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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  2. Anonymous
    2011-02-02T07:33:58+00:00

    OK ... I think it's a bug in Windows 7! Now we know where we stand!

    I've be playing around with this all night and have made a discovery...

    THE START MENU DOESN'T UPDATE!

    I've been able to put new folders and shortcuts onto the Start Menu and move programs, shortcuts or folders into other folders. So I think that's what people want to do in organising their menu.

    Here is how to do it:

    1. Make a New Folder on the desktop or make a Shortcut.
    2. Drag it over the the Start Menu (Pin to Start Menu appears) ... wait until it opens
    3. Drag it up to the All Programs (Pin to Start Menu appears again) ... wait until it opens
    4. As soon as it opens, Move it up the list to a spot between to folders or programs**(a black line appears _______________)**
    5. Let GO! (Now you would expect it to be dropped onto the list somewhere, and maybe even put correctly in alphabetical order?!Well due to wonderful Windows 7 it is invisible! No amount of clicking on the Start Menu, All Programs will find it.)
    6. Now RESTART EXPLORER ... 

         i) Click on the Start Menu

         ii) Navigate to the darker blank area to the right and holdCTRL+SHIFT and Right Click, Select Exit Explorer... Explorer will close

         iii) Press CTRL+ALT+DEL to run the Task Manager.

         iv) Under Applications click on New Task (bottom right)

         v) Type in explorer.exe and then click OK... Explorer will restart.

    1. Now click on the Start Menu, All Programs and your Folder or Shortcut will have magically appeared!

    Note1: Using Cut and Paste sometimes works but Paste only comes up as an option when pasting into some folders in the Start Menu and not at all when just trying to put the item in with the other programs not the folders. Right Clicking sometimes gives you a small box with about 8 menus including Rename and Delete but NOT Paste, other times you get a large menu with Cut, Copy, Paste above Delete and Rename.

    Note2: If you want the ALL USERS Start Menu, Right click on All Programs to select it.

    I hope we can all get on with things now without messing around with permissions and Pinning is useful (for a small number of favourite applications), but keeping a tidy Start Menu how you want it makes things much easier to manage. :)

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  3. Anonymous
    2011-01-16T10:00:33+00:00

    Ok, everyone wanting to arrange the 'All Programs' area as they see fit has noticed that by default they are only given the option to create a new folder.  To get any further organization you essentially have the two workarounds mentioned above.

    First of all, to get there, you click the Start Button, right-click 'All Programs' and select 'Open All Users'

    Or, just navigate to C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs.

    Workaround 1 (mentioned by Andy30104)

    Go up two folder levels (C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows), right-click the 'Start Menu' folder choose 'Properties' and edit the 'Security' tab to remove/alter the restrictive permission(s).  I actually wouldn't recommend this approach but it is an option nonetheless.

    Workaround 2 (similar to DominicP) - Recommended approach

    Drag whatever application (the .exe) you are attempting to create a shortcut for to the desktop and your shortcut will be created there.  Now just drag that shortcut to where you want (C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\SomeFolder).  Now you'll get a prompt saying you'll need Administrative permission in order to move the shortcut to this folder.  Click 'Continue' and you'll have your shortcut in whatever location you choose in the Start Menu.  This shortcut will have standard permissions and will be accessible by all users on the machine.

    Hope this helps someone out.

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