Help with Taskbar pinned apps after Sysprep (Windows 11 Pro 25H2)


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mateszkusz

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8:29 PM
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windows 11 25H2
Hi everyone,
I need some help with configuring the Start Menu and Taskbar in Windows 11 Pro (25H2).

Here’s what I’m doing:
  • I install Windows in audit mode
  • I add the applications I need
  • I place the unattend.xml into the Sysprep folder before capturing the image
So far, I’ve managed to configure the Start Menu layout using LayoutModification.json, and that works fine.

However, I’m having trouble with the Taskbar pinned apps. For example, if I pin Chrome or Word to the Taskbar, after running Sysprep and deploying the image, they don’t stay there.

I’ve checked the Microsoft documentation, but I couldn’t really figure it out. Could anyone please show me an example of how to configure the Taskbar pins properly and maybe explain the process a bit?


Thanks a lot in advance!
 
Windows Build/Version
Windows 11 Pro 25H2

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 11 25H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    ryzen 9
    Motherboard
    asus
    Memory
    32gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    rtx 4060
    Screen Resolution
    FullHD
    Hard Drives
    2x 1TB
    Internet Speed
    1Gb/s
    Browser
    Google Chrome
You may want to make a Windows 11 Image with nLite where you can customize it a lot easier then sysprep.

NTLite Features

Quick overview of the main NTLite features
www.ntlite.com
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro Insider 64 bit 25H2 26200.5742
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Gigabyte Z390 UD
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 9700K 3.60
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte Z390 UD
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    nVidia GEForce RTX 2060 Super
    Sound Card
    onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Two 27" Dell 4K monitors
    Screen Resolution
    3840 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    M.2 NVME SSD, 500 GB; Two 2TB Mechanical HDD's
    PSU
    850w PSU
    Case
    Cyberpower PC
    Cooling
    Water cooled
    Keyboard
    Backlit Cyberpower gaming keyboard
    Mouse
    Backlit Cyberpower gaming mouse
    Internet Speed
    1 GB mbps
    Browser
    Brave
    Antivirus
    Windows Security
Thanks for the tip! :)
Yeah, I know about NTLite, but I’m a bit old-school… I kinda enjoy doing it the “manual way” with audit mode, Sysprep, and unattend.xml.

I’ve already played around with TaskbarLayoutModification.xml, dropped it under C:\Users\Default\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Shell before running Sysprep, but after deployment the pins just don’t survive.

Should I actually be applying this through Group Policy or a provisioning package instead of unattend? Or is there some trick to make the TaskbarLayoutModification.xml “stick” after Sysprep?

Still hoping someone can share a working example or best practice for this — would really help a lot!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 11 25H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    ryzen 9
    Motherboard
    asus
    Memory
    32gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    rtx 4060
    Screen Resolution
    FullHD
    Hard Drives
    2x 1TB
    Internet Speed
    1Gb/s
    Browser
    Google Chrome
Hi, have you managed to solve the problem? I’ve been struggling unsuccessfully for two days.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win11
mateszkusz said:
Hi everyone,
I need some help with configuring the Start Menu and Taskbar in Windows 11 Pro (25H2).

Here’s what I’m doing:
  • I install Windows in audit mode
  • I add the applications I need
  • I place the unattend.xml into the Sysprep folder before capturing the image
So far, I’ve managed to configure the Start Menu layout using LayoutModification.json, and that works fine.

However, I’m having trouble with the Taskbar pinned apps. For example, if I pin Chrome or Word to the Taskbar, after running Sysprep and deploying the image, they don’t stay there.

I’ve checked the Microsoft documentation, but I couldn’t really figure it out. Could anyone please show me an example of how to configure the Taskbar pins properly and maybe explain the process a bit?


Thanks a lot in advance!
Click to expand...

Hi mateszkusz,

I had a similar problem making personal settings in audit mode when installing Windows. I found out that those settings will not take in audit mode. Perhaps that is the case. Correct me if I am wrong.

Kind regards,

tecknot
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 25H2 build 26200.8457
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo ThinkPad Workstation P72
    CPU
    Intel i7 8750H @ 2.2 GHz
    Motherboard
    Lenovo 01YU291
    Memory
    16 GB (all Samsung) DDR4-3200 SODIMM (non-ECC) PCIe 3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel UHD Graphics 630 & NVIDIA Quadro P600
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC3286 & Focusrite Saffire 24 Pro DSP
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17.3"
    Screen Resolution
    3840x2160
    Hard Drives
    1TB SSD Samsung 860 EVO SATA 3
    1TB SSD Samsung 970 EVO M.2 NVMe PCIe 3 x 4
    2TB SSD Samsung 990 PRO M.2 NVMe PCIe 3 x 4
    PSU
    230W
    Cooling
    fan
    Keyboard
    UltraNav
    Mouse
    Kensington wireless Orbit
    Internet Speed
    640Mbps
    Browser
    DuckDuckGo and Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    CM246 Chipset
tecknot said:
Hi mateszkusz,

I had a similar problem making personal settings in audit mode when installing Windows. I found out that those settings will not take in audit mode. Perhaps that is the case. Correct me if I am wrong.

Kind regards,

tecknot
Click to expand...
I find some solution... this is working so far.... 25h2 newest build.
I ran into the same thing, and the key point is that manually pinning apps in Audit Mode doesn’t survive Sysprep. For Windows 11, the supported approach is:

Start menu
Use LayoutModification.json. Set up Start the way you want on a reference device, then export it and place the JSON under the default profile shell folder. Microsoft documents this as the Windows 11 Start customization method.
  • Create a folder like: Layouts
  • then export:
Code: 
powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Command "Export-StartLayout -Path 'C:\Layouts\LayoutModification.json'"
After this copy the file to the ->> C:\Users\Default\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\ folder. This is working fine.

Taskbar:
This is the harder... important you can just pin 3 app :( whit my workaround.

Use TaskbarLayoutModification.xml (MS doc can help)
And important to use registry value:
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\LayoutXMLPath
pointing to the XML (for example C:\Windows\OEM\TaskbarLayoutModification.xml

After this the taskbar and start menu wont lost the settings after sysprep.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 11 25H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    ryzen 9
    Motherboard
    asus
    Memory
    32gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    rtx 4060
    Screen Resolution
    FullHD
    Hard Drives
    2x 1TB
    Internet Speed
    1Gb/s
    Browser
    Google Chrome
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