How do i customize the start menu?

So basically what i want to do, is to remove everything from the start menu, and add what i want.
I dont want to see a list of all apps i have or whatever else it shows me.

I just want it gone, plain and simple, and to add what i feel is important.
Under "Most used" i have the most used, but i dont really like all of it there.

The rest of it, administration tools for windows, alarm and watch, connect, film&tv, the list goes on..
I removed all shortcuts i could find and stuffed the rest together in a folder called "Stuff".
But there are still plenty of useless items that needs to disappear.

It doesnt need to be there, i can access it from whatever other place, if i ever need it..

How do i fix this?

jerkalerka said:

So basically what i want to do, is to remove everything from the start menu, and add what i want.
I dont want to see a list of all apps i have or whatever else it shows me.

I just want it gone, plain and simple, and to add what i feel is important.
Under "Most used" i have the most used, but i dont really like all of it there.

The rest of it, administration tools for windows, alarm and watch, connect, film&tv, the list goes on..
I removed all shortcuts i could find and stuffed the rest together in a folder called "Stuff".
But there are still plenty of useless items that needs to disappear.

It doesnt need to be there, i can access it from whatever other place, if i ever need it..

How do i fix this?

Hi @jerkalerka, welcome to tenforums.com! :)

In short, you need to turn off some settings like 'show most used', uninstall whatever you can, create your own shortcuts of what you'd like to show and 'Hide' the rest.
I'm working on a video tutorial but right now it's still about an hour long!!! A bit more editing!

You might like the free Classic Shell for extreme customization of start menu: Classic Shell - Start menu and other Windows enhancements

Okay, my video tutorial is a mess, so, I'll compile the basics in a nutshell here:

First, go to Settings/Personalization/Start and turn off 'Occasionally show suggestions in Start', 'Show most used Apps' and 'Show recently added Apps', if you don't want to see those lists.

Second, if you want to uninstall Universal Apps, you can do so through various 'Power Shell' methods; a few of the most reliable methods found here:

Apps - Uninstall in Windows 10 - Windows 10 Forums

Third, you'll need to navigate to 2 folders:

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

C:\Users\(your name)\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs

in those folders you can create 'secondary' shortcuts of all the items in the sub-folders and put them in the 'Parent' folder and also customize the ones that already reside there.
DO NOT cut and paste the existing ones into the parent folder, make copies! Especially the system shortcuts.

Then you need to rename the shortcuts:
I've found that using an Alt Code prefix for shortcuts will eliminate the alphabet headings and will put everything in the '&' category.
(Just Google 'Alt Codes')
Example: Alt+3 is ♥ which can be used for 'favorites'; Alt+4 is ♦, Alt+7 is • 'bullets', etc. The Alt Codes also maintain a hierarchy all their own, so play around with a few.
You can also right click each shortcut and go to Properties/Shortcut/Change Icon to change the look.
Last, select everything you wish to hide, right click, check mark 'Hidden', click Apply and OK.

Here is my full Menu shown in Full Screen and normal, (in High Contrast), notice the Alt Code prefixes on the names:



(Haven't found a way to get rid of that 'Connect' shortcut!)