Accounts for Windows 10
Accounts for Windows 10
Hello everyone, I have a question about accounts on Windows 10. When I create an account, does the setup process show icons of software and games already installed on the desktop? If I remove them, do they disappear from my main account as well? I can restore them later, but when I do, the icon thumbnails appear blank. This is confusing and I’m not sure how to fix it. My main accounts are local, and I don’t link them with my email or Windows login. I’ve tried both creating accounts locally and online, but the issue persists. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
They are set up for individual user accounts. Removing them won’t delete them entirely. These are Universal Windows Platform applications (UWP), and all the related software in the Store app on Windows 10 runs under a per-user account. The entire Store consists of UWP apps. They’re stored in a location that’s usually not reachable. How did you manage a backup? You can’t simply copy them over and restore; you must configure specific registry entries.
I tried to restore the system to bring everything back to how it was before. It seems like something unusual is happening, especially since removing software or game shortcuts on others' accounts can affect my desktop icons too. This is really confusing!
I see what you mean. A Win32 application can generate start menu shortcuts for either a single user or all users. This explains why you sometimes notice two options: one showing shortcuts for the current user only, and another displaying them for everyone. The Start Menu consolidates these files into two locations—C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu and C:\Users\<NAME>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu. Removing a shortcut in the first path affects all users, while deleting it from the second path only removes it for you. To move a shortcut from the shared folder to your personal account, you’ll need higher privileges. After relocating, only you will see the program in the Start Menu; others must navigate through File Explorer to access and run it, unless permissions are adjusted to restrict others.