Microsoft has added one awesome Start Menu in Windows 11/10, which comes with some useful settings to personalize the Start Menu. However, there are some things, that are not available in the new Settings panel. Some small changes can be effected, by tweaking the Windows Registry.
By default, the Windows 11/10 Start Menu has a transparent background. Nevertheless, this can be changed easily using the Registry Editor. For example, you can remove transparency and enable blur in Start Menu background, remove transparency totally, change the background color and more.
Remove Transparency, Enable Blur in Windows 11 Start Menu
To remove transparency and enable blur in Windows 11 Start Menu, follow these steps:
- Press Win+I to open Windows Settings.
- Go to Personalization.
- Click on the Colors
- Toggle the Transparency effects button to turn it off.
However, if you are using Windows 10, follow these steps.
Remove Transparency, Enable Blur in Windows 10 Start Menu
You will have to Run regedit to open the Registry Editor. Before making any changes in Registry Editor, make sure that you have created a backup of the Registry.
So open the Registry Editor on your machine. To do so, press Win+R, type regedit and hit Enter.
You will get the UAC confirmation pop-up. Just hit the YES button. After it is opened, navigate to the following path,
HKEY_CURRENT _USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes\Personalize
On the right-hand side, you will see a key named EnableBlurBehind.
Right-click on it and select Modify. The default value should be 0. Change it to 1 and click on OK.
You will be required to restart your computer for the effects to be seen.
If you want to re-enable the Transparent background, set back the value to 0.
To increase Start Menu Transparency, you may also change the value of EnableTransparency key from 1 to 0.
Let us know if you like the new-look Start Menu in Windows 11/10.
Read next:
- How to make Taskbar transparent or blurred in Windows 10
- How to show Color on Start Menu and Taskbar in Windows 10.
How do I make my Start menu not transparent?
To make the Start Menu non-transparent in Windows 11 or Windows 10, you can follow these aforementioned steps. You need to open the Windows Settings and go to Personalization > Colors. Then, toggle the Transparency effects button to turn it off.
How do I change the opacity on my Start menu?
To change the opacity level on your Start Menu, you need to use the Registry Editor. For that, head to the following path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced. Create a REG_DWORD value and name it as UseOLEDTaskbarTransparency. Then, double-click on it and set the Value data as 1. Finally, restart your computer to get the change.
