I’m one of those guys that like to use portable apps. For the sole reason that I don’t have to install a portable app to use it. This is a really good thing. However, one of the problems you might face when using portable apps is that you will not be able to access them via the start menu. To rectify that, you can manually add application shortcut to start menu on Windows. It is easy, let me show you how.
Just as you can add portable apps to Windows startup, you can also add app shortcuts to the start menu. All you have to do is create a shortcut and place it in the Start Menu folder. Follow the below steps and you will have the app appear in the Start Menu in no time.
Note: The procedure shown below works on Windows 7 and 8 too.
Where Is the Start Menu Folder
Like I said, if you want an app to appear in the start menu, you need to add the app shortcut to start menu. More specifically, to the Programs folder inside the Start Menu folder. Now, you might be wonder where the start menu folder is located.
The start menu folder is located in the below location. Replace <username> with your actual username.
C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\
You might be thinking that the folder is buried deep. That’s true. Moreover, unless you are regularly using it, the folder path is hard to remember. So, as an alternative, you can use shell:start menu run command.
Add App Shortcuts to Start Menu Folder
To add apps to start menu, we first need to create a shortcut and then copy that shortcut to the start menu folder.
1. First, find EXE file of the application which you want to add to the start menu.
2. Next, we need to create a shortcut for that EXE file. That is easy. Hold down the Alt key and drag and drop the EXE file in the same folder. This action will instantly create a shortcut for that application.
3. If you want to, rename the shortcut and remove “.exe – shortcut” from the name. Next, copy the newly created shortcut.
4. Now, open the run dialog box with Win + R, type shell:start menu in the blank field, and click on the Ok button.
5. This action will open the start menu folder. In the start menu folder, find and go to the Programs folder.
6. Paste the shortcut you copied earlier using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + V.
That is it. You are done adding the app to the start menu. If you try to search for the application, you should see it in the start menu search results.
Additionally, you can also see it in the app list. Just scroll down to the alphabet sequence and you should see the newly added application.
If you don’t see the app in the start menu even after manually adding it to the start menu folder, just give it a few more minutes. It can take some time to index new files. If you want to, you can also enable enhanced indexing mode to speed up and enhance Windows indexing.
That is all. It is that simple to add application to start menu in Windows. Comment below if you face any problems or just to share your thoughts.
