How to remove multiple icons from the Windows 11 start menu

Question

I need to setup laptops all the time and would like to have a quick way to remove most of the icons that appear in every user account by default (Spotify, WhatsApp, etc). I would be better off if I could remove all of them then add the few that I want there. Years ago there used to be a "default" folder you could do this in. These are all members of an on prem domain.

Any tips, registry mods, powershell scripts, group policy appreciated

Answer 1

You can do it by creating a JSON file or with Intune policy the link below explains both methods very well

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/configuration/customize-start-menu-layout-windows-11

Answer 2

Hello there,

You can deploy a customized Start layout to your Windows 11 devices. Customizing the Start layout is common when you have similar devices used by many users, or you want to pin specific apps.

You can override the default set of apps with your own set of pinned apps, and in the order you choose https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/configuration/customize-start-menu-layout-windows-11

In the script below, a function is defined named UnPin-App that unpins a pinned app on the taskbar whose name is passed as parameter.

function UnPin-App { param(
        [string]$appname
    )
    try {
        ((New-Object -Com Shell.Application).NameSpace('shell:::{4234d49b-0245-4df3-b780-3893943456e1}').Items() | ?{$_.Name -eq $appname}).Verbs() | ?{$_.Name.replace('&','') -match 'Unpin from taskbar'} | %{$_.DoIt()}
        return "App '$appname' unpinned from Taskbar"
    } catch {
        Write-Error "Error Unpinning App! (App-Name correct?)"
    }
}

UnPin-App "Registry Editor"

stop-process -name explorer –force

Hope this resolves your Query !!

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