Removing Start Menu shortcut for a single program Windows 10

Question

I would like to know how we could remove a single start menu shortcut for ex: excel or adobe using Powershell script for all users.

I want to deploy this through Group Policy or configuration policy using Azure. How can I do it?

Answer 1

Hi,

Did you check Group Policy Preferences > It should help in removing items

group-policy-shortcut-extensions-ie11

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Answer 2

Hello there,

I found the below script which helps in removing invalid shortcuts for users.

Function Remove-InvalidStartMenuItem {
$WshShell = New-Object -comObject WScript.Shell
$Files = Get-ChildItem -Path "C:\Users\$env:USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs" -Filter *.lnk -Recurse
foreach ($File in $Files) {
$FilePath = $File.FullName
$Shortcut = $WshShell.CreateShortcut($FilePath)
$Target = $Shortcut.TargetPath
if (Test-Path -Path $Target) {
Write-Output "Valid: $($File.BaseName)"
} else {
Write-Output "Invalid: $($File.BaseName) removed."
try {
Remove-Item -Path $FilePath
Write-Output "Removed: $($File.BaseName) removed."
} catch {
Write-Output "ERROR: $($File.BaseName) not removed."
}
}
}
}

The below thread discusses the same issue and you can try out some troubleshooting steps from this and see if that helps you to sort the Issue.

https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windowsserver/en-US/12028406-63c9-47c0-9080-bbfd50352eed/removing-shortcuts-from-desktop-amp-start-menu-using-gpo?forum=winserverGP

https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/f28d1e03-d059-4c74-b328-155ff33901f4/how-do-i-delete-shortcuts-on-my-deskptop-using-powershell-scripting?forum=ITCG

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