Why does closing the last metro app take me to the desktop on my SP3?

[Mr. Brown]

Why does closing the last metro app take me to the desktop on my SP3? Is there a way to have it go to the start screen instead?

 

[Ed Boland]

Try right clicking on taskbar/properties uncheck "show store apps on taskbar" and report back...

 

[Mr. Brown]

Try right clicking on taskbar/properties uncheck "show store apps on taskbar" and report back...

Thanks, that was it. Though, I would still like the store apps to show up on the taskbar. I guess I can't have both unless someone has a workaround.

 

[Ed Boland]

Thanks, that was it. Though, I would still like the store apps to show up on the taskbar. I guess I can't have both unless someone has a workaround.

I thought this was strange myself, as after unchecking that, I was still able to pin the store apps to the taskbar.

 

[Mr. Brown]

I thought this was strange myself, as after unchecking that, I was still able to pin the store apps to the taskbar.

Yeah, so you can pin your favorites, but it doesn't show the open store apps on the taskbar unless they are pinned.

 

[skstrials]

Ahh I was about to make a thread on this.

It sucks that you cannot have BOTH open apps on taskbar AND going back to the start screen.

Come on, Microsoft! Give us both! It is a simple enough fix.

Any Microsoft employees on here that mods can refer this thread to?

 

[fonzman78]

Ahh I was about to make a thread on this.

It sucks that you cannot have BOTH open apps on taskbar AND going back to the start screen.

Come on, Microsoft! Give us both! It is a simple enough fix.

Any Microsoft employees on here that mods can refer this thread to?

Wow, I didn't realize that actually lifting your hand up and pressing the Windows button was such a challenging task for some.

 

[Rising Mos]

Going back to desktop is done by design in 8.1 to make desktop people happy a little bit.

 

[Mr. Brown]

Wow, I didn't realize that actually lifting your hand up and pressing the Windows button was such a challenging task for some.

It's not challenging, just annoying. I want my metro apps to show up on the taskbar without having to pin them all. And when I'm using my SP3 as a tablet, I don't want to go to the desktop automatically after closing all metro apps.

 

[fonzman78]

It's not challenging, just annoying. I want my metro apps to show up on the taskbar without having to pin them all. And when I'm using my SP3 as a tablet, I don't want to go to the desktop automatically after closing all metro apps.

I suppose I'm missing the point. With my SP3, when I open any Metro app, it automatically adds that Metro app to my taskbar without needing to pin it. That feature satisfies the 'I want my metro apps to appear on the taskbar without having to pin them all' request. When Win 8.1 added this feature to the OS, I was excited as I now could manage both Metro and Classic apps from the desktop. No swiping required.

Now, when using the SP3 as a tablet, I find that it's actually harder to minimize applications from the desktop. Normally, I would use the mouse when in a Metro app to move up to the top and minimize the Metro app. As a pure tablet, since I am holding it or have it on a table or lap, this is more difficult. It's really simple to just push the Windows button to take me home.

 

[Mr. Brown]

I suppose I'm missing the point. With my SP3, when I open any Metro app, it automatically adds that Metro app to my taskbar without needing to pin it. That feature satisfies the 'I want my metro apps to appear on the taskbar without having to pin them all' request. When Win 8.1 added this feature to the OS, I was excited as I now could manage both Metro and Classic apps from the desktop. No swiping required.

Now, when using the SP3 as a tablet, I find that it's actually harder to minimize applications from the desktop. Normally, I would use the mouse when in a Metro app to move up to the top and minimize the Metro app. As a pure tablet, since I am holding it or have it on a table or lap, this is more difficult. It's really simple to just push the Windows button to take me home.

If you right click on taskbar/properties and check "show store apps on taskbar" then it will automatically put the metro apps on the taskbar, which I like. The downside is when I'm using it primarily as a tablet, when I swipe down and close the last metro app, the screen goes back to the desktop instead of the start screen. When I'm using it as a tablet, I prefer staying out of the desktop if at all possible.

 

[astell]

If that is the case, why close the app at all? Just swipe in from the left to select your last active or pick one that is already open or hit the Windows key and return to the start screen.

There used to be an option to tell Windows what to do in this situation, but I cannot find it now.

Edit: Found it.

Taskbar and Navigation properties>Navigation tab

Uncheck the 'When I sign in or close all apps on screen, go to the desktop instead of Start' check box under Start screen. This will always take you to the Start screen when you close an app.

 

[BaritoneGuy]

Going back to desktop is done by design in 8.1 to make desktop people happy a little bit.

I believe this is only on a machine with a keyboard and mouse connected.

 

[Mr. Brown]

If that is the case, why close the app at all? Just swipe in from the left to select your last active or pick one that is already open or hit the Windows key and return to the start screen.

There used to be an option to tell Windows what to do in this situation, but I cannot find it now.

Edit: Found it.

Taskbar and Navigation properties>Navigation tab

Uncheck the 'When I sign in or close all apps on screen, go to the desktop instead of Start' check box under Start screen. This will always take you to the Start screen when you close an app.

Good find! I checked and it was already unchecked, but I had also unchecked the box before hand that shows store apps on the task bar. So now I've checked the show store apps box again. Hopefully this does the trick.

 

[Tomazon]

I'm leaving this comment here because I used to have this same bug: No matter what is checked/unchecked on Taskbar properties, Windows sends you to the Desktop instead os Start Screen (as it should do by default).
The easy workaround solution was to uncheck "Show Windows Store Apps On The Taskbar", but it may not be the case for everyone.

The REAL solution was a SIMPLE UPDATE (not sure which one), make sure you have the latest installed.

I hope this can be helpful in the future if someone is experiencing this bug and can't find a solution.