Adding a tile for a desktop website to your Windows 8 start screen

The version of Internet Explorer 10 that runs on the Windows 8 start screen is fantastic, running full-screen and great for touch. And it's really easy to pin a tile for your favourite websites to your Windows 8 start screen - simply swipe from the top of the screen (or right-click) and select the "pin" icon. However as you may know the Windows 8 start screen version of Internet Explorer 10 doesn’t support plug-ins, something that may or may not be an issue for you if one of your frequently-used websites relies on a plug-in (clarification: Internet Explorer 10 on the Windows 8 start screen does support Adobe Flash for some sites). However the desktop version of Internet Explorer 10 does support plug-ins, just like previous versions of Internet Explorer.

So you might be wondering if you can pin a website to your Windows 8 start screen but get it to launch in the desktop version of Internet Explorer 10 so that it can run with plug-ins. The answer is yes you can, and it’s pretty simple. Here’s how:

Open your website using the desktop version of Internet Explorer 10. Then choose the “Tools” menu option (if menu isn’t showing, press the ALT key to display it), then select the “Add site to Start Screen” option.

Your site will appear on the Windows 8 start screen and, when you click or tap it, will launch in the desktop version of Internet Explorer 10.