Add or Remove Items for All Apps in Start menu in Windows 10  

found elsewhere how to export the start menu layout in xml file, so i pinned the broken link to the start menu and exported all in xml, found this:

<start:Tile Size="2x2" Column="0" Row="0" AppUserModelID="Windows.ContactSupport_cw5n1h2txyewy!App" />

so in my case is the contact support app, just tryed to uninstall/reinstall via powershell but nothing happens

since i think i have to install it properly before uninstall it have you some idea how to do that? :)

edit: found this row using another your guide in the start menu:

ms-resource:appDisplayName Windows.ContactSupport_cw5n1h2txyewy!App

using get-appxpackage the app is not there so seems to be uninstalled

- - - Updated - - -

so i think the app is uninstalled but the link in start menu remain there

ninja750 said:

after 1903 upgrade i can't create the desktop shortcut anymore and i don't see the package in the apps directory

obviously the appdisplayname is still there

Hello,

Are you able to use the Show Desktop shortcut from below instead to add to your Start menu?

Create Show Desktop Shortcut in Windows

ninja750 said:

believe or not, they fixed it w1903.329! 2 years

Hi there,



First, I would like to thank you for your commitment on replying to everyone's question, this shows how much devotion you put on helping others.



Second, I have read every post in this thread and tried every method on the web that I could find, but without any luck, I'm not sure if you will respond to me, since it past 4 months from your last respond, but I hope you do.



My issue is far complicated than others, it's been a while trying to solve it, and every time I get to a dead-end I ignore it as it is not there, but it bothers me a lot, knowing it's there.


The first issue is, my All Apps/Start Menu is reading from both location as below, so the 1st question is how can I force it to read from one location? And if we force it to my prefer location, what grantee that it will stick to it?

%ProgramData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs


%AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs

The Second issue that made me crazy is that most of my programs shortcut has disappeared from the mentioned folders above, and I also wanted to try this method Reinstall and Re-register Apps in Windows 10, but I was afraid it will make things worse.


So the 2nd question is simple, can I fix those folders and bring back every shortcuts that has been disappeared, or is there a way to copy ONLY .exe shortcuts from Program Files back to the above folders, by using Total Commander or RoboCop RoboCopy software?



I know that for fact I can fix it manually, by copying every single .exe shortcuts one by one, but I prefer a second solution.



I've followed all troubleshooting steps that I could find on the web to solve this issue including:


* Ran sfc /SCANNOW Command.

* Ran (ScanHealth-CheckHealth-RestoreHealth) DISM options.

* Deleted the start menu cache files, so they are rebuilt.

* Creating a new Toolbar and assigning Program Files as the location to it, is not a solution I prefer.

* Re-register Start Menu using Windows PowerShell.

Get-appxpackage -all *shellexperience* -packagetype bundle |% {add-appxpackage -register -disabledevelopmentmode ($_.installlocation + “\appxmetadata\appxbundlemanifest.xml”)}

* Also via PowerShell:

Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml"}

I doubt all methods above has anything to do with my problem, but I was out of solutions.


Notes to be considered:

- My account was an administrative in Windows 7, it changed back to a normal user after upgrading to win 10, then I got it back as an administrative privilege again.


Thanks, looking forward to your reply.

Hello @httan,

Q1) All Apps gets its list of app shortcuts from both locations by design. I suppose you could move all shortcuts from the "current user" location to the "all users" location, but you would have to do this per account and items could still get added to the "current user" location.

(All users)
%ProgramData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs

(Only current user)
%AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs


Q2) It depends on if the apps missing are ones you installed or included in Windows by default.

Do these apps still open and work other than just no longer being listed in All Apps?

As a test, if you create a new account on the computer, do the apps show in the new account's All Apps list? If so, you could make that account an administrator, and use it instead.

httan said:

Thanks a lot for your prompt response,

Regarding the 1st question:

When you say the above quote, do you mean any future installation of programs might end up in the current user folder?

And regarding the 2nd question:

The apps missing are ones that I have installed NOT Windows default.

Yes, all programs do run perfectly without any problems.

In fact, I did create a new user and the problem is the same, it did not show in the new account's All Apps list.

Hope we find a solution to it.

Correct. Anytime a user installs an app, there's a chance the shortcut could get added to the "current user" location instead of the "all users" location in All Apps.

I'm not seeing another option other than to manually add new shortcuts for these programs to All Apps. I would recommend to add them to the "all users" location.