[Tip] Add, Remove and Group Program Shortcuts in Windows 10 Start Menu

If you use Windows 10 operating system in your computer, you might have noticed that the Start Menu is not very customizable. Microsoft has not provided enough options to customize Windows 10 Start Menu. We can’t delete or remove any program shortcut. We can’t rename any shortcut. We can’t change program shortcut icons. Also we can’t group or move program shortcuts in Windows 10 Start Menu.

Many readers have asked us in past regarding organizing program shortcuts in groups or removing specific shortcuts from Windows 10 Start Menu.

In this tutorial, we’ll tell you very simple and easy ways to tweak and customize Windows 10 Start Menu according to your requirements. You’ll be able to fully customize all programs list in Windows 10 Start Menu.

With the help of this tutorial, you’ll be able to:

• Remove/hide unwanted program shortcuts from Windows 10 Start Menu
• Rename program shortcuts in Windows 10 Start Menu
• Change icons of program shortcuts in Windows 10 Start Menu
• Add new program shortcuts to Windows 10 Start Menu
• Organize and group program shortcuts in Windows 10 Start Menu

Let’s start the tutorial!

IMP TIP: Actually all program shortcuts or entries, which you see in Windows 10 Start Menu, are stored in 2 system folders which can be accessed using following commands in RUN dialog box or Start Search box:

Press WIN+R keys together to launch RUN dialog box and copy-paste above mentioned folder paths one by one and press Enter. It’ll open both folders in File Explorer windows.

Following screenshots show both folders content in File Explorer:

Content of “%ProgramData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\” Folder:

Content of “%AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\” Folder:

Windows 10 Start Menu scans these folders for available program shortcuts and then it displays those shortcuts in all programs list.

So we can use these folders to customize Windows 10 Start Menu look-n-feel.

Remove Unwanted Program Shortcuts from Windows 10 Start Menu:

Sometimes we may want to remove unnecessary program shortcuts which we don’t use from Start Menu to make it clean. Sometimes we may want to hide some program shortcuts such as games, etc from other people so that they can’t launch or open them from Start Menu.

Deleting or removing any unwanted program shortcut from Start Menu is very easy. Just open above mentioned folders and delete any desired program shortcut which you don’t want to see in Windows 10 Start Menu.

As soon as you delete shortcut from these folders, the shortcut will also disappear from Start Menu.

Related: [Guide] How to Remove All Built-in Apps in Windows 10

Rename Program Shortcuts in Windows 10 Start Menu:

Open above mentioned folders and select desired program shortcut. Press F2 key or right-click on shortcut and select Rename option. Now set desired name and the program shortcut name will immediately change in Start Menu.

Change Icons of Program Shortcuts in Windows 10 Start Menu:

Open above mentioned folders and look for the desired program shortcut. Select the shortcut, right-click and select Properties option.

Now click on “Change Icon” button and select desired icon.

That’s it. As soon as you change desired program shortcut’s icon, Windows 10 Start Menu will start showing new icon for the program shortcut.

Add New Program Shortcuts to Windows 10 Start Menu:

You can create any desired program shortcut in “%AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\” folder and it’ll immediately appear in Start Menu.

Open “%AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\” folder, right-click on empty area and select “New -> Shortcut” option.

Now type desired command or select program’s executable (EXE) file using Browse button. Set desired name for the shortcut and click on Finish button.

The new program shortcut will immediately start showing in Start Menu.

You can also copy and paste program shortcuts from Desktop or other areas in “%AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\” folder and the program shortcut will show in Start Menu.

Organize and Group Program Shortcuts in Windows 10 Start Menu:

Now let’s discuss about the tricky part!

You can move and organize program shortcuts in groups so that Start Menu can look uncluttered. When we install many 3rd party software programs in Windows, the Start Menu gets cluttered with so many unwanted program shortcuts.

We can manage and organize these program shortcuts in separate groups so that we can find programs quickly and easily. Organizing program shortcuts in groups will also make Start Menu looking minimal and clean.

Creating groups and moving program shortcuts into groups is not a difficult task. You just need to create new folders and move desired program shortcuts in these folders.

1. Open above mentioned folders i.e. %ProgramData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\ and %AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\.

2. Now right-click on empty area and select “New -> Folder” option. Set desired name for the new folder.

PS: You’ll find that some program shortcuts are present in “%ProgramData%” folder and some are present in “%AppData%” folder. You may want to organize many program shortcuts present in both folders in same group. In such situation, you can create folders with same names in both folders.

You can create multiple folders for different groups such as Internet, Multimedia, System Tools, etc.

3. Now cut desired program shortcuts and paste them in newly created folders.

That’s it. As soon as you move program shortcuts in new folders, Windows 10 Start Menu will start showing them in groups.

So you see we can modify shortcuts present in above mentioned 2 system folders to organize program shortcuts in Windows 10 Start Menu.

Also Check:

[Tip] Do This When Start Menu Not Working in Windows 10

[Tip] Speedup Start Menu Opening / Launching in Windows 10