Along with the already present shortcuts, you can add your own shortcut to the Win + X menu. Let me show you how.
Back in Windows 8, Microsoft introduced a new menu for ease of use. The said menu is called the Power User Menu or the Quick Links menu. It can be launched by pressing Win + X keyboard shortcut or by right-clicking on the start menu. By default, the menu is divided into three groups starting at the bottom. Each group houses some much-needed shortcuts. Some of them include but not limited to the Task Manager, Power Options, Apps & Features, PowerShell, Device Manager, System, etc.
Other than the included shortcuts, you can add your own items to the Win + X menu. For instance, if there is a program that you access frequently, you can add it to the power user menu to launch it quickly. In fact, you can even create a custom group for your own shortcuts or remove the already existing shortcuts.
Related: How to add quick launch toolbar on taskbar in Windows
So, without further ado, let me show how you can add custom shortcuts to the Win + X power user menu.
Edit or Add Custom Shortcut to Win + X Menu
To add a custom shortcut to the Win + X menu, you cannot simply create a shortcut in the appropriate folder. That’s because the menu requires a hash link for every shortcut. So, to make things easier, we are going to use a free third-party program called Win + X Menu Editor.
1. First, download the software and extract the contents of the ZIP file to a folder on your desktop. Next, open the extracted folder and double-click on the .exe file.
2. The above action will open the application. As I said before, the Win + X menu is divided into three groups. You can see those groups in the main window.
3. To add a new shortcut item, first, select the Group folder and then click on the “Add a program” option on the top navigation bar. In my case, I want to add a shortcut to the Group3 folder. So, I selected that folder.
4. The above action will open the application picker window. Find the .exe file of your favorite application and click on the “Open” button.
5. Type a name for the shortcut and click on the “Ok” button.
6. After adding the shortcut, you need to restart Explorer to apply the changes. Click on the “Restart Explorer” button at the bottom right corner.
That is it. You’ve successfully added a new shortcut to the Win + X menu. If you now open the power user menu, you will see the new shortcut. Following the same procedure, you can add as many shortcuts as you want.
Additionally, you can also create custom groups too. To do that, click on the “Create a group” option on the top navigation bar.
Remove Shortcut from Win + X Menu
Just as you can add shortcuts to the Win + X menu, you can remove them too. To do that, simply select the shortcut or group you want to delete and click on the “Remove” button.
That is it.
Wrapping Up
As you can see, it is pretty easy to edit Win + X menu in Windows and add your own shortcuts or item.
Hope that helps. If you are stuck or need some help, comment below and I will try to help as much as possible. If you like this article, do check out how to backup start menu layout in Windows 10.
