Windows 10: Add or Remove User Program Groups from Start Menu in Windows

How to: Add or Remove User Program Groups from Start Menu in Windows

How to Add or Remove User Program Groups from Start Menu in Windows

The Start Menu will show shortcuts of all programs (apps) listed in All Programs (Windows 7) and All Apps (Windows 10).

The Start Menu for an account will include items (ex: app shortcuts) from the following profiles:

• New Users - This will be items from the C:\Users\Default\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs folder that only get added for a new added account.
• All Users - This will be items from the C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs folder that are shared by all accounts on the PC. These would be the common program groups.
• User - This will be items from the C:\Users\<user name>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs folder that are only included for this specific user.

This tutorial will show you how to add or remove items from the User profile from the Start Menu for specific or all users in Windows 7 and Windows 10.

*Warning You must be signed in as an administrator to add or remove items from the User profile from the Start Menu.


CONTENTS:

• Option One: Add or Remove User Program Groups from Start Menu in Local Group Policy Editor
• Option Two: Add or Remove User Program Groups from Start Menu for All Users using a REG file

EXAMPLE: Folder for a User's Program Groups in Start Menu









OPTION ONE [/i] Add or Remove User Program Groups from Start Menu in Local Group Policy Editor

*note In Windows 7, the Local Group Policy Editor is only available in the Professional, Ultimate, and Enterprise editions.

In Windows 10, the Local Group Policy Editor is only available in the Pro, Enterprise, and Education editions.

All editions can use Option Two.
1. Open the all users except administrators Local Group Policy Editor for how you want this policy applied.

2. In the left pane of the Local Group Policy Editor, click/tap on to expand User Configuration, Administrative Templates, and Start Menu and Taskbar. (See screenshot below)



3. In the right pane of Start Menu and Taskbar, double click/tap on the Remove user's folders from the Start Menu policy to edit it. (see screenshot above)

4. Do step 5 (add) or step 6 (remove) below for what you would like to do.


5. To Add User Program Groups from Start Menu
A) Select (dot) either Not Configured or Disabled, click/tap on OK, and go to step 7 below. (see screenshot below)

*note Not Configured is the default setting.

6. To Remove User Program Groups from Start Menu
A) Select (dot) Enabled, click/tap on OK, and go to step 7 below. (see screenshot below)




7. When finished, you can close Local Group Policy Editor if you like.

8. restart the computer to apply.





OPTION TWO [/i] Add or Remove User Program Groups from Start Menu for All Users using a REG file

*note The downloadable .reg files below will add and modify the DWORD value in the registry keys below.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

NoStartMenuSubFolders DWORD

(delete) = Add
1 = Remove

1. Do step 2 (add) or step 3 (remove) below for what you would like to do.


2. To Add User Program Groups from Start Menu for All Users
*note This is the default setting.
A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 4 below.

Add_user_program_groups_to_Start_Menu.reg

Download

3. To Remove User Program Groups from Start Menu for All Users
A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 4 below.

Remove_user_program_groups_from_Start_Menu.reg

Download
4. Save the .reg file to your desktop.

5. Double click/tap on the downloaded .reg file to merge it.

6. When prompted, click/tap on Run, Yes (UAC), Yes, and OK to approve the merge.

7. restart the computer to apply.

8. You could now delete the downloaded .reg file if you like.

That's it,
Shawn


Related Tutorials

• How to Open and Use All apps in Windows 10 Start menu
• How to Hide or Show App List in Start Menu in Windows 10
• How to Add or Remove All Apps List in Start Menu in Windows 10
• How to Add or Remove Items in All apps in Windows 10 Start menu
• How to Add or Remove Common Program Groups from Start Menu in Windows
• How to Add or Remove Most Used apps on Start Menu in Windows 10
• How to Add or Remove Recently Added apps on Start Menu in Windows 10
• How to Add or Remove Folders on Start List in Windows 10
• How to Enable or Disable Most Used Apps on Start Menu in Windows 10

*Arrow (Please give a Like in support.)

:)

 

Pinned Start Menu Items Being Removed for Non-Administrative Users


Hello, I am hoping that someone might have a solution to this issue. I am currently running the following hardware/software:
Dell T5810 Workstation
Fresh install of Windows 10 Pro 64bit
With a specific Group Policy for Non-Administrators in place

I have searched the forums for quite some time now, but I have not found anyone that is experiencing the exact same issue that I am. I am currently using a Group Policy that supports the following:
"Remove pinned programs list from Start Menu" = DISABLED
"Remove common program groups from Start Menu" = DISABLED
"Remove frequent programs list from the Start Menu" = ENABLED
"Remove Default Programs link from the Start Menu" = ENABLED
"Remove pinned programs from the Taskbar" = DISABLED

Basically, I can pin items correctly to the Start Menu under the user if I add them to the Administrators user group, but when I attempt to log them back in as a Non-Administrators user (I manually remove them from the Administrators user group), all of the icons show up at login temporarily, but then disappear while I am physically looking at them. This ONLY occurs under Non-Administrative users, which I have to have in place due to security reasons.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. If absolutely necessary, I do have a recorded video of this occurring.

Thanks!

 

Files missing from "Start Menu" "All Programs"

RE: WINDOWS 7 ULTIMATE 32bit, Files missing from "Start Menu" "All Programs" list.

I have several "start menu" programs missing in my "all programs" list. One of the missing entries is the "accessories" folder and all related files.

As far as I can tell all of the missing files are on the system and they can be found by using the "start menu search" facility. This problem is occurring with other users but I can not find a solution which works to get things back the way they were after installing the OS.

I am seeing the missing apps and other items at this location in iexplore.exe %allusersprofile%\Start Menu\Programs .

Everything I have tried to get these items back into my "start menu" "all programs" list has been met with failure except creating a shortcut. A shortcut is not the real fix as it leaves two entries in the folder.

When I right click on the highlighted "all Programs" box, in the start menu, a small options list pops up, if "open all users" is selected a new window pops up. Inside that window I can click on the programs folder where I can see the missing entries that should appear on my "all programs" list plus those which I presently see on my "all programs" list together in a single directory listing.

How can I get the above directory list of programs back into the "start menu" "all programs" area so I do not have to go through this extra window and select the programs folder to locate what I wish to run?

I also noticed my accessories folder has a lock on it while I am in the primary user administrator account. If you know how to get rid of the lock it would be helpful however I can find that information when I get a chance to look up the answer?

I noticed some hidden (first tier) folders on the C: drive which I made visible while leaving protection on the OS folders. I can now see these folders in an iexplore.exe directory listing. This did not fix the problem in the "all programs" file selection list and I do not remember if this folder was hidden when the OS was installed.

When I opened up the system to allow a login directly into the Administrator account everything shows up the same as it did when the OS installed along with all other programs installed afterward.

After some progress I am still here *Bang Head :banghead: and slowly getting closer to an answer. Can anyone help me get there a little faster?

 

How can I remove programs from start menu Programs?

Well, that's new - the normal request is 'how do I add things to the Start?'

No, not in the registry. There are actually two folders that are combined to make that list: one for All Users and a personal one for each user. You can customise both. This Tutorial tells you how.
All apps in Start menu - Add or Remove Items in Windows 10

 

Programs Missing From Start Menu (Windows 10)

Note: Step 1 edited on 10/30 after feedback from NealSD.

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

I've had the same problem for weeks and finally found on an easy way to fix it.

You will require administrator privileges to resolve.

Part 1: Shared Apps

• Ensure security permissions are set up properly for C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs
  and all subfolders.
  • IMPORTANT! If you are not experienced in modifying security permissions just
    skip to Step 2.
  • The Administrators group should have Full Control access to all subfolders and files within this folder.
  • The SYSTEM group should have Full Control access to all subfolders and files within this folder
  • I recommend the default Include inheritable permissions... option remain checked for all of these folders as well.
• Assuming your permissions are set up correctly...Copy the entire contents of C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs into a
  new folder called C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\0_Temp (the new folder can really be called anything, I just used 0_Temp so it floats to the top of the All Apps list)
• Wait for the new 0_Temp folder to show up under All Apps in the Start Menu, it shouldn't take long.
• Verify your missing apps are there.
• DELETE the new 0_Temp folder.
• Open All Apps in the Start Menu again; all of your programs / apps should now appear in their proper locations.
  

Part 2: User-Specific Apps

Follow the exact same process as above on your user-specific roaming folder:

• C:\Users\(YOUR USER NAME)\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs
  

Note: It may take longer for the User-Specific changes to be reflected in the Start Menu, be patient.

I don't know what the root cause of the issue is yet but it appears that the Start Menu does not always properly recognize Sub Folders. When I first upgraded to Win10 all was well for more than a month, I'm not sure what triggered this issue. I didn't notice
anything was wrong until some apps stopped showing up in my Cortana searches.

Hope this helps.

 

Feature suggestion: Add right-click menu

Suggestion: Please add a Windows 7 Jump-List and/or right-click menu to the GPU-Z icon in the Windows taskbar. Possible menus in it would be "Exit" and "About GPU-Z...".
Maybe also "Switch to tab 1/Switch to tab 2/Switch to videocard 1/Switch to videocard 2" too.
Examples of programs that have such menus are ICQ, Skype, AIM.

NOTE: It seems for a right-click menu, Windows 7 is not needed - it works on WinXP and Vista too.
But even a Windows 7 Jump-list may be good enough.
What do you think?