[kendric84]

I was having trouble getting my Surface to recognize my Touch Cover so I rebooted. When it came back up I had four rows of tiles on my Start screen. (See pic)

I'm 99% sure there is no setting for this and it's controlled by the OS based on screen resolution. Am I crazy?

Unfortunately, I rebooted again and the fourth row went away :( I think I would actually like having four rows.

Anyone else seen anything link this?

[pinbak]

Yes, I restarted mine yesterday and it did the exact samething!! Also, I restarted it again and the 4th row went away. I then went looking for a setting or something to make it this way but couldn't. Be nice to make it that way permanently!

[Stormwatch342]

Registry editor hack

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ImmersiveShell\Grid

Right click in the main window, select New, and create a new DWORD (32-bit) Value. Now, rename it to Layout_MaximumRowCount. and then open the key to set the custom maximum number of rows. You can restart or log off your computer to implement the changes. On a monitor with 1920 x 1080 resolution, you can get up to 6 rows of tiles on the Start Screen.


Top 20 Windows 8 Tweaks, Hacks & Tips

[Stormwatch342]

Just wanted to note I have not tried or tested this. Use at your discretion.

[kendric84]

Registry editor hack

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ImmersiveShell\Grid

Right click in the main window, select New, and create a new DWORD (32-bit) Value. Now, rename it to Layout_MaximumRowCount. and then open the key to set the custom maximum number of rows. You can restart or log off your computer to implement the changes. On a monitor with 1920 x 1080 resolution, you can get up to 6 rows of tiles on the Start Screen.


Top 20 Windows 8 Tweaks, Hacks & Tips

I assume it's some sort of glitch but glad to hear that I'm not the only one experiencing it.

Thanks for sharing this tweak!

[kendric84]

Just wanted to note I have not tried or tested this. Use at your discretion.

I tried it and it didn't work. I also tried changing the other values that seemed to be related to row count, "Layout_MaiximumAvailableHeightCells" and "Layout_AvailableHeightCells" but after a reboot they were set back to their original values.

[Stormwatch342]

Possibly only works on x86/x64 or screen resolution takes priority.

[Skaughtto]

Didn't work for me either - a 4th row would be nice.

[power5]

On start screen go to settings charm. Click Tiles at top. Click the slider to more tiles.

This is on my desktop win8 pro. If you don't have this setting option then its a desktop setting that can be changed

[Skaughtto]

On start screen go to settings charm. Click Tiles at top. Click the slider to more tiles.

This is on my desktop win8 pro. If you don't have this setting option then its a desktop setting that can be changed

Not an option :(

[power5]

Sucks, must be a pro option only.

[jhoff80]

Sucks, must be a pro option only.

No, the "Show More Tiles" option is based on the resolution and size of the display.

[DougB541#CB]

I guess its an option still in the OS but locked out to users with lower resolutions...but I guess a bug sometimes that still changes the amount.

Interesting...btw, did anyone else have a Windows RT update today? I did but have no idea what the update was for.

[power5]

No, the "Show More Tiles" option is based on the resolution and size of the display.

What is odd is that my 1080p does not have the more tiles option, but when I use my 1440 screen I get that option. Actually on my 1080p I get 6 tiles vertical and on my 1440 I get 7 tiles. So definitely resolution based. 7 must be the maximum though because when I set my 1080p to portrait I can still only get 7 vertical tiles.

[SonofNun]

Hello all,

Last week, I discovered how to get four rows of tiles on a Surface. Unfortunately it is only temporary, but it is interesting nonetheless. I do wish there was a way to permanently set four rows as the default.

Here's a link to my post: How to get four rows of tiles on your Surface RT « JG's Tech Thoughts

Thanks,
Joshua
@sonofnun

[Eric Hon]

Hello all,

Last week, I discovered how to get four rows of tiles on a Surface. Unfortunately it is only temporary, but it is interesting nonetheless. I do wish there was a way to permanently set four rows as the default.

Here's a link to my post: How to get four rows of tiles on your Surface RT « JG's Tech Thoughts

Thanks,
Joshua
@sonofnun

I also was able to replicate the 4 row tiles as you described. it goes back to 3 row tiles after the tablet is in sleep or lock mode.

[dev_sec]

Permanent resolution:

.reg begin -->

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Scaling]
"MonitorSize"="15.4"

<-- end

Reboot after adding the reg value.

One more thing - after doing this, flip to portrait mode, swipe Settings -> Tiles -> "Show more tiles" to enable a total of 9 rows in portrait.

Note that this only affects the modern ui; and, only scales to the minimum permittable font scaling for the actual resolution.

[jhoff80]

Does that affect anything else in the OS?

[dev_sec]

Nope - this only affects the modern ui; and, only scales to the minimum permittable font scaling for the actual resolution.

[jhoff80]

Thanks for that registry hack, but I gave it a try and as it turns out, it makes the onscreen keyboard tiny, so I can't use it.

[fc000]

Thanks for that registry hack, but I gave it a try and as it turns out, it makes the onscreen keyboard tiny, so I can't use it.

Yup, noticed this as well. Keyboard becomes tiny and unusable.

[MDboyz]

From other post, changing the MonitorSize to 13.1 will work too. The keyboard is still visible in good size.

Permanent resolution:

.reg begin -->

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Scaling]
"MonitorSize"="15.4"

<-- end

Reboot after adding the reg value.

One more thing - after doing this, flip to portrait mode, swipe Settings -> Tiles -> "Show more tiles" to enable a total of 9 rows in portrait.

Note that this only affects the modern ui; and, only scales to the minimum permittable font scaling for the actual resolution.

[dakranii]

I just did 12.1, which I read is the smallest you can do. It works for me. the keyboard is slightly smaller than normal, but it works for me. I can always switch back. But a 4 row looks great, Iove it!

[fc000]

I just did 12.1, which I read is the smallest you can do. It works for me. the keyboard is slightly smaller than normal, but it works for me. I can always switch back. But a 4 row looks great, Iove it!

Yup that's right, saw on XDA that 12.1 gives you a more usable on screen keyboard. It's perfect.

[Jake_M]

I turned my Surface on today and I have 4 tile rows. I didn't do this mod. ???