How can one install Windows 11 with a blank start menu, i.e., with no pinned and recommended apps? How to export and import the start menu layout?
you can install without bloat now, not sure if its carried over to beta or retail yet though, options are find a custom script, build your own iso, uninstall them yourself after install
thats something a specialist in that field would be able to help you with, theres a few ppl in mdl who do this sort of thing, create a new thread ask for help Im to lazy for that .. i would take a photo of the startmenu lol
It just has both pinned and recommended sections but they are empty since I removed the apps that appeared on them and I configured Windows for them to not appear, although they still do.
I can help you in this regard. Recently (last week) I successfully modded my own pre-configured START layout with my preferred items (apps) pinned, and slipstreamed it in Win ISO via setcomplete scripting, in order to get that (my preferred & customised) START layout by default, since the first logon in Windows. See this video for reference if you're interested.
Isn't simpler and more effective to use classic shell/openshell/startallback and forget the ugly w11 start menu?
- Set up the Start menu the way you like it. Logout/login. - This is the file the Start menu is saved in: C:\Users\[that-user]\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.StartMenuExperienceHost_cw5n1h2txyewy\LocalState\start.bin - On your Windows 11 USB, create: x:\sources\$OEM$\$1\Users\Default\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.StartMenuExperienceHost_cw5n1h2txyewy\LocalState - copy start.bin to that folder With this, when Windows 11 is installed, the first user, and ANY user created, will have that Start menu layout.
I think it depends on the person whether they think it's ugly or not. I don't want to stick to the old style forever.
Ergonomics is science, and start menu is the central way to interact with Windows since win95, if you break ergonomics in the name of (supposed) sleeker look you are doing a poor work. What about eating your soup using a toothpick or a screwdriver? Spoons are so oooold...
It 'proves' exactly what you're seeking, that it's possible to get a predefined customized/personalized W11 Start layout for your own from the first boot of Windows, without any further manual intervention.
So, I removed all the pinned and recommended apps from my current install, copied the "Packages" folder (only with the "Microsoft.Windows.StartMenuExperienceHost_cw5n1h2txyewy" and "LocalState" folders inside and with the "start2.bin" [I don't know why it's called "start2" and not "start" unlike yours] file inside the latter), extracted an image and loaded it with NTLite, integrated the "Packages" folder into it, created a new ISO, used it to install Windows 11 and although no pinned apps appear in the start menu, recommended ones still do.
After enabling the Remove Recommended section from start menu policy in Group Policy Editor in the current install, the Recommended section from the start menu was removed. I copied and integrated this policy (by copying the "Machine" and "User" folders and the "gpt.ini" file from "C:\Windows\System32\GroupPolicy"), extracted an image and loaded it with NTLite, integrated the "Machine" and "User" folders and the "gpt.ini" file into it, created a new ISO, used it to install Windows 11 and the Recommended section (and apps inside it) still appears in the start menu. It was supposed for the Recommended section to have been removed. I also don't get why apps still appear in the Recommended section in the start menu after disabling the "Show recently added apps", "Show most used apps", "Show recently opened items in Start, Jump Lists, and File Explorer" and the "Show recommendations for tips, shortcuts, new apps, and more" settings in Windows or the "App list - Most used apps", "App list - Recently added apps", "Show most used apps" and "Show recommendations for tips, shortcuts, new apps, and more" settings in NTLite.
Hide Recommended GPO only works for EDU or Enterprise SKU's. That's always been the rule, regardless of your layout.