Question on Start > All Programs

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I have my frequently used programs/apps in the Start menu, but when select “All Programs” why does it only show me a limited number of programs and not all programs that are installed on my PC (i.e. MS Office 2016, Acrobat Adobe, Firefox, Notepad++, etc.)??

Microsoft’s suggestion was go to “”C:\Program Data\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs” and create a shortcut to put in the Start menu > All Programs.

What is point of “All Programs” if it doesn’t have All Programs listed in it??  I couldn’t find anywhere in Settings > Personalization when I looked.

Am I missing something here or is this how Windows 10 is supposed to be?

Thanks

Custom Build - Intel i5 9400 5 Core CPU & ASUS TUF Z390 Plus Motherboard Windows 10 Home Version 22H2
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All Programs is not a standard part of the Windows 10 Start menu.

Any shortcuts in C:\Program Data\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs or C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs appear in the alphabetical apps list:

Scroll down the app list to see all apps and programs alphabetically
See what’s on the Start menu

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anonymous wrote:

All Programs is not a standard part of the Windows 10 Start menu.

Any shortcuts in C:\Program Data\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs or C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs appear in the alphabetical apps list:

Scroll down the app list to see all apps and programs alphabetically
See what’s on the Start menu

OK – so anything in the directories:

C:\Program Files (x86) or C:\Program Files

will not appear in the Start Menu because they aren’t in C:\Program Data\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs or C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs

Does anyone know of a handy program available that will look in all 4 places and show what you have installed on your entire PC?

 

Custom Build - Intel i5 9400 5 Core CPU & ASUS TUF Z390 Plus Motherboard Windows 10 Home Version 22H2
Dell Laptop - Inspiron 15 11th Generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-1135G7 Windows 11 Home Version 24H2

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To see installed programs:

Control Panel > Programs > Programs and Features

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Open Shell Menu (previously Classic Shell)

Stardock Start10.

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blueboy714

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PKCano wrote:

Open Shell Menu (previously Classic Shell)

Stardock Start10.

PKCano – I am using Classic Menu and still not seeing what is in C:\Program Files (x86) or C:\Program Files.  Do I have to change something in “Basic Settings” or “Customize Start Menu”?  I currently just have it on default settings.

Custom Build - Intel i5 9400 5 Core CPU & ASUS TUF Z390 Plus Motherboard Windows 10 Home Version 22H2
Dell Laptop - Inspiron 15 11th Generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-1135G7 Windows 11 Home Version 24H2

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This is what my Classic Shell looks like. The link above is to the latest version. What shows is on the settings screenshot.

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Elly

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Often, when installing new software we are asked whether we want to add a listing (icon, folder) for the software in the Start menu. This indicates that the process of adding a listing to the Start menu is not automatic, but needs to be initiated somehow, either by the user or by the installation program.

My guess is that many (if not all) of the programs that you have installed, but are not seeing in the Start menu, neglected to ask you during installation if you wanted them to be listed there. It’s happened to me a number of times. I’ve also missed a checkbox to add the Start menu icon and so ended up with no icon there.

 

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Make Windows 10 look and work like Windows 7

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Elly

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All of my installed programs show up in the start menu list

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[blueboy714]

I found the answer – my  “C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu” directory was set as hidden.  As soon as I turned the “hidden” off in the properties everything popped up.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/2603415/how-to-recover-the-programs-disappeared-from-the-all-programs-of-the-s

This is the first time in years that I have found something useful on Microsoft’s support before I found it documented or solved elsewhere.

Custom Build - Intel i5 9400 5 Core CPU & ASUS TUF Z390 Plus Motherboard Windows 10 Home Version 22H2
Dell Laptop - Inspiron 15 11th Generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-1135G7 Windows 11 Home Version 24H2

• This reply was modified 4 years, 9 months ago by blueboy714.

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I use the standard Windows 10 Start Menu and found that:

All the 64-bit Start Menu program links are here:
C:\Users\-your name-\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs

All the 32-bit Start Menu program links are here:
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs

At the two locations above you can add, delete, or edit the links to your heart’s content.

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wavy

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