How to Deploy a Customized Start Menu Layout in Windows 10
In Windows 10 Pro, Enterprise, and Education, you can use a Group Policy Object (GPO) to deploy a customized Start Menu layout to users in a domain. This enables you to customize Start Menu layouts for different departments or organizations, with minimal management overhead.
Many organizations need to customize the Start menu. For example, they might want to add their business applications and utilities, add, remove, and resize tiles, change the Start screen color and
accent to harmonize with those of the organization’s color scheme; and apply a different desktop background.
This tutorial describes how to update Group Policy settings to display a customized Start Menu layout when the users sign in. By creating a domain-based GPO with these settings, you can deploy a customized Start Menu layout to users in a domain.
The Export-StartLayout cmdlet in Windows PowerShell exports a description of the current Start layout in .xml file format.
To export the layout in XML format, use the following Windows PowerShell command:
You can modify the Start Menu .xml file to include or create an .xml file just for the taskbar configuration.
After running the command, copy the StartLayout.xml file to a server that has the Group Policy Management console installed, and then reference the exported XML file in the Group Policy Object (GPO) called Start Layout.
To open the Group Policy Management console, press Windows + R keys to open Run dialog box and type gpedit.msc into Run dialog box and click OK button.
The Start Layout GPO is located at the following path from the Group Policy Management console: User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Start Menu And Taskbar.
Right-click Start Layout in the right pane, and click Edit. This opens the Start Layout policy settings.
Select Enabled and under Options:, specify the path to the .xml file that contains the Start Menu layout. For example, type C:\StartLayout.xml and then click OK button.
The GPO applies the Start and taskbar layout at the next user sign-in. Each time the user signs in, the timestamp of the .xml file with the Start and taskbar layout is checked and if a newer version of the file is available, the settings in the latest version of the file are applied.
After you use Group Policy to apply a customized Start Menu layout on a computer or in a domain, you can update the layout simply by replacing the .xml file that is specified in the Start Layout policy settings with a file with a newer timestamp.
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Many organizations need to customize the Start menu. For example, they might want to add their business applications and utilities, add, remove, and resize tiles, change the Start screen color and
accent to harmonize with those of the organization’s color scheme; and apply a different desktop background.
This tutorial describes how to update Group Policy settings to display a customized Start Menu layout when the users sign in. By creating a domain-based GPO with these settings, you can deploy a customized Start Menu layout to users in a domain.
Warning
When a full Start layout is applied with this method, the users cannot pin, unpin, or uninstall apps from Start. When a partial Start layout is applied, the contents of the specified tile groups cannot be changed, but users can move those groups, and can also create and customize their own groups. When you apply a taskbar layout, users will still be able to pin and unpin apps, and change the order of pinned apps.
Note
In Windows 10, version 1607, Start and taskbar layout control using Group Policy is supported in Windows 10 Enterprise and Windows 10 Education.
In Windows 10, version 1703, Start and taskbar layout control using Group Policy is also supported in Windows 10 Pro.
In Windows 10, version 1703, Start and taskbar layout control using Group Policy is also supported in Windows 10 Pro.
The Export-StartLayout cmdlet in Windows PowerShell exports a description of the current Start layout in .xml file format.
To export the layout in XML format, use the following Windows PowerShell command:
Code:
Export-StartLayout –Path C:\StartLayout.xml –as XMLYou can modify the Start Menu .xml file to include
After running the command, copy the StartLayout.xml file to a server that has the Group Policy Management console installed, and then reference the exported XML file in the Group Policy Object (GPO) called Start Layout.
To open the Group Policy Management console, press Windows + R keys to open Run dialog box and type gpedit.msc into Run dialog box and click OK button.
The Start Layout GPO is located at the following path from the Group Policy Management console: User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Start Menu And Taskbar.
Right-click Start Layout in the right pane, and click Edit. This opens the Start Layout policy settings.
Select Enabled and under Options:, specify the path to the .xml file that contains the Start Menu layout. For example, type C:\StartLayout.xml and then click OK button.
The GPO applies the Start and taskbar layout at the next user sign-in. Each time the user signs in, the timestamp of the .xml file with the Start and taskbar layout is checked and if a newer version of the file is available, the settings in the latest version of the file are applied.
Important
If you disable Start Layout policy settings that have been in effect and then re-enable the policy, users will not be able to make changes to Start, however the layout in the .xml file will not be reapplied unless the file has been updated. In Windows PowerShell, you can update the timestamp on a file by running the following command:
(ls <path>).LastWriteTime = Get-Date
After you use Group Policy to apply a customized Start Menu layout on a computer or in a domain, you can update the layout simply by replacing the .xml file that is specified in the Start Layout policy settings with a file with a newer timestamp.
Did you find this tutorial helpful? Don’t forget to share your views with us.