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


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mateszkusz

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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 My Computer

At a glance

windows 11 25H2ryzen 932gbrtx 4060
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
 

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Windows 11 Pro Insider 64 bit 25H2 26200.5742Intel Core i7 9700K 3.6016 GBnVidia GEForce RTX 2060 Super
OS
Windows 11 Pro Insider 64 bit 25H2 26200.5742
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PC/Desktop
Manufacturer/Model
Gigabyte Z390 UD
CPU
Intel Core i7 9700K 3.60
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Gigabyte Z390 UD
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16 GB
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nVidia GEForce RTX 2060 Super
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onboard
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Two 27" Dell 4K monitors
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850w PSU
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Cyberpower PC
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Water cooled
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Backlit Cyberpower gaming keyboard
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Backlit Cyberpower gaming mouse
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1 GB mbps
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Brave
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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 My Computer

At a glance

windows 11 25H2ryzen 932gbrtx 4060
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 My Computer

At a glance

Win11
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
 

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Windows 11 Pro 25H2 build 26200.8875Intel i7 8750H @ 2.2 GHz16 GB (all Samsung) DDR4-3200 SODIMM (non-ECC...Intel UHD Graphics 630 & NVIDIA Quadro P600
OS
Windows 11 Pro 25H2 build 26200.8875
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
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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 My Computer

At a glance

windows 11 25H2ryzen 932gbrtx 4060
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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