Windows 10: Windows 10 Default Start Menu Layout Add Folder Icons

So I have worked out how to customize the windows 10 start menu and then use powershell to import it so default users or new users start menu is set using the following commands and editing defaultlayout.xml:

#Export start layout and customize
Code: Export-StartLayout -Path $env:USERPROFILE\Desktop\defaultlayouts.xml[/quote] #Import new start layout
Code: Import-StartLayout -LayoutPath $env:USERPROFILE\Desktop\DefaultLayouts.xml -MountPath $env:SystemDrive\[/quote] But no matter what I have tried I can not get any folder shortcuts to work and I have tried every idea I can find or think of but when you create a new user and login all folder shortcuts are gone and if you export the layout for a new user it is missing the entire line of code for any folder icons but no others. I am starting to think Windws 10 just does not allow you to use folder icons which is completly nuts why bother with start menu customizaion if I can't put My Documents shortcuts in there since you can create universal links to profile folders using "%USERPROFILE%\Documents" ink shortcuts.

As per Microsofts recommendation I copy the ink files for my documents etc into the correct folders:

"If you added tiles that require .url or .lnk files, add the .url and .lnk files to the following Start Menu directories:

%APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\

%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\
"


My customized start menu XML:

Code: <LayoutModificationTemplate Version="1" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/LayoutModification"> <LayoutOptions StartTileGroupCellWidth="6" /> <DefaultLayoutOverride> <StartLayoutCollection> <defaultlayout:StartLayout GroupCellWidth="6" xmlns:defaultlayout="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/FullDefaultLayout"> <start:Group Name="Folders" xmlns:start="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/StartLayout"> <startesktopApplicationTile Size="2x2" Column="0" Row="0" DesktopApplicationLinkPath="%APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\System Tools\computer.lnk" /> <startesktopApplicationTile Size="2x2" Column="2" Row="0" DesktopApplicationLinkPath="%APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Downloads.lnk" /> <startesktopApplicationTile Size="2x2" Column="0" Row="2" DesktopApplicationLinkPath="%APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Documents.lnk" /> <startesktopApplicationTile Size="2x2" Column="2" Row="2" DesktopApplicationLinkPath="%APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Downloads (DESKTOP-BM692N7).lnk" /> <startesktopApplicationTile Size="2x2" Column="2" Row="4" DesktopApplicationLinkPath="%APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Pictures.lnk" /> </start:Group> <start:Group Name="Programs" xmlns:start="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/StartLayout"> <startesktopApplicationTile Size="2x2" Column="0" Row="0" DesktopApplicationLinkPath="%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Mozilla Firefox.lnk" /> <startesktopApplicationTile Size="2x2" Column="2" Row="0" DesktopApplicationLinkPath="%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Google Chrome.lnk" /> <startesktopApplicationTile Size="2x2" Column="0" Row="2" DesktopApplicationLinkPath="%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Sublime Text 3.lnk" /> <startesktopApplicationTile Size="2x2" Column="2" Row="2" DesktopApplicationLinkPath="%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\µTorrent.lnk" /> </start:Group> </defaultlayout:StartLayout> </StartLayoutCollection> </DefaultLayoutOverride> </LayoutModificationTemplate>[/quote]



What you end up with when you create a new user:
Code: <LayoutModificationTemplate Version="1" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/LayoutModification"> <LayoutOptions StartTileGroupCellWidth="6" /> <DefaultLayoutOverride> <StartLayoutCollection> <defaultlayout:StartLayout GroupCellWidth="6" xmlns:defaultlayout="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/FullDefaultLayout"> <start:Group Name="Folders" xmlns:start="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/StartLayout"> <startesktopApplicationTile Size="2x2" Column="0" Row="0" DesktopApplicationLinkPath="%APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\System Tools\computer.lnk" /> </start:Group> <start:Group Name="Programs" xmlns:start="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/StartLayout"> <startesktopApplicationTile Size="2x2" Column="0" Row="0" DesktopApplicationLinkPath="%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Mozilla Firefox.lnk" /> <startesktopApplicationTile Size="2x2" Column="2" Row="0" DesktopApplicationLinkPath="%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Google Chrome.lnk" /> <startesktopApplicationTile Size="2x2" Column="0" Row="2" DesktopApplicationLinkPath="%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Sublime Text 3.lnk" /> <startesktopApplicationTile Size="2x2" Column="2" Row="2" DesktopApplicationLinkPath="%APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\µTorrent.lnk" /> </start:Group> </defaultlayout:StartLayout> </StartLayoutCollection> </DefaultLayoutOverride> </LayoutModificationTemplate>[/quote]



I have tried using %ALLUSERSPROFILES% etc for linking to the ink files.
As you can see though it has removed the xml for any folder icons.



This is the only thing holding me back from having a perfect setup for creating multiple layouts for different machines then simply selecting one and importing on any new machine setup for all users *Sad

:)

 

Is there a way to change the default Windows 10 File Explorer layout view, regardless of content type

When using Windows 10 File explorer to open directories, folders and sub-folders, the default layout view changes depending on the file content type in the folders.

Music, Pictures, Videos, application files etc...

The majority of default view is Large Icons. I always have to manually change them to 'Details'

When I manually change the view of a specific folder to 'Details', Windows seems to remember that as a preference because the next time I open that same folder, it retains the last layout view I used.

As I cannot change the layout view manually for each and every folder,

How can I change the default layout view for every existing folder and every newly created folder to open in a 'Details' layout view.

**moved from Windows / Windows 10 / Desktop, Start, & Personalization.

 

An update was installed on the night of Dec 14/15, 2017. My start menu items/tiles/icons were reset.

The start menu layout that I had before the update has been replace by default icons.

Can I get the old layout back? It's been < 8 hours since the update completed.

**Moved from: Windows / Windows 10 / Windows update, recovery, & backup**

 

update: I notice shared drives work just fine for example, \\nas\SharedDir\ will work just fine. However any reference to a local folder in C:\Users\Default\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\LayoutModification.xml does not get used by Windows 10

 

I've seen the same sort of problem here (Windows 10 1607). I create some .URL shortcuts and copy them to the "%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs" folder and I make sure that the XML file points to the appropriate .URL file in that path.
The .URL shortcuts never show up for new users.

Did you ever figure this out?

 

Nope still haven't found a solution. Interesting that it also does this for URLs. The sad part is there is not a lot of Microsoft documentation on it that I can find either *Sad

I feel like all microsoft cares about is the universal apps and being able to pin stuff associated with it, like their new grouping function that looks great for their mobile apps, as I call them. Yet still the functionality for actual windows applications, folders, links etc across multiple users is so lacking.

 

Anyone find a solution?

I've been stuck with the same issue of trying to import a Start Tile .xml file and cannot get it to work with folder shortcuts. I ended up trying the same things as the poster before I found this thread.

 

The solution to your problem is to create a shortcut manually, and use the following format.
In the case of the accessories folder, C:\Windows\explorer.exe "C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Accessories"

Pin that.
Export layout.
Create a shortcut on the target (Machine you are importing on) in the %Appdata%\roaming\microsoft\windows\start menu\programs\ folder with the same name as the shortcut in the XML.
Import the layout on the target machine.
Open powershell.
run the following.
tdlrecover.exe -resetcache -resetlayout.


Voila.

*Fades back into the shadows*