Start menu shortcuts disapppeared


Enferlain

Member
Local time
12:33 PM
Posts
7
OS
Win 11
99% of the stuff I had installed is gone from the start menu.

When I go to C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs or -- every folder is empty, no shortcuts in any of them.
Same for C:\Users\x\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs

The problem is that nothing is searchable now. When I type in the name of installed programs in search, only web results are shown.

Recently I uninstalled a few programs with revo uninstaller, and also did a windows update, not sure which one did this.

I tried rebuilding indexing, but it's permastuck on "indexing is paused" regardless of what I do (the number does goes up but slowly,) but I don't think this fixes it.

I did sfc /scannow and dism commands, none found any errors.

I did a system restore to before I did anything I could think of but still bogged. Any idea how to get programs back to being searchable? Manual one by one is last resort, can't think of anything else, unfortunately I didn't find any solution to create shortcuts for already installed programs automatically.
 
Windows Build/Version
21H2 22000.856

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    Ryzen 3950x
    Motherboard
    Asus rog x570 Dark hero
    Memory
    2x 16gb Trident Z 3200 2x 16gb Trident Z 4000
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus rog 6800xt liquid
    PSU
    Corsair hx850i
    Case
    Dark Base pro 900
Welcome to the forum.
If you have a backup restore it. Other than that, though I do not believe it will solve the problem in your particular case since your user account is affected, you could first try a repair install
Repair Install Windows 11 Repair Install Windows 11 with an In-place Upgrade Tutorial

IMO it will require a clean install to straighten it out. Clean Install Windows 11 Clean Install Windows 11 Tutorial
If you have access to your personal files be sure and back them up before doing anything. COPY them and then PASTE to external usb or hard drive.

I strongly suggest once you get it straightened out that you use some sort of back up solution to protect yourself in the future. There are a number of good, free backup programs available.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 23H2 22631.3296
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Optiplex 7080
    CPU
    i9-10900 10 core 20 threads
    Motherboard
    DELL 0J37VM
    Memory
    32 gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    none-Intel UHD Graphics 630
    Sound Card
    Integrated Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Benq 27
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1tb Solidigm m.2 +256gb ssd+512 gb usb m.2 sata
    PSU
    500w
    Case
    MT
    Cooling
    Dell Premium
    Keyboard
    Logitech wired
    Mouse
    Logitech wireless
    Internet Speed
    so slow I'm too embarrassed to tell
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender+MWB Premium
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 22H2 19045.3930
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Optiplex 9020
    CPU
    i7-4770
    Memory
    24 gb
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Benq 27
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    256 gb Toshiba BG4 M.2 NVE SSB and 1 tb hdd
    PSU
    500w
    Case
    MT
    Cooling
    Dell factory
    Mouse
    Logitech wireless
    Keyboard
    Logitech wired
    Internet Speed
    still not telling
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender+MWB Premium
Thanks.

I do backups of everything but the system. This is the first time I had an issue like this, so I never felt the need to make backups of stuff like start menu and other things in %appdata% or ProgramData.

Several restoration points were created when I was uninstalling things with revo uninstaller, but they seem to be registry only because even after the restore the shortcuts are still gone.

For now I manually added back shortcuts to the things I use often, but I will probably do a clean install soon which seems like a yearly thing at this point. Something always seems to break after around 12 months or so.

Meanwhile, if anyone reads this and remembers any fix or experienced similar things I would appreciate if you could share how it was solved.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    Ryzen 3950x
    Motherboard
    Asus rog x570 Dark hero
    Memory
    2x 16gb Trident Z 3200 2x 16gb Trident Z 4000
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus rog 6800xt liquid
    PSU
    Corsair hx850i
    Case
    Dark Base pro 900

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 23H2 22631.3296
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Optiplex 7080
    CPU
    i9-10900 10 core 20 threads
    Motherboard
    DELL 0J37VM
    Memory
    32 gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    none-Intel UHD Graphics 630
    Sound Card
    Integrated Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Benq 27
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1tb Solidigm m.2 +256gb ssd+512 gb usb m.2 sata
    PSU
    500w
    Case
    MT
    Cooling
    Dell Premium
    Keyboard
    Logitech wired
    Mouse
    Logitech wireless
    Internet Speed
    so slow I'm too embarrassed to tell
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender+MWB Premium
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 22H2 19045.3930
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Optiplex 9020
    CPU
    i7-4770
    Memory
    24 gb
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Benq 27
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    256 gb Toshiba BG4 M.2 NVE SSB and 1 tb hdd
    PSU
    500w
    Case
    MT
    Cooling
    Dell factory
    Mouse
    Logitech wireless
    Keyboard
    Logitech wired
    Internet Speed
    still not telling
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender+MWB Premium

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