How to turn off the Charms menu in Windows 8.1

By Konrad Krawczyk September 11, 2014

how to turn off the charms menu in windows 8 1 — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Windows 8.1’s user base is small, especially when compared to the now-ancient Windows XP, and Windows 7, which is approaching five years of age.

Part of the reason for this is due to the introduction of features like the Charms menu, which turned a lot of Windows devotees off when it debuted with Windows 8 in 2012. Many of the Charms menu’s detractors feel that it was an unnecessary addition that just made Windows 8 and 8.1 a bigger headache to use.

Related: How to change the Start screen background in Windows 8 and 8.1

Thankfully, with the use of a simple program, there’s a way to disable the Charms menu once and for all.

By the way, if you think the site/author may be iffy, don’t worry. We scanned the folder and the app’s execute-able with Malwarebytes. They both came out clean.

How to turn off the Charms menu in Windows 8.1

Step 1. Click here and download the Winaero Charms Bar Killer by clicking the gray button labeled “download.”

Turn off Charms (3) — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Step 2. Install the program once you finish downloading it. It should take less than a second to download, considering it’s less than a megabyte.

Turn off Charms (4) — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Step 3. Once you install the Winaero Charms Bar Killer, it will take up residence in your System Tray. Find the green icon, and right-click on it.

Turn off Charms (5) — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Step 4. Click “Kill Charms Bar” when you right-click on the bar killer’s system tray icon. Also, click “Run at startup.”

Turn off Charms 7 — Image used with permission by copyright holder

That’s it! From here on out, the Charms menu should not pop up again.

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Konrad Krawczyk

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Konrad covers desktops, laptops, tablets, sports tech and subjects in between for Digital Trends. Prior to joining DT, he…

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