Adding shortcuts to All Apps.

davesurrey · Jan 16, 2024

@Edwin...yes I am signed in as Admin
@trumpy81... yes I thought that too so rebooted...but still the same issue.
My bed is calling...tomorrow I'll check on another PC with these apps.
Dave

davesurrey · Jan 17, 2024

Well I had another look after a good night’s sleep.

Seems to be 3 out of 6 apps from just one company (Topaz LLC) don’t play ball ie they won’t place a shortcut into the Start>All Apps menu.

Tried it on another PC with Win 11 and same problem.

Uninstalled and reinstalled again and same problem.

They do install a shortcut in the Pinned section of Apps so I’ll leave it at that.

Interesting (to me at least) the installers asks where I want to place the shortcut and gives me the choice of desktop and/or Start menu. Ticking the Start Menu box just puts it in the pinned section and nothing I can do (see all suggestions above) puts it into the Start>All Apps menu.

I did find this Add or Remove Items in All apps in Windows 11 Start menu Tutorial
where one poster was also having troubles as I am.

I guess that it does depend on how the coder has written the app.

I’ll leave it at that but thanks to all those offered suggestions.

Edwin · Jan 17, 2024

davesurrey said:
I guess that it does depend on how the coder has written the app.

Ouch! That's a huge msi, almost a gig!!!

davesurrey · Jan 17, 2024

@Edwin.
Nope, the Topaz Sharpen exe file is 3.9GB !

Edwin · Jan 17, 2024

davesurrey · Jan 17, 2024

Yes as I mentioned above 3 out of 6 files (from Topaz) work ok, including Photo Ai.
It's Sharpen deNoise and Mask that don't.
Give it a try if you wish and see if it works for you.

Wynona · Jan 17, 2024

davesurrey said:
Yes most of mine do the same as you say. But...not ALL have done that.
Yes I can pin them to the Start but as I mentioned above I want to pin them to the All Apps list. That's my query...how do I fix them there eg Topaz Photo Ai.

Which apps are you trying to pin? The reason I'm asking is that not everything will pin to All Apps.

As an example, I have Copilot showing up on my taskbar without my having put it there. If I look for it in All Apps, it's not there. The same with Widgets . . . it's not there in the All Apps list, but shows up on the Taskbar without my having put it there. Same thing with New Desktop.

davesurrey · Jan 17, 2024

@Wyona,
Topaz Sharpen AI
Topaz deNoise AI
Topaz Mask

Others like:
Topaz Photo Ai
Topaz Gigapixel Ai
Topaz JPEG to Raw place the shortcut in Start>All Apps

Beware these are large files if you want to download them and try.
I'm coming to the same inevitable conclusion that the Start Menu isn't the finest thing to come out of Redmond.

Wynona · Jan 17, 2024

davesurrey said:
@Wyona,
Topaz Sharpen AI
Topaz deNoise AI
Topaz Mask

Others like:
Topaz Photo Ai
Topaz Gigapixel Ai
Topaz JPEG to Raw place the shortcut in Start>All Apps

Beware these are large files if you want to download them and try.
I'm coming to the same inevitable conclusion that the Start Menu isn't the finest thing to come out of Redmond

Which ones won't show up in All Apps? I'm thinking they work as a companion and need the actual app installed to work.

IOW, it looks to me like Sharpen AI, etc. work with Photo AI; thus, aren't complete apps themselves but need Photo AI to work.

Edwin · Jan 17, 2024

Basically, I copied and pasted the shortcuts from the folders, then hid the folders themselves...

davesurrey · Jan 17, 2024

@Wynona
No that's completely wrong. They are and always have been totally separate apps.
If you read what I wrote it should be clear which ones work and which don't.

davesurrey · Jan 17, 2024

@Edwin,
Great so you got Sharpen to show up.
Photo Ai worked as it should with me so no issue there.
Can you please be a little clearer which folders you used to cut and paste from.
Thanks

Edwin · Jan 17, 2024

davesurrey said:
Can you please be a little clearer which folders you used to cut and paste from.

The 2 shortcuts, circled in red, were copied from the folders circled in blue.
This took place in: C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs

rick99 · Jan 17, 2024

davesurrey said:
Well I had another look after a good night’s sleep.

Seems to be 3 out of 6 apps from just one company (Topaz LLC) don’t play ball ie they won’t place a shortcut into the Start>All Apps menu.

Tried it on another PC with Win 11 and same problem.

Uninstalled and reinstalled again and same problem.

They do install a shortcut in the Pinned section of Apps so I’ll leave it at that.

Interesting (to me at least) the installers asks where I want to place the shortcut and gives me the choice of desktop and/or Start menu. Ticking the Start Menu box just puts it in the pinned section and nothing I can do (see all suggestions above) puts it into the Start>All Apps menu.

I did find this Add or Remove Items in All apps in Windows 11 Start menu Tutorial
where one poster was also having troubles as I am.

I guess that it does depend on how the coder has written the app.

I’ll leave it at that but thanks to all those offered suggestions.

I had a similar issue and posted in the above linked tutorial. The shortcuts that were not showing were ones that I had previously pinned to the Start menu. I unpinned them all and they became visible in All Apps. Then I re-pinned them to the Start menu and now they are in both places. Did you try unpinning the ones that were pinned by the installer to see if they become visible in the All Apps list?

davesurrey · Jan 17, 2024

@rick99
Yes I saw your post and tried several things such as rebooting (just in case), unpinning etc but no joy.
I have now got it working but to say it's been a slog is the polite way of putting it.
Not helped that I spotted that there were 2 different exe files to launch one of the apps and the desktop links to one version and the Start menu only worked with the other!!! Not impressed.

davesurrey · Jan 17, 2024

@Edwin,
Thanks for the clarity Edwin but I had worked that out before your modified post.
I have it working now although it really shouldn't need such faffing about.
But I still don't know how you got it working with a shortcut to Sharpen Ai when I had to use a shortcut to Sharpen Ai External Editor and then rename it (although not strictly necessary.)