Is this really a limitation for win10? Obviously apps can be pinned as tiles, but it's impossible to pin them to the left area? It seems that only a select list of folders can be pinned there, but not apps, or any personal folders. You're stuck with some automated process to determine which apps appear and which don't (recently used, most used etc..). That's useless if an app doesn't fall into those categories.
Coming from win7, this is extremely dissappointing. It seems the new windows start menu is all about showy tiles, and seriously lacking in function. I guess folks were so used to win8, that any improvement was seen as a revolution.
Am I missing something here?
- Is there some way to remove all those "NEW" signs beside all the apps in the All Apps directory?
- Any way of narrowing the widith of the tile panel? I mean the height can be changed but not the width? I have a narrow strip of small tiles within a massive panel. If I remove all of them it dissappears, but can't simply decrease the width?
Hello sleepless,
You might see if the tutorial below may be able to help add shortcuts of apps in the All Apps area of your Start menu.
All apps in Start menu - Add or Remove Items in Windows 10
Yeah, that's for the All Apps area, which is a directory. It's not an area for shortcuts. It's meant to list ALL of your apps. In windows7 there is that option, plus you can pin shortcuts to the menu. In win10 it seems you can't.
There's no option built-in to Windows 10 for that. Instead, there's an option to add or remove default folders like in the tutorial below.
Start List - Add or Remove Folders in Windows 10
However, you could then use the tutorial below to customize an added folder to be any folder you want instead.
Start List Folders - Customize in Windows 10
Another option would be to use a 3rd party program like the free Classic Shell to customize your Start menu with.
Unfortunately that has nothing to do with what I was asking. That tutorial is simply for renaming those folders, which is useless to me. Any folder is easy enough to access through explorer. Apps however, are not. All I wanted was to be able to have a shortcut in the start menu. I'm completely dumbfounded that a simple shortcut can't be pinned in the start menu. It's either navigate through a system of blocks/tiles, or search through the directory.
I mean, this is a screenshot of my menu. It's 90% BLANK! That's just completely ridiculous.
OPTION ONE is to rename the folder in All Apps. OPTION TWO allows you to change the target location.Unfortunately that has nothing to do with what I was asking. That tutorial is simply for renaming those folders, which is useless to me. Any folder is easy enough to access through explorer. Apps however, are not. All I wanted was to be able to have a shortcut in the start menu. I'm completely dumbfounded that a simple shortcut can't be pinned in the start menu. It's either navigate through a system of blocks/tiles, or search through the directory.
Start List Folders - Customize in Windows 10
That's not normal. You may need to do a repair install to fix that without losing anything.I mean, this is a screenshot of my menu. It's 90% BLANK! That's just completely ridiculous.
Repair Install Windows 10 with an In-place Upgrade
I'm afraid that IS normal. I could fill up the space with useless "recent apps", but because I don't want those, I'm left with empty space. Windows10 doesn't allow users to place app shortcuts there. Same thing with the massive tile panel. Because I don't want to navigate my apps using a maze of blocks, I'm left with a mass of empty space, as win10 doesn't seem to allow for reducing the width of the panel (only height). I think I'll be RUNNING back to Win7. What an awful first experience. I really thought this was going to be an improvement.
Also, I appreciate your replies, but please stop telling me about adding folders to the menu. That may be someone elses concern, but I never brought that up. I started the thread with the hopes of gaining insight about APPLICATION SHORTCUTS in the menu. As I said, if I want to browse folders, I'll use explorer. I use the menu for gaining access to apps, which again, is only possible using the tiles/blocks, or the app directory.
I think I've read over 10 "tutorials" now:
"Hey look, you can change the colors"
"It's cool, you can move the blocks"
Unbelievable.
