Start Menu All Programs - Add or Delete Shortcuts

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)

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)

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

---

• How to Customize the Windows 7 Start Menu
• How to Change the Active Navigation Folder Icon in Windows 7
• How to Change the Start Menu Button in Windows 7
• How to Pin or Unpin a Program to the Windows 7 Start Menu
• How to Pin or Unpin a Folder, Drive, or Library to the Start Menu in Windows 7
• How to Use Small or Large Icons in the Windows 7 Start Menu
• Download a Shortcut that Opens the Start Menu in Windows
• How to Restore Missing Default Shortcuts in the Windows 7 Start Menu
• How to Enable or Disable Start Menu "All Programs" in the Vista and Windows 7
• How to Enable or Disable Start Menu Auto Arrange by Name in Vista and Windows 7
• How to Create a Shortcut of a File, Folder, Drive, or Program in Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8

 

[kazaam]

I have lost my Accessories folder from All Programs. Please help, I still have disk clean-up and paint, etc available but everytime I want to use the things included in the accessories folder, I have to search for it.

 

[Brink]

Hello Kazaam,

Here's a copy of my Accessories folder from the "All Users" Start Menu location that you can use to copy back.

Hope it helps,
Shawn

 

[Beatnik]

Thanks SOO much for this I was unable to ad to your Rep for this as i have been trying on my own for a bit now and your post helped me make my start menu the way i want after a month of trying on my own! Give Brink Rep as he deserves it! (i know since this is a tutorial you cant do it here Brink helps so much if he helps you dont forget to thank him with rep!)

 

[Brink]

You're most welcome Matthew. Thank you.

 

[tamago23]

Thanks for the super-helpful guide. I'd like to create individual Start Menus for each user (primarily because we have a young son that likes to use the computer, but I'd like to have his Start Menu be only his programs and not be cluttered up with dozens and dozens of our work programs that aren't appropriate for him to mess around with). I tried doing the "open" as described in "Start Menu for Only Current Logged On User", but it only brings up a very limited menu selection of what could be removed (most programs aren't listed, so they can't be removed). But of course if I do "All Users", then it erases them from our accounts as well as his. Back in XP there were shortcut folders for each individual user as well as a Default folder that held shortcuts that were common to all users. I was able to get around this problem by copying all the Default shortcuts to our individual Shortcut folders, wiping the Default folder, and then erasing programs from only my son's Shortcut directory. But I can't seem to locate individual Shortcut folders in Windows 7. Any suggestions? ETA: Er, maybe not. If I open two windows - one for the "open as current user", and the other "open all users" - then I can move the shortcuts from the All Users into the Current User section, and open up additional folders for the other accounts that should have access to the programs and copy them there as well. Basically the same thing I did before, just a bit more of a round-about way. I'll leave this here in case anyone has the same issue.

 

[Brink]

Hello Tamago, and welcome to Seven Forums.

A workaround for this would be to open the "All Users" Start Menu location (Option Two in tutorial) and copy what you want into your "Current User" Start Menu for your two (parents) user accounts, then delete the ones you do not want your son to have available from the "All Users" Start Menu location.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[tamago23]

Heh, we cross-posted - I'd figured it out and was editing my comment to reflect the new solution. Thanks for the quick reply!

 

[Brink]

LOL, you're most welcome.

 

[southerus]

Thank you.

Admin, Brink, Thank you so much for this fix/tutorial. It is so simple yet absolutly impossible to find any where else. I am running Windows7 Home Pre 64bit SP1 and MS has the damn thing locked down - I dont know what they are afraid of. Its guys like you with this knowledge that make me breath a sigh of relief when it comes to work around solutions, like this one, when the regular security tab/ properties do not work anymore.

Thanks again!

 

[Brink]

You're most welcome Southerus, and welcome to Seven Forums.

 

[marcosi]

Great Tip! Thanks!

 

[Brink]

You're welcome Marcosi, and Welcome to Seven Forums.

 

[fredheyer]

Thank you Shawn - it works fine doing it as in Option1.

I got Access Denied when I navigated to:
C:\Users\xc7990\Start Menu

Why is that?

As I am the only User, I would like to have complete access and full permissions to everything. How do I arrange that? I got into a muddle when I used the Sharing tabs and had to Restore (message said "conflicting" and "unstable").

 

[Brink]

You're welcome Fred.

Even as an administrator, you will just need to open any other user account's folder and allow permission when prompted first. Afterwards, you will be able to access the user's folders without issue.

 

[bphil]

I have a variation on this issue which doesn't appear to be covered here; I hope someone can help me with it. In Win7, I understand how to pin programs I use most often (and only those) to the left side of the start menu. However, in WinXP, I was also able to pin a FOLDER to the same part of the start menu, containing shortcuts to programs I use frequently but less often - essentially a 'half way house' between my 'most often' list and 'all programs'. Opening that folder gave me a sub-menu of my 'tier 2' programs. Is there any way to do that (or something equivalent) in Win7?

 

[Brink]

Hello bphil, and welcome to Seven Forums.

You could use the tutorial below to enable pinning folders to the Start Menu, but they won't have expandable menus though. It'll only open the folder when clicked on.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/5736-start-menu-pin-unpin-folder-drive-library.html

If you wanted to add expandable folders on the Start Menu, then you might see if the free program Start Menu X (aka: Start Menu 7) may work for you for this instead.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[swimteam]

THANKS!

Excellent answer.

 

[Bernardus]

Thank you, I've lost suddenly a folder and icon of Opera, but now it's added to the startmenu again.
Indeed Start/ Display All users/ Program's (*not the start/ open option) did the trick.

 

[Brink]

 

[jacky99]

Thanks, great tips.. but I want a bit more details. For example let say I have 10 shortcuts (below the line) on the left side. Then, how to remove only two of them - I mean two shortcuts, not all of them.. Is it possible?
Note: If I right-click 'Remove from This List', it can't...