Windows 10: Windows 10 1909 - Why are Pin To Start/Taskbar verbs through PowerShell broken?

In previous versions of Windows 10, I was able to use PowerShell to pin applications to the Start Menu and Taskbar, which was a HUGE help.


In Windows 10 1909, Microsoft appears to have blocked this feature, and I have not seen any way around this, scouring the internet for hours on end.


Here is a PowerShell one-liner to pin the applications to the Start Menu:

New-Object -Com Shell.Application.NameSpace'shell:::{4234d49b-0245-4df3-b780-3893943456e1}'.Items ?{$_.Name -eq "Windows PowerShell"}.Verbs ?{$_.Name.replace'&','' -match 'Pin to Start'} %{$_.DoIt}



It works in previous OS builds, but in 1909 I get this error:

Access is denied. Exception from HRESULT: 0x80070005 E_ACCESSDENIED

At line:1 char:208

+ ... s ?{$_.Name.replace'&','' -match 'Pin to Start'} %{$_.DoIt}

+ ~~~~~~~~~

+ CategoryInfo : OperationStopped: : [], UnauthorizedAccessException

+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : System.UnauthorizedAccessException


This one-liner shows the available verbs to use, and '&Pin to Start' is listed basically options available when you right-click a shortcut:

New-Object -Com Shell.Application.NameSpace'shell:::{4234d49b-0245-4df3-b780-3893943456e1}'.Items ?{$_.Name -eq "Windows PowerShell"}.Verbs


Output:

Application Parent Name

----------- ------ ----

Open

Open file location

Open new window

Run as administrator

Run as different user

Uninstall

&Pin to Start

Create &shortcut


It works if you replace the 'Pin to Start' with any available verbs like Open, Properties, Run as administrator, etc. on 1909, but they broke the pin verb. The only documentation from Microsoft that I was able to find is to use Export-StartLayout and Import-StartLayout, but this only affects the Default User, for new users. I need to be able to automatically pin applications to existing users in a deployment script.

:)

 

Windows PowerShell - Pin and Unpin Programmatically

Hey MS Community,

I'm looking for a method to programmatically unpin Microsoft Edge and pin Internet Explorer. Currently, our vendors have sites that are only supported in Internet Explorer, and will result in an error if opened with Microsoft Edge. Since the two icons are
so similar, many new users end up calling IT simply due to using the wrong browser. This is because Edge is pinned by default whenever a user first signs in.

I was able to find a program online that unpin's programs, however I can't seem to get the pin portion functioning.

Thanks in advance for taking a look.

Here is the script that I have:

Code:

function Pin-App ([string]$appname, [switch]$unpin, [switch]$start, [switch]$taskbar, [string]$path) {    if ($unpin.IsPresent) {        $action = "Unpin"    } else {        $action = "Pin"    }    if (-not $taskbar.IsPresent -and -not $start.IsPresent) {        Write-Error "Specify -taskbar and/or -start!"    }    if ($taskbar.IsPresent) {        try {            $exec = $false            if ($action -eq "Unpin") {                ((New-Object -Com Shell.Application).NameSpace('shell:::{4234d49b-0245-4df3-b780-3893943456e1}').Items() | ?{$_.Name -eq $appname}).Verbs() | ?{$_.Name.replace('&','') -match 'Unpin from taskbar'} | %{$_.DoIt();
 $exec = $true}                if ($exec) {                    Write "App '$appname' unpinned from Taskbar"                } else {                    if (-not $path -eq "") {                        Pin-App-by-Path $path -Action $action                    } else {                        Write "'$appname' not found or 'Unpin from taskbar' not found on item!"                    }                }            } else {                ((New-Object -Com Shell.Application).NameSpace('shell:::{4234d49b-0245-4df3-b780-3893943456e1}').Items() | ?{$_.Name -eq $appname}).Verbs() | ?{$_.Name.replace('&','') -match 'Pin to taskbar'} | %{$_.DoIt(); $exec
 = $true}                if ($exec) {                    Write "App '$appname' pinned to Taskbar"                } else {                    if (-not $path -eq "") {                        Pin-App-by-Path $path -Action $action                    } else {                        Write "'$appname' not found or 'Pin to taskbar' not found on item!"                    }                }            }        } catch {            Write-Error "Error Pinning/Unpinning $appname to/from taskbar!"        }    }    if ($start.IsPresent) {        try {            $exec = $false            if ($action -eq "Unpin") {                ((New-Object -Com Shell.Application).NameSpace('shell:::{4234d49b-0245-4df3-b780-3893943456e1}').Items() | ?{$_.Name -eq $appname}).Verbs() | ?{$_.Name.replace('&','') -match 'Unpin from Start'} | %{$_.DoIt(); $exec
 = $true}                if ($exec) {                    Write "App '$appname' unpinned from Start"                } else {                    if (-not $path -eq "") {                        Pin-App-by-Path $path -Action $action -start                    } else {                        Write "'$appname' not found or 'Unpin from Start' not found on item!"                    }                }            } else {                ((New-Object -Com Shell.Application).NameSpace('shell:::{4234d49b-0245-4df3-b780-3893943456e1}').Items() | ?{$_.Name -eq $appname}).Verbs() | ?{$_.Name.replace('&','') -match 'Pin to Start'} | %{$_.DoIt(); $exec
 = $true}                if ($exec) {                    Write "App '$appname' pinned to Start"                } else {                    if (-not $path -eq "") {                        Pin-App-by-Path $path -Action $action -start                    } else {                        Write "'$appname' not found or 'Pin to Start' not found on item!"                    }                }            }        } catch {            Write-Error "Error Pinning/Unpinning $appname to/from Start!"        }    }}function Pin-App-by-Path([string]$Path, [string]$Action, [switch]$start) {    if ($Path -eq "") {        Write-Error -Message "You need to specify a Path" -ErrorAction Stop    }    if ($Action -eq "") {        Write-Error -Message "You need to specify an action: Pin or Unpin" -ErrorAction Stop    }    if ((Get-Item -Path $Path -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) -eq $null){        Write-Error -Message "$Path not found" -ErrorAction Stop    }    $Shell = New-Object -ComObject "Shell.Application"    $ItemParent = Split-Path -Path $Path -Parent    $ItemLeaf = Split-Path -Path $Path -Leaf    $Folder = $Shell.NameSpace($ItemParent)    $ItemObject = $Folder.ParseName($ItemLeaf)    $Verbs = $ItemObject.Verbs()    if ($start.IsPresent) {        switch($Action){            "Pin"   {$Verb = $Verbs | Where-Object -Property Name -EQ "&Pin to Start"}            "Unpin" {$Verb = $Verbs | Where-Object -Property Name -EQ "Un&pin from Start"}            default {Write-Error -Message "Invalid action, should be Pin or Unpin" -ErrorAction Stop}        }    } else {        switch($Action){            "Pin"   {$Verb = $Verbs | Where-Object -Property Name -EQ "Pin to Tas&kbar"}            "Unpin" {$Verb = $Verbs | Where-Object -Property Name -EQ "Unpin from Tas&kbar"}            default {Write-Error -Message "Invalid action, should be Pin or Unpin" -ErrorAction Stop}        }    }    if($Verb -eq $null){        Write-Error -Message "That action is not currently available on this Path" -ErrorAction Stop    } else {        $Result = $Verb.DoIt()    }}Pin-App "Microsoft Edge" -unpin -taskbarPin-App-by-Path "C:\Program Files\internet explorer\iexplore.exe" -pin -taskbar

 

Pin to taskbar - Windows 10 Ent. x64 (Ver. 1511 - OS Build 10586)

Hi,

If you're using the "InvokeVerb" method to Pin items to Taskbar, note that it no longer works in Windows 10. The "Pin to taskbar" verb doesn't even list when the context menu entries are enumerated using script.

There is a workaround, using a third-party tool. Check out:

Pin Programs to the Taskbar in Windows 10 with Group Policy

 

Windows 10 problem with duplicated icons in taskbar, broken Jump Lists


Hello,


I‘ve been recently having a problem with duplicated items in taskbar and broken Jump Lists. I‘m now using Windows 10 but this problem occurred in Windows 8.1 too but then it somehow fixed itself. Some programs that I pin to taskbar have a tendency to duplicate themselves when clicked on. For now, I‘ve noticed this behaviour only in Skype and Spotify but it‘s still very annoying since duplicate icons take valuable taskbar space and even more—make Jump Lists of those programs broken, meaning that you can still see tasks program developers provided but after you click them nothing happens.


I‘ve tried loads of times pinning, repinning, deleting whole User Pinned folder from %appdata%/Microsoft/Internet Explorer/Quick Launch, clearing Jump List folders manually and automatically with Command Prompt commands as suggested here with no luck. The only thing I did achieve was when I pinned Skype to taskbar in my other user account, then copied the newly created shortcut from Use Pinned folder to my User Pinned folder—this made Skype Jump Lists working but duplicate icon in taskbar remained.


I‘ve recently found a tutorial which may force taskbar to use only one icon per app but I can‘t check this right now as 7+ Taskbar Tweaker isn‘t yet officially available for Windows 10 users.


Thank you for taking your time and reading my message, any suggestions would be appreciated,





P. S. I don‘t know if this is related but I can‘t pin any Control Panel item to Quick Access whilst I can pin folders. Interesting side of this is that pinned Control Panel items appear in File Explorer's Jump List but after clicked I get a message that item is unavailable and that it might have been moved, renamed or removed.