Windows 10: Windows Icons/Shortcuts have disappeared from the start menu

This weird problem has been going on with my computer for several weeks. On the windows start menu several of my application icons are gone. When i do a search to open the application it won't find it. The applications are still installed on my computer, I never removed them. I'm on Windows Enterprise 10 version 22h2 installed on dec 28th

:)

 

Shortcuts' icons disappear in Start Menu

No, shortcuts I put in a folder within the Start Menu folder, in File Explorer.

In C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs.





Shiness- The Lightning Kingdom, Mass Effect Andromeda, and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, to name a few, don't have icons. They show up fine in the actual Start Menu, just not in File Explorer.

 

Blank shortcut icon GPU-Z

I know I am quite late but as I was scrolling through I saw this post which happened to one of friend too. This sometimes happens with Windows. Usually a reboot will solve the problem. However if this doesn't, try setting the icon for the shortcut(right-click pinned icon, right-click program, left-click properties, select "change icon...") or refreshing it by switching to a different icon, applying it, and then reverting back to the original icon. Remove the shortcut from the taskbar and replace it with the start menu shortcut or simply drag the .exe file to the taskbar.

 

Adding shortcut icon to the start menu

My first thought was 'why does that need a registry key - surely one just adds a shortcut...?' So I tried that with a sc to a vbs script I use, and simply added it to the start menu folder at C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu, like so:



Then I rt-click on that (in the Start menu program list) and select 'Pin to Start':



Hey presto! (if 'Start' as opposed to the 'Start menu' was what you wanted). For some reason, it appears sc's to scripts (well, vbs at least) cannot be added to 'Start' in one step, as can sc's to executables. But then I tried with a sc to a Powershell script (.psi) and it simply opened in Notepad (or NP++), my default action. So I had to change the default action for a .ps1 to 'run Powershell', which meant finding the .exe down in Windows\System32\Windows Powershell, after which the sc worked from either the Start program list or 'Start'.

There may be a way to create a sc to a .PS1 that runs without making that the default action for all .PS1 files, but I haven't managed that.
<update>: create a sc to C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe -file your.ps1 and that should execute regardless of default .ps1 behaviour.

I've no idea if this is any help to you, but I've learnt something! Martin

PS duh! I realise you want to add it to the very LHS icons, in which case I don't know, and can't see how from what I've read so far.