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
    2012-09-01T23:34:52+00:00

    This permission denied business can be overridden by turning UAC (User Annoyance Control) off completely. Then when you're done doing administrative tasks, you can turn it back on again.

    With UAC off, things work like in XP. I've found no other way around it, even running explorer as an admin fails to override UAC restrictions like some have claimed.

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  2. Anonymous
    2012-07-21T11:51:45+00:00

    That does not work either.  That creates a shortcut from the Start Menu to the desktop icon and then to the file, an Excel worksheet in my case.  When I delete the desktop shortcut (because I do not like all the clutter) the link is broken and the Start Menu shortcut does not work.

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  3. Anonymous
    2011-11-07T21:28:01+00:00

    "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."

    Thanks Ronnie, but that's wrong.  I'm in the "all users" area, and not only is there no option in the context menu to create a shortcut, but if you Alt-drag from an exe file into this area, Windows will claim it can't create a shortcut there.

    I have my programs organized (heaven forbid) into functional groups, like "graphic apps", "audio apps", and so forth.  I have an audio application that comes as a zip file with executable and DLLs.  How am I supposed to add this to my Programs menu in the proper place?

    Joseph's solution is the only means I can find of doing this.  That method is not only out of the question for most casual users, but it's also shoddy and unprofessional in a shipping product.

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