If you press the Start key with the left key, in Windows 10 and Windows 8.1, the home screen of applications opens while when you press it with the right key a menu of quick links appears to the main Windows configuration screens. This is what is called the Win-X Menu because in Windows 10 and 8 it can be called up by pressing the Windows-X key combination. In Windows 8.1 this menu takes on even more importance as it contains, in addition to the command prompt and the control panel, also the buttons to shut down the computer or restart it. This Start Win-X menu can be modified and customized only using an external tool or by making heavy system modifications that are decidedly inconvenient.
Before seeing the easy way, let's see how to manually add links and links to programs in order to customize the Windows 10 and 8.1 Start Win-X menu.
In Windows 10 and 8, Microsoft used a hidden folder that contains all the shortcuts on the Start menu.
Exactly the folder is: C: \ Users \ user_name \ AppData \ Local \ Microsoft \ Windows \ WinX (change user-name to the Windows username).
To access the folder quickly, press the Win + R keys together, type appdata, press Enter and then go to Local \ Microsoft \ Windows \ WinX
You will now find 3 subfolders, Group1, Group2 and Group3 which are, in fact, the three groups into which the Win-X menu is divided.
You will notice that all 3 Group folders contain the same shortcuts as the Windows 10 Start menu.
The first thing that you can change in this menu is the removal of unwanted links .
You can then delete shortcuts that you don't use to make this Start menu shorter and easier to use.
The change takes effect by restarting the computer or logging in to Windows again.
You can also edit the names of the links displayed in the Win-X quick access menu, but to do so you need to edit a system file.
By opening one of the Group folders, go to View at the top of the window and press the Options button.
In the visualization tab, select the option Show hidden files and remove the check from "Hide system files" and then click on Apply.
A file called desktop.ini will appear which must be opened with a double click and modified, renaming the various links on the Start menu.
Lines such as % SystemRoot% \ system32 \ systemcpl.dll, -1 which relates to system properties will appear in the desktop.ini file.
To rename this link just write the new name immediately after the same one, deleting all the rest then, for example, System.lnk = System properties .
At the end save the desktop.ini file and revive it for convenience from the folder options.
The addition of new shortcuts in the quick access menu in Windows 8.1, on the other hand, is a bit complex and requires the modification of a system file which is not the case.
Much more easily, you can use an external program called Win + X Menu Editor for Windows 10 and 8, a tool that allows you to add any program or shortcut to the Start Win-X menu .
The tool must be downloaded by pressing the gray download button on the Winaero website page, extracted to a folder and started, in the 32bit or 64bit version, without installation. You can use this tool once, to organize the menu as you want, adding programs or other links to Windows configuration screens or other elements of the Control Panel. After each modification you can click on Restart Explorer to see its effects. Any existing link can be easily removed or renamed, you can organize the items into groups and sort the links as you want, moving them up and down, without having to make changes to system files that can become uncomfortable. You can also add links to websites, just create new links on the desktop and then use the Winaero tool by selecting them with the "add program" option. You can also edit the names of existing links in the Win-X menu.
Win + X Menu Editor also has the Restore Deafault button to return the Start Win-X menu as it was before at any time and after the most terrible changes.
This is one of the programs to modify everything in Windows 10
