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
    2010-12-19T01:20:47+00:00

    I can drag shortcuts to the Start Menu.

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    Ronnie,

    It's a mystery why I can drag-and-drop executables into the start menu but

    not shortcuts. It's a mystery why the 'New' context menu only has 'Folder'

    available - no shortcuts? It's a mystery why people keep suggesting the "Pin

    to start menu" as a replacement for editing the shortcuts in the "All

    Programs" list. It's a mystery how you can call these idiosyncrasies "full

    support"

    Why can't I simply open Explorer, navigate to the target Start Menu folder,

    then right-click-drag my executable into the folder and pick 'Create new

    shortcut here..." ? ! ?

    Windows 7 Ultimate 64

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  2. Anonymous
    2010-12-18T20:52:40+00:00

    Ronnie,

    It's a mystery why I can drag-and-drop executables into the start menu but not shortcuts. It's a mystery why the 'New' context menu only has 'Folder' available - no shortcuts? It's a mystery why people keep suggesting the "Pin to start menu" as a replacement for editing the shortcuts in the "All Programs" list. It's a mystery how you can call these idiosyncrasies "full support"

    Why can't I simply open Explorer, navigate to the target Start Menu folder, then right-click-drag my executable into the folder and pick 'Create new shortcut here..." ? ! ?

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  3. Anonymous
    2010-12-14T17:26:34+00:00

    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?

    So you can drag a FOLDER to the Start Menu but not a file? This certainly seems to be the case, which makes no sense. I can NOT drag a shortcut to the Start Menu for an Excel Spreadsheet I use daily, but if I put that same shortcut in a folder I can. I have no "pin to start menu" options when I right-click either the program file or its shortcut, so that is not an option. Always could drag/drop w/XP, but I can't anymore...

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