Windows 7 - Start Menu All Programs - Add or Delete Shortcuts

**Brink**

How to Add or Delete Start Menu All Programs Shortcuts in Windows 7

Information

This will show you how to add or delete shortcuts in the All Programs area of the Start Menu for the Current User or All Users in Windows 7.

Note

It appears that the context menu items for the Start Menu to open the Start Menu folders has been ommitted in the Windows 7 beta for now. Instead of adding and removing shortcuts directly out of the Start Menu, you could manually navigate to the two Start Menu folder locations.

EXAMPLE: Start Menu All Programs
NOTE: All Programs is the right screenshot. You would click on All Programs (left screenshot) to open it.

OPTION ONE

Start Menu for Only Current Logged On User

1. Open the Start Menu.
A) Right click on All Programs and click on Open. (See screenshot below)

B) Go to step 4.

OR

2. Open the Start Menu.
A) In the search box, type shell:start menu and press Enter. (See screenshot below)

B) Open the Programs folder.

C) Go to step 4.

OR

3. Open Folder Options.
A) Dot Show hidden files, folders, or drives., and click on apply. (See screenshot below)

B) Open Windows Explorer and navigate to the location below. (See screenshot below step 6)
Code:
 
C:\Users\(user name)\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs
4. You can now Copy and Paste shortcuts, Drag and Drop shortcuts, and create New Folders that you want in the Start Menu in this window below.

5. If you did step 3, then in Folder Options again, dot Don't show hidden files, folders, or drives and click on OK. (See screenshot below step 3)

OPTION TWO

Start Menu Shared by All Users

1. Open the Start Menu.
A) Right click on All Programs and click on Open All Users. (See screenshot below)

B) Go to step 3.

OR

2. Open the Start Menu.
A) In the search box, type shell:common start menu and press Enter.

B) Go to step 3.

OR

3. Open Folder Options.
A) Dot Show hidden files, folders, or drives, and click on Apply. (See screenshot below)

B) Open Windows Explorer and navigate to the location below. (See screenshot below step 5)
Code:
 
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs
4. You can now Copy and Paste shortcuts, Drag and Drop shortcuts, and create New Folders that you want in the Start Menu in this window below.

5. If you did step 3, then in Folder Options again, dot Don't show hidden files, folders, or drives and click on OK. (See screenshot below step 3)

That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

**intwtl** · 01-15-2009

Great tut

I've tried to create a folder in the Start Menu>Programs folder and it will allow me to create it but not allow me to change the name from "New Folder."

I get the message "The action can't be completed because the folder or a file in it is open in another program". There is no file in the folder.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

intwtl

**Brink** · 01-15-2009

Hello Intwtl, and welcome to Seven Forums.

Give this a try to see if it may be able to help you fix this.

New Folder - Vista Forums

Hope this helps,
Shawn

**intwtl** · 01-15-2009

Hi Shawn,

I tried the fix and it didn't work on my installation.

I finally booted into safe mode and was able to rename the folder that way. Not the ideal situation but certainly workable for editing the menus.

Thanks much. This forum is invaluable.

**Brink** · 01-15-2009

Intwtl,

I'm happy to hear that you got it sorted. You might send feedback to MS about it to see if they can get it fixed in a new version of Windows 7.

**Thaldus** · 01-24-2009

FYI, I also encountered the same error message trying to create a new start menu folder. Thought maybe I missed something since I have almost zero experience with Vista (my wife has it on her new notebook and it's in another language to boot). Glad to see it wasn't just me.

P.S.
Yep, I've sent MS feedback regarding this issue.

**teri2001** · 01-25-2009

This is my first post, so.. hi peeps!

Im running the Windows 7 64 bit as my sole operating system. I ran into the quirk you mentioned above, and puttered about and found the easiest solution. Simply go into user accounts, disable the UAC, then make your changes, folders, renaming, moving, etc, changes to start menu, send to, whatever. When finished, go back to the user accounts and re-enable the UAC. It worked nicely for me and I hope it works for you too.

Teri

**pmartino** · 03-08-2009

Is there a way to specify your own shortcuts for the space above 'All Programs'? By default it is recently used links, but how can I customize it to put my own in there?

**Brink** · 03-08-2009

Hello Pmartino, and welcome to Seven Forums.

You can pin programs to the Start menu for above the recent programs area.

Start Menu - Pin or Unpin a Program to

Hope this helps,
Shawn

**skyfly** · 03-15-2009

Quote:

A) Right click on All Programs and click on Open All Users. (See screenshot below)

Great tip ! Ive had to use a shortcut to start menu in my documents folder so i could edit folders & add shortcuts
This way is so much easier

Windows 7 - Start Menu All Programs - Add or Delete Shortcuts

Start Menu All Programs - Add or Delete Shortcuts

Start Menu All Programs - Add or Delete Shortcuts problems?