Weeding the All apps list: any new successes?

I've had a good bit of luck getting what I want in the Start menu without having it appear in the All apps list, and I've had a good bit of luck getting folders onto the All apps list, but I've had no luck at all getting the useless entries OFF the All apps list: items that are more easily reached in other places, and items that I don't need at all. If you find a way to get any of these off the list, please post your solution.
[Calculator, Calendar, Get Started, Mail, Notepad, Paint, and Settings]

So what you see is in All Apps is a union / addition of following start menu folders:

a) Your (logged in user) All Apps shortcuts
Press Win+R and type: shell:programs

This can also be opened by typing below path in explorer:
%AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs
(usually resolves to C:\Users\$USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs )

b) Common (for every user) All Apps shortcuts
Press Win+R and type: shell:Common Programs

This can also be opened by typing below path in explorer:
%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs
(usually resolves to C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs )

You can rearrange the shortcuts and folders etc (I do it in the main/common programs folder and just delete everything from my user programs folder. Give it a second or two to load it in start menu. At times it keeps showing old entries for a few seconds. Kill all explorer.exe or logout/login.

c.) To see the start menu entries for "store-apps" ie Windows Store Apps / Metro Apps / UWP whatever they are called,
you can press Win+R and type: shell:AppsFolder
OR
explorer.exe shell:::{4234d49b-0245-4df3-B780-3893943456e1}

You can't edit these in above folder but you can select them and say create shortcut and it will send all shortcut links to your desktop, then you can move them to a single folder etc.

Then you can copy them into sub-folders or what ever way you want in your programs folder as in s.no. a & b above.

For app shortcuts that you want copied/created for ALL NEW USERS:
C:\Users\Default\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs

The pinned apps / quick launch etc are here:
C:\Users\Amit\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\User Pinned\TaskBar
Dunno why folder is called internet explorer..


Off course after doing all this you will somehow end up screwing up your entire start menu
Run sfc /scannnow (which will recreate some entries - it will tell you the path to its log file where it's mentioned what shortcuts it recreated.
It doesn't recreate all shortcuts. But store-apps are always there anyways (in program files/windows apps/ - you have to take ownership and then add permission to your self before you can view that folder) and all other you can copy shortcuts.

Still, its way better to keep a zip of original stuff before fiddling around and replace everything with that if, no, when you screw up.

I had them nicely organized in my standardized sub-folders but after some time somethings started disappearing (except store-apps) so i just use a full alphabetical list now without any sub-folders (that get created like MS Office or such because scrolling through gets very slow).

And then just pin 20-30 apps to the "pinned" section of start-menu (it has pages you can scroll or click through, with 18 app links on each page)
And then pin to taskbar 5-10 apps. That should be sufficient. For everything else just hit win and start typing.

I do add some description word or category word to the shortcuts of any weird apps i use so infrequently that i can't remember their names when needed, so that they come up in search. For example Brave.lnk will be Brave - browser.lnk or audacity - media editor etc so that if i type media edit it shows all the apps.

Since I always lose the notes i have saved for such fiddling around i am putting it here where i am sure i will find it more easily next time :)

You could also use the apps like: StartAllBack to fix all Windows 11 deal-breaking UI issues or such ones if you need extensive fiddling around. Win11 keeps the startmenu in some db file i hear and so its a bit difficult to get it just right. I am going to try the startallback beta and update afterwards...

Don't forget you have winget in powershell now which can remove apps. Such as winget uninstall cortana.

I created a Powershell Script which uninstalled most of the bloatware, see attached.
(If running ps scripts is blocked, you can copy/paste the whole text in powershell and then press enter).

@amitabhr @swarfega @TigerTom

amitabhr, welcome to 11Forum! Thank you for taking the time to write all that. It was generous of you.
As you can see from my screenshots above, I am very familiar with the two Programs folders, and I have edited them extensively (and more since I posted those shots), but there is no obvious way to eliminate the unwanted entries I cited (Calculator, Calendar, Get Started, Mail, Notepad, Paint, and Settings) from the list. I'm not trying to remove those programs from the machine, I just want to find a way to remove the shortcuts from All apps.

swarfega, as you can see from my screenshots, I have eliminated, both through uninstalling in Settings>Apps and by using Powershell, a bunch of things (like Xbox stuff and Photos and Cortana) that I consider useless bloat. I'd still like to get rid of Get Started, but MS doesn't want me to, But the rest (Calculator, Calendar, Mail, Notepad, Paint, and Settings) are useful things, they just don't need to be in the All apps list.

TigerTom, I really appreciate the script. Since I've already done most of what's in there, and don't want to do some of the rest that's in there, I'm going to try an edited version of it. I think you may have finally rid me of Get Started. Merci beaucoup.

Thanks again to all of you,

Dan

Hi Dan,
thx :)

Honestly I did not succeed in removing "Get Started". I ran

PS C:\Windows\system32> Get-AppxPackage MicrosoftWindows.Client.CBS | Remove-AppPackage

and got

Hope this may help some more.

Thanks, Shawn. That short tutorial will be a great help to many users.

Unfortunately for my project's goals, none of the things I'm trying to remove from the All apps list (Calculator, Calendar, Get Started, Mail, Notepad, Paint, and Settings) have shortcuts in the two Programs folders. If I r-click any of them to look for the entry "Open file location," it ain't there . MS, in its infinite wisdom, has made it easy to add or subtract some things in this list, but very difficult (I won't say impossible, because then you'll immediately find a way to do it) to remove some of the useless items that are more easily accessed in ways other than using the All apps list, or don't need to be accessed at all.

@TigerTom

You've found the same result I was going to report to you. Annoying, isn't it?

I will go into Turn off Windows features and see whether Get Started is there, and if it is, we'll see whether it diappears from the All apps list when it's disabled. My hopes are not high.

Tx again.

Wisewiz said:

I will go into Turn off Windows features and see whether Get Started is there

Click to expand...

Hi Dan,
it's not there either :-/

I was busy for a bit. You beat me to it, and in the process, you saved me from an effing unrewarding trip.

From Reddit:
Q: Is it possible to remove the new "Get Started" app from Windows 11? I was trying to remove some bloat, and I can't figure out how to do it for the life of me. Has anyone attempted this or figure it out?
A: Did you ever find a solution?
A from OP: Nope. I can't figure out how to remove the package. It must be stupidly tied into something essential to the OS.

Amen, Brother Ben.

I am puzzled why you want to remove the calculator.

swarfega said:

I am puzzled why you want to remove the calculator.

Click to expand...

You misread my posts above, my friend. Get Started is the only thing I want to remove from the PC. The others are just easily accessible when they're needed, and all I'm looking for is a way to remove their shortcuts from All apps.

Understand, swarfega, that this is no big deal. I'm just customizing things so that I like the way they're set up (for me and my use of the PC), and I'm looking for ways to simplify the All apps list, so that when I use it (for some things that are not on my taskbar or in Start), it's a quick and easy scroll to my target.

So far, some good progress:

I see.

To create a simple list, I rename only what I need to see, with special characters, and hide the rest.
The alpha indicators are a waste of real estate!

@Edwin

Your screenshots always impress me enormously. What you've accomplished with Windows Blinds and StartAllBack and whatever else you're using is amazing.

What I'm trying to do is work with just the OS to simplify and organize my array of "buttons and switches" so that I find it personally efficient, effective, and esthetically acceptable.

I only use the folders to trim the number of lines in the scrollable list: where a folder conceals three shortcuts, that's just one line (the folder) to scroll past, instead of three (the shortcuts). If I could just get the things I don't want or need out of that list, my list would be down to about 12-15 lines, instead of the 25 lines I have at the moment. (Yeah, I know: with an add-on, I could do that easily. I'm just having fun meeting the challenge of doing it without.)

But I'm workin' on it, and your example is an inspiration.

Speaking of wasted real estate. why can't they let us narrow that menu horizontally? That expanse between the last letters of your shortcuts and the right-hand border of the menu is a useless wasteland. If they got rid of Recommended in Start and let us squeeze the Start menu (to, say, six rows of three icons) and the All apps list, I'd be a happier user of W11.

Wisewiz said:

Speaking of wasted real estate. why can't they let us narrow that menu horizontally?

Click to expand...

It'll come.

I always admire a man who has the qualities of patience and optimism.

Edwin said:

To create a simple list, I rename only what I need to see, with special characters, and hide the rest.

Click to expand...

smart move!

Edwin said:

The alpha indicators are a waste of real estate!

Click to expand...

Fully agree

Wisewiz said:

Speaking of wasted real estate. why can't they let us narrow that menu horizontally?

Click to expand...

Absolutely. My impression is that W11 is another half baked cake similar to W8