Windows 10: Start Menu - how to fight clutter - can I move "apps" to subfolders?

This question was asked in this article but never answered satisfactorily. The answer given by Amit_Sun answered a different question.


Here's what everybody already knows: the start menu alpha list, not tiles is a merger of two folders:

• the common start menu lives in C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu.
• the logged in user's start menu lives in C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu.

As in Win7 and earlier, you can navigate to these folders and manipulate the shortcuts, adding / removing / renaming / organizing them in subfolders to your heart's content.


The question that has not been answered is this: when I look at my Start Menu, I can see several items that I want to rename and move to a subfolder. However, they are not in either of the above folders. In the case of a classic program, if I don't like that way it appears in my Start Menu, I just go to one of these folders and rename the shortcut. But what if you can't because there is no shortcut to rename?


That's the case with the multiple Dell items in my Startup Menu. The reason why I want to move them to a Dell subfolder is -1- reduce clutter -2- one of the items isn't even calledDell Something as a result, I can't even find it on the rare occasions that I need it - I'm stuck with the non-descript name that Dell chose to give it.


Part of the explanation must be that the Dell programs are UWP-based Win10 "apps" as opposed to "classic desktop applications". Only the latter have shortcuts in the traditional Start Menu folders.


Of course, it's not just Dell. Wading through my Start Menu, I can see perhaps 2 dozen semi-useful apps. They "look" important or useful enough to keep, "just in case", but I'd rather park them in subfolders, out of sight. For a start, Windows comes with a good many of these apps. Then, each main hardware component that went into your computer storage, video, sound... probably added 1 or 2 of their own apps. And these tend be UWP apps these days. I count 8 of these "HW accessory apps" on my computer. I don't understand enough about what they do, am I going to need them and is it safe to delete them... So they stay. Cluttering my Start Menu.


Summarizing: we've all been used to a customizable Start Menu. In Win7, we could rename shortcuts, organize them in subfolders, delete the shortcut without uninstalling the program. Win10 introduced a new class of programs "apps" based on a new API UWP. As far as "classic desktop programs" are concerned, the Start Menu retains its full customizability.But what about Win10 "apps"? Do we lose all that customizability? Are we stuck with immutable names? A flat list?

:)

 

Control panel folder with subfolder list, in start menu - old style


Is it possible to add this kind of Control Panel shortcut (like in screenshot below), with subfolder/subitem list, to windows 10, without installing Classic Shell or similar programs?

 

How to stop Start menu clutter

I have searched the tutorials but cannot find how to stop the app clutter in the Start menu.
I unpin them from the start menu and reduce the size of the menu itself but each time I reboot or start up the clutter is back as I don't want any of that to be visible because I do not use things like Skype Facebook MSN streams etc etc because if I want one of those apps I can get them from the app menu which in my mind is full of some really useless things like Crushed Candy Soda or whatever it is called .


Any advice or solution please before I just install make the machine open in Classic Shell mode.

 

Cannot hide app list in Start Menu Windows Home

Hi, suggestion in this thread on this topic here:
can not hide app list in start menu Solved - Windows 10 Forums