-08-14T18:06:08.333

Reputation: 168

Question was closed 2017-05-21T15:38:32.830

The live tiles on your Start screen are simply an alternate display of the shortcuts in the StartMenu folder. Right-click any live tile and go to its containing folder. Then you'll be able to edit the shortcut's properties. I don't know much about this, but I know there are arguments (starting with a hyphen) you can add to a shortcut's "code" to specify how to launch the program. Probably "new window" is available, yes? Look that up. – Ariane – 2013-08-14T18:17:33.350

The start menu does not exist on Windows 8 do you happen to mean the start screen? Despite basically the same exact features there are differences. You might need to create a new shortcut that does what you want, and use that, instead of using the current method your using. To expand on Ariane's answer. I tested the behavior with Windows 7 and the default shortcut in the startmenu does indeed open up a new instance of notepad. It seems strange if the shortcut is exactly the same ( it is ) this behavior would have changed. – Ramhound – 2013-08-14T18:18:04.373

@Ariane I'm not using (nor am I aware of) any Notepad live tile. I press the Start key, type "notepad", and click on the Notepad icon. Unfortunately, the shortcut associated with the icon does not seem to control the icon's behavior: if I double-click on the shortcut, it always opens as a new window, and yet if I click on the icon, it doesn't open as a new window. – 76987 – 2013-08-14T18:30:02.920

@Ramhound The shortcut and the icon don't behave the same. See my answer to Ariane. – 76987 – 2013-08-14T18:30:44.750

@76987 - As I indicate I would simply create your own shortcut. You can pin the shortcut to your taskbar, makes it easy, to launch common application in new instances ( i.e. the calculator ). Your current method is not opening a new instance for Notepad, because your not using the shortcut, what your doing exactly is hard to put into words. – Ramhound – 2013-08-14T18:34:16.987

@Ramhound If I create my own shortcut, can I put that shortcut in my Start menu? I don't want the hassle of clicking on my taskbar. I want to access Notepad through the Start menu (Start search, whatever it's called). – 76987 – 2013-08-14T18:43:58.467

@76987 - Of course you can add user created shortcuts to the start screen. Every single application you install fits that description. – Ramhound – 2013-08-14T18:49:17.767

@Ramhound Well, I put my user created shortcut in the same folder as the original Notepad shortcut, but it doesn't show up anywhere in the Start search. I named the shortcut 'qwe', but typing in 'qwe' yields no results. – 76987 – 2013-08-14T19:01:44.653

@76987 you need to pin it to the menu – Ramhound – 2013-08-14T19:50:12.253

@Ramhound I honestly don't understand what you mean. Which menu do I pin the shortcut to, in order to see it in the Start search? – 76987 – 2013-08-14T20:11:41.923

Answers

2

Please check this guide:

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

Posted 2013-08-14T18:06:08.333

Reputation: 86 560

1Didn't work for me. Win8.1 ENT

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ImmersiveShell\Launcher] "DesktopAppsAlwaysLaunchNewInstance"=dword:00000001

WinKey+cmd+enter - Command windows opens WinKey+cmd+enter - Takes me to the command window that's already open. – Justin Emlay – 2014-05-22T16:43:33.040

this works in Win8.0. I have no idea if it works in 8.1 or not. – magicandre1981 – 2014-05-23T04:17:00.920

1Wait....does this ONLY work for Start tiles? Is it supposed to also work for searched apps from the search bar? For me, it only works when clicking on tiles. – Justin Emlay – 2014-05-23T20:46:39.450

I never use the startscreen or the Search so I can't help. I prefer the old Win7 Startmenu from StartIsBack. – magicandre1981 – 2014-05-24T05:25:24.170

Asked: 2013-08-14T18:06:08.333

Viewed: 2 524 times

Active: 2015-06-04T17:08:47.863