Pin to Start (Any File) Windows 10 Pro

Hi,

 

Welcome to Microsoft Community. Your interest in Windows 10 is much appreciated. 

 

Please answer the below questions:

 

1. What happens when you try to pin the program to start menu?
2. Are you not able to see Pin to Start option?
3. Do you get unpin from start option when you right click on pinned program?

 

Reference:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/start-screen-tutorial

 

Keep us posted if you face any issues on windows in future. We will be glad to help you.

I believe the question is how to pin a shortcut to a file to Start. Pinning programs does not seem to be an issue.

Annu Singh appears to be a typical Microsoft Support person who does NOT understand the difference between an App and a File. I cannot find any way to pin files to start.

Annu Singh appears to be a typical Microsoft Support person who does NOT understand the difference between an App and a File. I cannot find any way to pin files to start.

CraigVan is correct. It's sad that Microsoft support cannot understand and answer such a simple question. Even if it can't be done (the pinning, that is) just say so. 

Annu Singh appears to be a typical Microsoft Support person who does NOT understand the difference between an App and a File. I cannot find any way to pin files to start.

CraigVan is correct. It's sad that Microsoft support cannot understand and answer such a simple question. Even if it can't be done (the pinning, that is) just say so. 

Yes, it's always frustrating to deal with support people who seem to know less than you do. Many times, I think it's simply that they are not LISTENING to you. How can they offer support without listening!!! My rant for the day. Anyway, it looks like we can assume you can't pin a file to Start.

Ok, this is a workaround that worked for me.

Any shortcut to a file you put in here:

C:\Users\*YourUserName*\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs

will appear in the "All apps" list under the Windows "Start" button on the taskbar. (Note: "AppData" is a hidden folder, so from file explorer, you might want to go to "view" and put a checkbox beside "hidden items" first. Otherwise type the whole string into File Explorer to get to this folder.)

To pin a File, 
1. Right-click on the File you want to pin to the Start Screen.
2. Click "Copy"
3. Go to "C:\Users\*YourUserName*\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs"
4. Right-click again in the folder window, then click "Paste shortcut"
5. Go to your "All apps" list under the Start button, and scroll down to find the name of the File you just pasted.
6. Right click on this file from the "Apps list" and click "Pin to start".
7. Your done.

There is a registry hack to enable "Pin to start" from the Right Click menu. For those who don't mind editing the registry, I'll post that shortly.

Cheers,
PaulC

Edited.

Paul,

How very useful.

Just one note - you referred to putting a file in the ...Start menu\programs folder but could usefully add that a shortcut to a file can be put in there so that the file itself can stay wherever the user wants.  {your solution does work for shortcuts}

           
There is a registry hack to enable "Pin to start" from the Right Click menu. For those who are don't mind editing the registry, I'll post that shortly.

Cheers,
PaulC

Ok, as promised here is the Registry hack for Windows 10 that will save you about 4 steps in the previous method. This is a bit more elegant, but involves a registry edit.

First we want to create the Registry value to merge with the Registry. To do so, open up Notepad and copy and paste the below code just as it appears into a new text document.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\PintoStartScreen]
@="{470C0EBD-5D73-4d58-9CED-E91E22E23282}"

Save the text file to your desktop with a name like, "PinToStartHack.txt"

Now, Right-click on this text file and rename the file extension from ".txt" to ".reg", so your text file will now be called "PinToStartHack.reg"

Double click this file to merge its contents with your Registry.



Click Yes.




Click OK.


IMPORTANT: You'll only be able to Pin a Shortcut to any file, not the actual file itself. So you'll need to create the shortcut first, right-click it and choose pin to start, then delete the shortcut. So let's do that.

Right-click on the File you want to pin (My Holiday Plans.docx in the example below), and click "Create shortcut".

Next, right click on the shortcut you just created, and choose, "Pin to Start"



Once you have pinned the File, you can then delete the shortcut. (Right-click on the shortcut you created and choose, "Delete shortcut".)

Now, go to the Start Screen, and you should see your File as the last tile on the Start Screen.



Enjoy :-)

To Remove the Registry Hack

If for some unknown reason, you wish to delete the registry entry, just type "regedit" in the search bar, and run "regedit.exe". Then drill down to

"HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\PintoStartScreen"

Delete the "PintoStartScreen" folder item.

Close the registry editor.

PaulC.

 

Paul,

How very useful.

Just one note - you referred to putting a file in the ...Start menu\programs folder but could usefully add that a shortcut to a file can be put in there so that the file itself can stay wherever the user wants.  {your solution does work for shortcuts}

Thanks for that. Have edited post to clarify.

Cheers,
PaulC

Paul,

I have continued playing with your solution.  I found something interesting even though I cannot think of a real use for it yet.

1. I copied a shortcut to the ...\Progams folder then pinned it to the Start menu.
2. I then deleted the shortcut ...\Progams folder without first unpinning it. 
3. The Start menu tile disappeared.
4. In my original shortcut, I changed its icon.
5. I copied the shortcut to the ...\Progams folder again.
6. The Start menu tile reappeared displaying the new icon.

I think this could form the basis of a personal notification utility.  I have some batch files that indicate problem results by copying a shortcut to the Desktop.  Having a tile appear in the Start menu would be a much neater notification scheme but it would not be, for me, as immediately noticeable as a shortcut on the Desktop so I cannot yet think of a batch file that would be better this way.