Windows is no longer able to install applications onto the Start Menu.
Windows is no longer able to install applications onto the Start Menu.
I am using Windows 11 and it is up to date. A few months ago, Windows stopped letting me add programs to the Start Menu. When I install an app—either through the Windows Store or a standalone installer—the app will install and a desktop icon will appear, but no Start Menu icon shows up. If I search for the app in the Start Menu, it won’t show up either, nor will it appear in the list of apps at the bottom of the menu. For regular standalone apps that create a desktop icon, I simply open them from the desktop icon. For some apps that don’t use an installer, I can launch them by clicking directly on the executable file or making a shortcut on the desktop. However, for Windows Store apps, which don’t create an icon by default and don’t let you pin one to the taskbar or Start Menu unless they’ve been installed properly, I can’t run them after installing them, and I also can’t remove them from the Windows Store.
I have tried the following:
- Running SFC and DISM checks
- Making a shortcut in the Start Menu\Programs folder – older ones still show, but new ones won’t appear
- Right-clicking an executable and pinning it to Start – creates a shortcut in Programs too, but nothing shows up in the Start Menu. Doing this repeatedly generates multiple copies of the shortcut in the Program folder (e.g., TreeList, Treelist, etc.), yet nothing appears there
- I have no idea what might be happening. My only guess is that I’ve reached a limit on the number of entries in the Start Menu because I’ve installed many apps, and I don’t see any information about such a restriction or how to fix it.
Additionally, I can sometimes add progressive web apps—web-based apps you pin directly to the Start Menu or desktop from a browser—to the Start Menu normally. I have no idea what makes these special!
I’d rather not reinstall Windows unless that’s the only solution. Anyone have any ideas about what could be going on?
I can help with that request.
Creating a new user profile and verifying the start menu issue is possible.
Please share the screenshot link so I can review it.
There is just one account on my PC, which is my user account with admin rights. I understand Windows might have a separate admin account, but I don’t remember ever having that one before. Still, it seems like I do have admin privileges.
In this folder, I only have the older apps that were added to the start menu before they stopped working. For instance, Skype, which I installed a long time ago, is there, but the Windows Store version of Treesize, which I just installed, isn’t in the appsfolder and can’t be added to the start menu either. In the Windows Store, it shows it’s installed. Another case is when I also installed the standalone Treesize version, which created a desktop shortcut, but I tried to make a start menu shortcut too. The desktop shortcut worked and launched the app, but the start menu shortcut didn’t, and neither version of Treesize is in the appsfolder.
Run the command in PowerShell/terminal with admin rights. Then execute:
Code: Get-AppXPackage *WindowsStore* -AllUsers | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml"}
After that, reboot and attempt to install from MS Store now.
Well, after executing the command, the Store can now install apps as usual and add shortcuts or icons to the Start Menu. Still, some previously installed Windows store apps that weren’t fully installed—like the Treesize version mentioned earlier—remain partially installed with no shortcuts. The Windows search doesn’t show them, and they can’t be removed through the Store. This is just a small inconvenience since I don’t use many of those applications.
The bigger issue is standalone apps and shortcuts. Even though I have many of them, including creating shortcuts to specific locations for organization, they still won’t pin to the Start Menu. For instance, the Treesize standalone version works when double-clicked, but when trying to pin it, it generates a duplicate shortcut in the correct directory, yet it doesn’t appear in the Start Menu or can’t be searched. If I repeat the process, it keeps creating multiple copies (e.g., Treesize 1, Treesize 2), but never lands on the Start Menu. This also affects folder location shortcuts, like when a shortcut to my user directory is pinned.
Is there anything I could do to resolve this bothersome situation? Thanks again.