Backup and Restore Backup and Restore Pinned Items on Start Menu in Windows 11


Pin_to_Start_banner.png

This tutorial will show you how to back up and restore all pinned items on your Start menu in Windows 11.

The Start menu is comprised of three sections: Pinned, All apps, and Recommended.

The section at the top of the Start menu is called the Pinned section. This section consists of pins arranged in a grid. The items in this section are a subset of all the apps installed on the PC; not all installed apps are included in this section by default. The number of rows and items in this view are consistent across device panel sizes.

If you like, you can back up pinned items on the Start menu for any account, and restore the pinned items to the Start menu for any account.

The options in this tutorial no longer work in Windows 11 version 24H2+.



Contents



EXAMPLE: Pinned items on Start menu

Pinned_on_Start.jpg





Option One

Backup Pinned Items on Start Menu


1 Open File Explorer (Win+E).

2 Type the path below you want to use into the address bar of File Explorer, and press Enter. (see screenshot below)

(current user)
%LocalAppData%\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.StartMenuExperienceHost_cw5n1h2txyewy\LocalState

OR

(specific user - requires to be signed in as administrator)
C:\Users\<user profile folder name>\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.StartMenuExperienceHost_cw5n1h2txyewy\LocalState

Substitute <user profile folder name> in the path above with the actual user profile folder name (ex: "Brink") for the account you want.

For example: C:\Users\Brink\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.StartMenuExperienceHost_cw5n1h2txyewy\LocalState


3 Copy (Ctrl+C) the start.bin or start2.bin (22H2+) file.

4 Paste (Ctrl+V) the start.bin or start2.bin (22H2+) file to where you want to save it as a backup.

5 You can now close File Explorer if you like.

start.bin.png





Option Two

Restore Pinned Items on Start Menu


This option requires a backup of the start.bin file from Option One.


1 Open File Explorer (Win+E).

2 Type the path below you want to use into the address bar of File Explorer, and press Enter. (see screenshot below)

(current user)
%LocalAppData%\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.StartMenuExperienceHost_cw5n1h2txyewy\LocalState

OR

(specific user - requires to be signed in as administrator)
C:\Users\<user profile folder name>\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.StartMenuExperienceHost_cw5n1h2txyewy\LocalState

Substitute <user profile folder name> in the path above with the actual user profile folder name (ex: "Brink") for the account you want.

For example: C:\Users\Brink\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.StartMenuExperienceHost_cw5n1h2txyewy\LocalState


3 Delete (Ctrl+D) the start.bin or start2.bin (22H2+) file from this folder location in step 2.

4 Copy (Ctrl+C) the backup start.bin or start2.bin (22H2+) file from its location you saved it to from Option One.

5 Paste (Ctrl+V) the backup start.bin or start2.bin (22H2+) file to this folder location in step 2.

6 If this is for the current account, restart the Start menu process to apply.

7 You can now close File Explorer if you like.

start.bin.png



That's it,
Shawn Brink


Related Tutorials

 
Last edited:
Click to expand...
BrianB said:
So with Win11 24H2 out, all these backup methods do not work. Can pinned items still be backed up on this version?
Click to expand...
Yes.
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 11 Pro 25H2 (Build 26200.9267)Intel Core Ultra 9 285 5.6 GHz32.00 GBIntel Integrated Graphics (128 MB)
OS
Windows 11 Pro 25H2 (Build 26200.9267)
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Manufacturer/Model
Dell Pro Max Tower T2 FCT2250
CPU
Intel Core Ultra 9 285 5.6 GHz
Motherboard
64-bit operating system, x64-based processor
Memory
32.00 GB
Graphics Card(s)
Intel Integrated Graphics (128 MB)
Sound Card
Realtek Audio
Monitor(s) Displays
Dell P2714H Monitor
Screen Resolution
1920 x 1080
Hard Drives
1 x 512GB M.2 XG10d SED KIOXIA PCIe solid state drive (Internal)
1 x 2TB Seagate ST2000DM008-2UB102 HDD (Internal)
1 x 4TB Seagate STGX4000400 External HDD
1 x 6TB WD Elements AE 2689 External HDD
PSU
500 Watts
Cooling
Air
Keyboard
Microsoft Wired Keyboard 600
Mouse
Microsoft USB Basic Optical Mouse v2.0
Browser
Firefox
Antivirus
Windows Defender + Malwarebytes Premium
Other Info
BaseBoard Manufacturer Dell Inc.
BaseBoard Product 022RY57
BaseBoard Version A01
W11's Start Menu layout is preserved in Start.bin (21H2) or Start2.bin (22H2 thru 24H2). This is a binary file, which cannot be edited because it's specially encoded.

The layout only saves which links are pinned. There are no icons included, when the referenced links are read then any associated program icons are fetched. If any pinned app has been removed, you get a broken icon. Start2.bin is a different file because 22H2 and later allow you to create Start Menu icon groups. Whenever a Start.bin file is imported, it's converted to Start2.bin format by 22H2 and later.

If you're currently logged on, Start2.bin cannot be replaced because it's locked in use by StartMenuExperienceHost. The file can be directly overwritten for any user who isn't logged in. To restore it for a live user, you must task killl StartMenuExperienceHost before swapping the file. Afterwards, you can restart StartMenuExperienceHost. @Brink covered that in this tutorial's instructions.
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 7
OS
Windows 7
Thanks Garlin, I want to say that I did not have any files in the LocalState when I copied it over and the PC was restarted. but I will run my process again and check.
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 11 23H212th Gen i5-1250016gbIntel UHD 770
OS
Windows 11 23H2
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Manufacturer/Model
HPZ2G9
CPU
12th Gen i5-12500
Motherboard
HP
Memory
16gb
Graphics Card(s)
Intel UHD 770
Sound Card
Realtek High Def
Monitor(s) Displays
ViewSonic
Screen Resolution
1920x1080
Hard Drives
NVMe WD PC SN810 SDCPNRY-512G-1006
Case
Pavilion
So replacing startup2.bin does indeed work for 24H2 still. The process I had in place had some adjustments to be made.
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 11 23H212th Gen i5-1250016gbIntel UHD 770
OS
Windows 11 23H2
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Manufacturer/Model
HPZ2G9
CPU
12th Gen i5-12500
Motherboard
HP
Memory
16gb
Graphics Card(s)
Intel UHD 770
Sound Card
Realtek High Def
Monitor(s) Displays
ViewSonic
Screen Resolution
1920x1080
Hard Drives
NVMe WD PC SN810 SDCPNRY-512G-1006
Case
Pavilion
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