Can app name be changed in All Apps list?

Often a new program (which I suppose is always called an 'app' in Win10) will self-install in the Program Files or ProgramFiles (x86) folder under the name of the software maker, rather than the name of the program. This means that on the Win10 All Apps list, the actual program name won't be in alphabetical order; rather, the software company's name will show up alphabetically on the list. This is kind of a drag, having to remember where to look on the list.

I have tried several ways of changing the file name, etc. to make the program name show up, but either it just doesn't work or the entire program installation becomes corrupted and has to be reinstalled. Does anyone know of a way to change just the name that shows up on the All Apps list?

Electrojim said:

I have tried several ways of changing the file name, etc. to make the program name show up, but either it just doesn't work or the entire program installation becomes corrupted and has to be reinstalled. Does anyone know of a way to change just the name that shows up on the All Apps list?

Welcome to TenForums!

Presumably you tried renaming the folder in C:\Program files ? That would probably be what broke things...

What you can do is rename the folder that holds the shortcuts that are used to build the 'All apps' list. Finding it is the problem, there's no 'open folder location' if you right-click on it in Start. You can find it by clicking on the folder to open it then right-clicking on one of the apps it contains. 'Open file location' will be found under 'More>'. Clicking on this for the Malwarebytes that's installed on my PC finds the location:
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Malwarebytes Anti-Malware\Tools
This is one of two locations that 'All apps' is built from, the one that is seen by all users. The other is for apps that only appear on individual user's 'All apps' and is found at:
C:\Users\<your_user_name>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\

It's the folder name immediately after ...\Programs\ that you can change. A restart is required for the change to appear on 'All apps'.

Not mentioned is Custom Install. Most programs offer it and one can change the Folder name it is installed in and even point to a different drive or partition for it to install in. The default C:\Program Files is for both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows but the 64-bit version includes C:\Program Files (x86) for holding 32-bit programs with 64-bit programs in C:\Program Files.

Berton said:

Not mentioned is Custom Install. Most programs offer it and one can change the Folder name it is installed in...

Too late for the OP as it's already been installed. Uninstalling then reinstalling would be a somewhat roundabout way to change a name. One to remember for next time, though.

Customising 'All apps' is a lot simpler. There's a Tutorial on that here:
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/...dows-10-a.html

Thanks to all, especially to Bree who gave some good advice, yet I'm still a bit confused. Here's a shot of my All Apps list showing the MetaGeek (software developer's name) with inSSIDer (the program) under it:

Right-clicking the main MetaGeek heading does nothing, but I can right-click inSSIDer 2.0, bringing up the More and File location options. When I open the file location I get this:

...which is actually under the complete heading: C:\Users\Lab\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\MetaGeek. Note that what's here is actually a shortcut, and if I right-click on the shortcut and ask to be taken to the file location, the screen just blinks, as if this IS the file location. This does not seem to be the right place for a shortcut, there aren't any others here. If I put MetaGeek into the Search window, I get nothing. If I put inSSIDer in the Search window, I get this:

...which tells me that my program is a "desktop app," although there is nothing to do with the program on the Desktop at all. The program is actually installed here: C:\Program Files\MetaGeek\inSSIDer 2.0, but neither MetaGeek nor inSSIDer is mentioned anywhere here: C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs, which is where the rest of the programs have a listing. Thus I can't see how it shows up in the All Apps list anyway, whether it's under the heading I'd like to have (inSSIDer) or what actually got there (MetaGeek). This is really frustrating.

@Electrojim

Check this out, it may be what you're looking for:

Note: One thing I forgot to show in the video is that you can create additional shortcuts of the Universal Windows Apps by simply click-and-dragging them to the desktop, renaming them in a similar manner then placing them in the User AppData folder, but, you will have to assign those a custom icon or else they may show up as a blank 'white paper' icon in the Start Menu.

Electrojim said:

Thanks to all, especially to Bree who gave some good advice, yet I'm still a bit confused...

...which is actually under the complete heading: C:\Users\Lab\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\MetaGeek. Note that what's here is actually a shortcut...

Thus I can't see how it shows up in the All Apps list anyway, whether it's under the heading I'd like to have (inSSIDer) or what actually got there (MetaGeek). This is really frustrating.

You are nearly there. Go to the folder C:\Users\Lab\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\ and rename the folder 'MetaGeek' to your preferred name 'inSSIDer' - it's this folder's name that is displayed in 'All Apps'. Now restart the PC to rebuild the All Apps list (actually, it's just Windows Explorer that needs to restart, you can if you wish restart just Windows Explorer from the 'Processes' tab in Task Manager).

Very nice, Edwin, thanks. Of course my first reaction was, "That's easy for YOU to say." I'm really not a 'computer person,' but I do know how I want my system to look and behave. I will have to watch your video a couple of more times before I feel comfortable in doing as your suggest; I live in constant fear of really screwing something up.

Bree, I'm going out in the lab right now and try what you suggest. Wish me luck!

Bree,

That trick did it! I navigated right to where you told me to, renamed the folder and, Voila, my list looks just as I want it. I'll save a link back here should any other programs give me grief. Thanks so much!

Edwin, I like the way your Start menu is organized. In your how-to video, as soon as you click on the Start icon, you get that list of programs/apps in a sort-of browntone theme, which I guess is a personalization color you selected for your system. I don't get that list with small icons when I click there; rather, the alphabetical list comes up with the big blue blocks. I like the way you used hierarchies of oddball characters to put those programs at the top of your list. I assume one has to do the file shuffle trick in your video to get there; I'll give that a try when I'm more comfortable with this OS.

Thanks again, all!

Electrojim said:

Bree,That trick did it!

Glad to have helped. If you ever need to install an updated version or uninstall the existing one, then rename the folder back to its original name so its setup can find it.