Question Windows can't add apps to Start Menu anymore

[Minaz]

I have Windows 11 and it is updated. A couple of months back, Windows stopped allowing me to add programs to the Start Menu. If I install an app, either through the Windows store or a standalone installer, the app will install, and a desktop icon will be generated, but no Start Menu icon will appear. If I were to search for the app using the Start Menu search, it will not appear, nor will it be listed in the Start Menu complete list of apps drop down. For regular standalone apps that create a desktop icon, I have resorted to just launching from the desktop icon. For some apps that don't use an installer, I can launch them by directly clicking on the executable file or creating a shortcut on the desktop. But for Windows Store apps, since they do not create an icon by default, and won't give you the option to pin one to the taskbar/start menu unless it detects it has been successfully installed, I simply can't find a way to run them after installing them, yet I also cannot uninstall them from the Windows store.

I have tried the following:
- SFC and DISM checks
- creating a shortcut in the Start Menu\Programs folder - the older ones (before the issue) still appear in the Start Menu but any new shortcuts I create in that folder won't show up
- if I right click an executable and pin to start, it will create a shortcut in the Programs folder as well, but again nothing will appear in the Start Menu. If I do this multiple times, multiple copies of the shortcut will be created in the Program folder (e.g. TreeList (1), Treelist (2), Treelist (3), etc...) but nothing will appear in the Start Menu

I have no idea what could be going on. My only suspicion could be that I have hit some sort of limit to the maximum number of entries in the Start Menu as I have installed a very large number of apps on my PC (trust me it's a lot), but I have not found any reference to such a limit or how to fix it if that is the case.

One other thing: I am sometimes able to add progressive web apps (the applets that you can pin directly to your start menu/desktop from a web browser) to the Start Menu as normal even though nothing else would. No clue what makes these special!

I would rather not reinstall Windows unless that is the best and only way to solve the problem.

Does anyone have a clue what might be going on?

 

[helpstar]

did you run dism with online image repair?

 

[Minaz]

Yes, it found no errors.

 

[PallaviTechGeek]

Did you try signing with admin account?

 

[SkyNetRising]

Does anyone have a clue what might be going on?

Create a new user profile and check if start menu issue is there too.

Can you show a screenshot of your start menu?
(upload to imgur.com and post link)

 

[kerberos_20]

press win +r and type "shell:appsfolder"
this is the folder for ms store apps shortcuts, confirm that ms store apps have shortcut there

 

[Minaz]

Yes, there is only one account on my PC, which is my user account with admin privileges. I know that Windows can have a seperate account for admin (called admin) but I never recall having that. Anyway, I do seem to have admin privileges.

 

[Minaz]

press win +r and type "shell:appsfolder"
this is the folder for ms store apps shortcuts, confirm that ms store apps have shortcut there

In this folder, I have only the older apps which were successfully added to the start menu, before the functionality broke. For example, Skype which I had installed a long time ago is in there, but Windows Store version of Treesize, which I had recently installed, is not in the appsfolder and also could not be added to the start menu. In the Windows Store however, it says it is installed. As another example, I also installed the standalone version of Treesize, which created the desktop shortcut/icon, and attempted to also create the start menu shortcut/icon. The desktop shortcut was successfully created and launches the app successfully, but the start menu shortcut was not created, and neither version of Treesize is in the appsfolder.

 

[kerberos_20]

In this folder, I have only the older apps which were successfully added to the start menu, before the functionality broke. For example, Skype which I had installed a long time ago is in there, but Windows Store version of Treesize, which I had recently installed, is not in the appsfolder and also could not be added to the start menu. In the Windows Store however, it says it is installed. As another example, I also installed the standalone version of Treesize, which created the desktop shortcut/icon, and attempted to also create the start menu shortcut/icon. The desktop shortcut was successfully created and launches the app successfully, but the start menu shortcut was not created, and neither version of Treesize is in the appsfolder.

hmm, shortcuts should get added on its own once installed, try repairing ms store
open powershell/terminal as admin and type in:

Get-AppXPackage *WindowsStore* -AllUsers | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml"}

then reboot and try installing something from ms store now

 

[Minaz]

hmm, shortcuts should get added on its own once installed, try repairing ms store
open powershell/terminal as admin and type in:

Get-AppXPackage *WindowsStore* -AllUsers | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml"}

then reboot and try installing something from ms store now

Well, the good news is after running the above command, the Store is once again able to install apps normally AND add shortcuts/icons to the Start Menu. However, previously installed Windows store apps that didn't completely install (such as store version of Treesize mentioned earlier) are still in the hybrid zombie half-installed state with no shortcuts and Windows search not showing the app, and not able to uninstall through the store. However, that is a minor annoyance as I do not have many of those apps.

The major problem remaining is the standalone apps and shortcuts, of which I have many (I also create shortcuts to various locations that I pin to my Start Menu for organizational purposes) will still not pin to the Start Menu. So for example, I have Treesize standalone version installed and it runs fine by double clicking the desktop shortcut, but if I try to pin it to the Start Menu, it will create a copy of the shortcut in the \AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs as it is supposed to, but it will not appear in the Start Menu nor can it be searched. If I try to pin it multiple times, then it will just carry on creating shortcut copies, i.e. Treesize (1), Treesize (2), etc... but never pin to the Start Menu. This also applies to folder location shortcuts (e.g. I create a shortcut to my user directory and try to pin it to the Start Menu).

I don't suppose there is something I could try to fix this most annoying problem? Thanks again.

 

[kerberos_20]

if you add a shortcut to C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu, it seems to add the shortcut to the start menu search, and the ability to pin the "app" to the start menu

 

[Minaz]

if you add a shortcut to C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu, it seems to add the shortcut to the start menu search, and the ability to pin the "app" to the start menu

This is the functionality that I think is broken. For example, if I add a program shortcut (I just tried "SQLite 3" for instance) to C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu, it will not normally show up in the app search and if I try to pin it after that, it will (as usual) create a shortcut in \AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs but not create the Start Menu shortcut.