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

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments
Answer accepted by question author
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.

Was this answer helpful?

40+ people found this answer helpful.
0 comments
Answer accepted by question author
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

Was this answer helpful?

30+ people found this answer helpful.
0 comments

89 additional answers

Sort by: Newest
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2010-11-21T13:49:09+00:00

    Thanks Ronnie. Your solution worked for me.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2010-11-20T01:16:04+00:00

    Thanks for the ideas Dave but nothing really works good in Win7 like the XP start menu for shortcuts to files and folders stored on the network server. I really do not want to deal with extra folders opening that I need to close. Looks like Win7 is a step backwards in productivity for us. Other companies must not store their data bases and template files on the network servers as I can find no easy way to have quick access to these files from Win7. The task bar idea kind of works but it is hoakie compared to XP start menu. I think I will try the Classic Shell Hack to get a classic start menu in Win7 and if that does not work then will just wipe Win7 from the computer and install XP pro and hope that someday before we need to replace more computers that MS comes up with a solution that makes some sense and works. I think 1st I will do some searching on the internet to see if anyone makes a program that can make a folder expand or show the contents of the folder by just mousing over it as that would solve the problem and be a workable solution. Wow do I miss the ease of just right clicking on the start button and exploring the start menu and copying shortcuts to that folder, hopefully someone at MS can add this back into the next build or SP. Searching the internet looks like there are other frustrated people out there, why else would someone spend the time to create software to restore the classic menu.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2010-11-20T00:01:46+00:00

    I don't know of any way to get the folder to automatically fly open.

    Another option would be to pin the network shortcuts to the Taskbar.  Open

    the folder containing the shortcuts, and drag them one at a time to the

    Taskbar.  Then you can right-click on the Explorer icon and use the jump

    list.

    But it will open an Explorer window.

    http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/window-on-windows/?p=1059

    If you regularly use a certain spreadsheet file, you can pin it to Excel.

    I keep Excel and Word pinned to my Start Menu, and keep certain files pinned

    to them.

    When I mouse up to Excel, the jump list flies open for me to select either a

    recently opened file or a pinned file.

    You can also pin a specific file to the Start Menu.

    I'm afraid I just don't remember how XP worked, it's been too many years.

    --

    Dave N.

    MS-MVP (Mail)

    Windows 7 Ultimate 64

    Get it: http://download.live.com/wlmail

    Get Help: http://www.windowslivehelp.com/product.aspx?productid=15

    "oregonxc" wrote in message

    news:*** Email address is removed for privacy ***...

    I created a folder on the desktop and put network file shortcuts in it. I

    tried right click on the folder but there is not pin option so I drug it

    down to the start button and then is asked if I wanted to pin to start menu

    and I said yes. The folder is not at the top of the start menu. If I mouse

    up to the folder it does not expand or show me the contents of the folder so

    that I can select one of the short cuts in the folder. The only option I

    have is to click on the folder and open the folder on the desktop and then I

    have to sort through and double click and open any of the short cuts in that

    folder. This does work but certainly not as workflow efficient as XP start

    window. Problem with this is that then I have an open folder on the desktop

    that I then have to go back and close or just leave it open which to me is

    workspace clutter. Can the folder I put in the start menu be set to expand

    or show me the contents for selection when I mouse over it? Or any other

    solutions?

    Windows 7 Ultimate 64

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments