Keep Start Menu From Closing After Opening Applications

If you want to open more than one application without having to navigate through the whole start menu again, you can use a little-known trick to keep the start menu open after you click on an item.

Just hold down the shift key while you click on an item under the All Programs group, and you’ll notice the start menu stays up while the application loads in back of it… notice how the notepad window has focus.

There are a few caveats:

• This only works on the All Programs menu if you are using the XP-style menu in XP.
• This doesn’t work at all with the Vista-style start menu.
• Works perfectly if you are using the Classic Start menu in either Vista or XP.
• Some applications will demand focus and make it close anyway.

Enjoy!

The Geek is the founder of How-To Geek and a geek enthusiast. This article was written on 09/11/07 and tagged with: Desktop Customization, Windows, Windows Vista

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Comments (6)

1. September 11, 2007 11:25 pm
   Fonz

   Freaking Fantastic!
   I will probably forget to use it though.

2. November 16, 2007 10:32 pm
   Mark

   Question: How to keep other menues open after you click on the selection, other than start program menues?

3. November 25, 2007 8:14 pm
   Ronc

   Tips that don’t apply to Vista should not be listed in the Vista Tips section.

4. November 25, 2007 9:16 pm
   The Geek

   @Ronc

   It does work in Vista with the classic menu.

5. February 7, 2008 12:51 am
   Michael

   It works on XP Style start menu as well.

6. September 23, 2008 3:04 am
   Halmad

   I tried it on Vista but it failed to work. Is there a way out?