Windows 10: Editing Start Menu

In all versions of Windows in the past, I have been able to edit and arrange program shortcuts and folders on the start menu.

In Windows 10, I can open the folders containing the start menu items and make the desired changes, deletes, etc... but the changes are never reflected in the start menu... even after multiple reboots.

Has anyone done this successfully? Am I missing a step or going about it all wrong?

Thanks for any advice you can offer.

:)

 

Edit tiles in Start Menu

 

Edit tiles in Start Menu

create a new shortcut, add the switch to the end of the 'target' in the shortcut properties.

right click on the new shortcut and select 'pin to start'

 

I'm not understanding what you want, Drybonz. Could you give us a screen shot?

On every clean install, I go through and eliminate all tiles for things I won't be using. Then I resize them all to small and resize Start.

 

Sorry... not tiles. Items under "all apps". What would be the classic start menu-esque items.

 

Clicking on All Apps shows me the alphabetical listing of (I think) all the apps on my computer. Those that came with Windows 10 and those I've installed, such as Office 365. When I right click on an app, such as Sports, I get Pin to Start, Pin to Taskbar and Uninstall. Although I don't follow Sports, I hesitate to uninstall it and I've already unpinned it from Start. If I click on Power Shell, I get five options rather than the three options mentioned with Sports.

I right clicked on Paint and File Explorer, then clicked on Pin to Start and there they are. I will now shut down and restart to see if the ones I added are still in Start. I do know the tiles I eliminated are no longer in Start.

 

Most of the Modern and System 'shortcuts' on the Start Menu are saved in an XAML file somewhere.
While other shortcuts in AppData, Program Data and shell:appsfolder point to the same programs, the actual Start Menu items can't be 'removed'.

 

Right click on any (desktop program) shortcut in that menu and select "open file location". It will take you to the place in your user profile where the actual start menu shortcuts are stored... the same way you used to be able to edit on the classic start menu pre-windows 8.

 

Been doing that for as long as I've been using Windows 10; especially with Office 365. I use Quick Launch for my shortcuts, so Start isn't something that's really important to me. *Smile

 

So it's working properly for you? The changes I make never actually happen in the start menu.

*edit* I'm guessing you have to do the edits in another user profile, but I'm not exactly sure where the folder would be... or why the "open file location" would take you somewhere that you can't make edits.

 

If I delete a tile, it stays deleted. If I right click an app in "All Apps" and choose one of the options, yes, that option works, i.e. clicking Pin to Start pins a tile to Start.

I only have one user profile on this computer. When I right click on a desktop app in "All Apps" and then click on "Open File Location", I don't want to edit; I want to drag it to my Quick Launch Bar or the Task Bar.

"Open File Location"is not for editing.

 

What other reason would you have to go to this location? Why would they add a link to this folder in the start menu? It only contains start menu shortcuts and nothing else.

To be clear, I'm not trying to delete tiles... I'm trying to tidy up that "all apps" portion of the start menu, which I do use, but it has too many folders and other items.

 

Ah! OK, now I'm seeing . . . I'm going to go in and try uninstalling "Sports" and see what happens. That's one I will never use and if things go wonky, I can always reinstall Windows 10. After all, testing is what it's all about. *Smile

 

Well, I don't think you can do much with the metro apps.

Specifically, what I am wanting to do... let's say I install a desktop app and it creates shortcuts in the start menu... often they create shortcuts to documentation, websites... spam basically. I may want to delete these shortcuts to clean up the start menu. Another example... maybe I install a bunch of games and there are shortcuts all over the start menu (again, I'm talking about the "all apps" part of the start menu)... and I want to cut and paste all these shortcuts into one folder that I make called "games".

In every previous version of Windows I could do this by opening this folder and simply deleting, cutting, pasting, making new folders. In Windows 10 I can make these changes, but they don't actually happen in the start menu (all apps).

 

I uninstalled "Sports" in the "All Apps" list. To my knowledge, Sports is a folder that can (and might already) hold stuff pertaining to sports.

I then rebooted and checked "All Apps" and the "Sports" folder is well and truly gone! Is that what you wanted to see?

I have always used those shortcuts to pin apps to my Quick Launch Toolbar, shown below. Of course, there are many other ways to use these shortcuts, such as pin to Start and Taskbar.





And now I think I see that what you're trying to do with "Open File Location" is to delete shortcuts to apps that reside in the "All Apps" listing. Thing is, I'm still not at all sure that one would want to "edit" (read delete) those shortcuts because once they're gone it seems to me that you may not be able to open the app again (should you want or need it), since it's shortcut(s) are gone.

Edit On: If the shortcuts can actually be deleted, and you wanted to open the app later, you would have to follow the procedure explained below in order to open an app. Or, are these shortcuts possibly the ones that won't stay gone? There's a lot I'm not understanding, but dare not try at this point in time. Edit off.

And now I've ventured off into somewhat new territory. Since I use Microsoft Office 365, I went to C:\Programs\Office (simplified) and started looking for my apps, which I found and which I had to do prior to Windows 8 if I wanted to create a shortcut on my Quick Launch. Once I find the app (Word, say), I right click and drag it to Quick Launch, where it asks if I want to "create a shortcut here" and I say yes (again simplified). In windows 10, the process has been simplified: Click and drag the shortcut to Quick Launch and drop it! Nice!

What's the advantage of Quick Launch? Simple! I no longer have to deal with the "All Apps" listing unless I want to pin something else to Quick Launch or need to open an app I rarely use. All the apps I use on a daily basis are now only one click away. *Smile