3

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???).

Improve this question
10
  • 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
    Aug 14, 2013 at 18:17
  • 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
    Aug 14, 2013 at 18:18
  • @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
    Aug 14, 2013 at 18:30
  • @Ramhound The shortcut and the icon don't behave the same. See my answer to Ariane.
    – 76987
    Aug 14, 2013 at 18:30
  • @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
    Aug 14, 2013 at 18:34

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
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.

Improve this answer
4
  • 1
    Didn'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
    May 22, 2014 at 16:43
  • this works in Win8.0. I have no idea if it works in 8.1 or not.
    – magicandre1981
    May 23, 2014 at 4:17
  • 1
    Wait....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
    May 23, 2014 at 20:46
  • I never use the startscreen or the Search so I can't help. I prefer the old Win7 Startmenu from StartIsBack.
    – magicandre1981
    May 24, 2014 at 5:25

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .