Clear Windows 8 tiles of personal information

The most noticeable feature of Windows 8 is, of course, the Start screen. It has a collection of tiles that are used to start programs instead of the menu system that was used before.

Some of the tiles are live and this means that they can show live information, such as the weather, news and so on.

They can also show various sorts of personal information like emails, messages, photos, calendar appointments and so on.

If you are in a public place like a train or coffee shop with a laptop you might not want everyone around you seeing your live tiles if they happen to glance your way. Fortunately, there is a way to clear the live information off the tiles on the Start screen.

Move the mouse up into the top right corner of the screen to show the Charms bar on the right and then click Settings, Tiles. There is a button to clear your personal information from the tiles. It wipes them clean, but it is not a permanent change and after a while notifications will begin appear in them again. It’s still useful though.