Reset the Start Screen in Windows 8

The Metro Start Screen is a new concept to a lot of us. So we experiment at first and after a lot of time spent, we come to start using Metro in a way that suits us most. Personally I cluttered up the start screen with all my icons and I realized that it is way easier to open any application by just hitting the Start key and just typing its name rather than click on a tile. So I decided to reset my Start screen.

Open an elevated command prompt. There are many ways to do this. The easiest way to do it is to hit Windows + A. When you see the popup menu, choose Command Prompt (Admin) or simply hit A.

Once the command prompt opens, run the following commands:

DEL %LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Windows\appsFolder.itemdata-ms
DEL %LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Windows\appsFolder.itemdata-ms.bak
tskill explorer

Now when you hit the Start key, Explorer will restart and you will have the stock menu. Keep it this way or customize it to your liking again.