Customizing contents of "All Programs"

Using "Modern Stylel"

QUESTION IN BRIEF: Can anybody tell me where Start11 stores the contents of what it is displaying under "All Programs" when using the "Modern style" start menu? It's not where Windows traditionally stores what it used to display when one clicked the "Start" icon.

QUESTION WITH DETAILS:

I'm a brand-new user though a senior software developer of many decades and therefore not an idiot. Nevertheless, I have an initial question: I see that "All Programs" contains (among other things) the contents of the "Start Menu" folder (which Windows 11 does not directly use but nevertheless maintains). This is the set of folders and sub folders which used to appear in Windows 7 and earlier when one clicked the "Start" icon on the lower left of the screen. At first glance, the other stuff which is being displayed by Start11 would seem to be programs which were not placed into an appropriate subfolder by their installers. This is pretty messy, honestly, and makes "All Programs" not all that useful, in my opinion. One has to scroll down quite a bit to get to the folder contained in "Start Menu".

I would like to be seeing ONLY what is in "Start Menu" under what Start11 displays as "All Programs". I would prefer that all the single programs being displayed in the root of "All Programs" be organized, as appropriate in subfolders. Under Windows 7 and earlier, one could simply drag-and-drop programs and folders after clicking the start icon, or alternately go to where "Start Menu" is stored, and alter it directly. But, near as I can tell, there is no way to directly modify what is being displayed under "All Programs" by Start 11. "Start Menu" is stored at: "C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu". But modifying the contents of this folder is NOT reflected in what is seen when one clicks "All Programs" under Start11's "Modern style" start menu.

Can anybody tell me where the contents of what Start11 is displaying under "All Programs" when using the "Modern style" start menu? Or otherwise how to modify the contents of what is being displayed under "All Programs"? Many thanks!

+1 Karma

Advanced Search

Watch this post

Do not email me updates for this post Email me updates for this post

Successfully updated karma reason!

john_markos

If I am not mistaken, "C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu," contains item shortcuts that are only installed for a specific user.

Where as "C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs," is where most apps install their program shortcuts for all users. Making changes in this folder does change the Start11, All Apps menu. I tested this by creating a New Folder and dragging a few items into that folder, which was then reflected in the All Apps menu.

Also, you can hide apps from the All Apps menu by right clicking on an app in the All Apps menu and select "More>Hide from apps."

In addition, to avoid scrolling the All Apps menu, you can click a alpha divider letter, which will bring up a rolodex list, where you can select the letter of the app for which you are looking.

I'm sure their are other solutions, and maybe someone else can guide you to the solution to your query.