How can I add shortcuts to the Windows 7 start menu?

Anonymous
2009-12-04T17:08:01+00:00

For some reason, it is impossible to add any new shortcuts to the start menu in Windows 7. I always get a message 'Windows can't create a shortcut here. Do you want the shortcut to be placed on the desktop instead?' I tried to select 'Show hidden files, folders, and drives' in the Folders and search options > View and to get to the start menu from ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu but this does not help.

How do you manually add a shortcut to the start menu?

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Files, folders, and storage

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Anonymous
2009-12-05T08:37:45+00:00

Right click on the file and select Send to Desktop (create shortcut) and then drag the shortcut on the desktop to the Start menu.

You should not create shortcuts or change any files in the Programs area unless you are troubleshooting.

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Anonymous
2010-07-04T23:18:49+00:00

Sorry ... I don't accept that the "Pin to start menu" option is a substitute for being able to manually add a shortcut to the start menu.  Being able to pin something is useful, but it doesn't cover many of the use cases for manually adding something.  First, when you pin something, it will always appear in the same place.  So there's no way to "pin" something into your Accessories\System Tools folder.  Second, there is no way to "pin" something into the All Users start menu.  If you have 5 people who need to access a program (like a family where 1 is typically the admin) then you have to login as each and pin it separately.  Or am I supposed to just tell my 7-yr-old daughter to go hunt down the EXE for the app I installed and pin it herself?

I completely appreciate why Microsoft wants to keep average users from messing with their start menu.  But there should be a way to disable this protection on a per-user basis or at least relegate it to a warning that you can only override as an admin user.  It's kind of silly to have the only solution as "copy it to your desktop then copy it to the folder where you want it".  That makes just as much sense as having to copy/paste everything through Notepad when you want formatting stripped off.

Hi

Organizing the folders and files in the Start/All Programs section is not a mystery and is fully supported.

There are 2 locations where the All Programs folders are kept.

Click Start, right click All Programs and select either Open or Open All Users.

Open is where all of the folders and files are kept that appear only in the logged on users all programs folders.

Open all users is where the programs that appear in every users all programs folders are located.

Usually, the only programs that are in an individual users folder is if that user is an administrator and they installed a program and selected to not make that program available to other users on the computer.

Once you go to that location in Windows Explorer for these folders and files, you can organize them any way you wish, just as you would any other folders.

Hope this helps.

Thank You for using Windows 7

Ronnie Vernon MVP

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  1. Anonymous
    2011-10-12T04:35:16+00:00

    OK.  I think I actually solved this (thanks to the answer to http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows\_7-desktop/windows-7-start-menu-worthless-how-to-make-it/572dfcdd-1432-437e-ae8e-4da966fda120) for pointing me in the right direction.

    For a per-user menu item, you should be able to modify this directory using Windows Explorer: **%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs**For global menu items, it is a little more work.  The problem is that no matter what user you are logged in as, you cannot write to the global start menu.  To get around this, find the command prompt in your start menu and right-click it.  Choose "Run as administrator".

    type cd C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs.

    Once you are here, you can create new folders (mkdir), move folders, and add shortcuts to folders.  For example. I have a c:\utils\vncviewer\vncviewer.exe file.  I can right click on it and say Create Shortcut on Desktop.  Make a folder called utils by typing mkdir utils in the command prompt, then add the shortcut by running move "c:\users\user1\vncviewer - shortcut.lnk" .\vncviewer.lnk

    This should add a global start menu item.

    Good luck,

    Joseph

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  2. Anonymous
    2011-09-27T21:18:23+00:00

    It does look like microsoft has removed the ability to make a shortcut right into the all programs area for all users. 

    This is a short workaround.

    The work around of this is from your desktop make the shortcut by right clicking on the desktop->new->shortcut.  then follow the steps. 

    Once the shortcut has been created. Like one of the last users had mentioned click start then right click on all programs then choose open all users. 

    Now copy and paste the shortcut you made from the desktop to this new folder.  UAC may prompt to allow but this should work.

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  3. Anonymous
    2011-08-23T19:11:02+00:00

    Hi Rose,

    Due to the age of the thread and to avoid confusion, I would recommend starting your own question so that the community can best focus on your specific issue.

    Thanks for using Microsoft Answers!

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