How to set All Users Start Menu the ONLY start menu for Windows 10 (and 11)?

Question

How to set All Users Start Menu the ONLY start menu for Windows 10 (and 11)?

TweakingTim-5388 0

An easy registry tweak (I first discovered in X-Setup) existed for XP (and all prior WIndows OSes) to make the All Users Start Menu the ONLY start menu (so all programs installed shortcuts to it, all users see and use it, etc): Is there an easy way to do that for Windows 10 (and 11)?

TweakingTim-5388 0 Reputation points

2024-06-19T23:51:16.56+00:00
I want ALL start menus, irrespective of user to be this (and all programs to install their shortcuts to this, so all relevant registry entries must point to this):

C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs

I do NOT want any of the above to use this:

C:\Users<User>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs

The X-Setup program literally made it as easy as one checkbox to render this setting! Now, all I can find is obtuse methods to employ XML and Powershell to render the start menu layout static (as well as Group Policy settings to prevent user changes to the start menu).
S.Sengupta 24,636 Reputation points MVP

2024-06-20T00:42:42.2066667+00:00

There is no built-in registry tweak or setting in Windows 10 or 11 to force all programs to install shortcuts to the All Users Start Menu and make it the only Start Menu used by all user accounts.

In newer Windows versions, Microsoft has moved away from the shared All Users Start Menu model towards each user having their own personalized Start Menu and app layout.