Start Menu Organizer

Clean up your Start Menu. Review the changes first.

Download for Windows · Try the read-only demo

Screenshots use the built-in demo. No personal shortcuts are shown.

Start Menu folders get noisy over time. Uninstall links remain behind, old shortcuts stop working, and the same app can appear in several places. Start Menu Organizer scans the actual shortcut folders and turns that mess into a list you can search, filter, and fix.

Every cleanup action creates a reviewable plan first. Nothing runs until you choose Run reviewed plan. Deletes, moves, renames, and restores also write recovery data so a mistake does not become a scavenger hunt.

Why use it

	What it does
See the real problem	Finds junk entries, broken targets, duplicates, protected folders, and shortcuts with risky launch behavior.
Review before changing files	Converts bulk actions into an exact operation plan that can be inspected, exported, or cleared.
Organize in batches	Moves apps into built-in categories, flattens small folders, cleans names, or keeps a simple root layout.
Keep a way back	Keeps an undo journal, timestamped backups, and rollback snapshots for restores.

Product tour

Rules that fit your machine Adjust junk patterns and category matching without editing the script.	A record of what happened Follow scans and operations in the app, with JSONL logs saved locally.

Install

1. Download StartMenuOrganizer-v0.15.1.zip from the latest release.
2. Extract the archive.
3. Run the installer from that folder:

powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\Install-StartMenuOrganizer.ps1

The installer places the app under %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\Start Menu Organizer and adds a Start Menu shortcut. It does not need administrator access.

The installed copy includes the README and license. Uninstall removes the Start Menu shortcut only if it still points to that installation, so removing a separate test copy won't remove another copy's shortcut.

To remove it later:

powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Programs\Start Menu Organizer\Uninstall-StartMenuOrganizer.ps1"

Run without installing

Download the repository and launch the script directly:

powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\StartMenuOrganizerPro.ps1

Windows 10 or Windows 11 with Windows PowerShell 5.1 is enough. There are no extra modules to install.

A safe first cleanup

1. Choose User Start Menu if you only want to change your own shortcuts.
2. Select Backup.
3. Filter to Junk, Broken, or Duplicates.
4. Select the entries you recognize and prepare a cleanup plan.
5. Read the plan summary, then choose Run reviewed plan.

Use Run as admin only when you need the shared System Start Menu, another local profile, or the Default User profile. Readable locations can still be scanned with standard access, but protected changes stay blocked.

What it detects

• Invalid .lnk, .url, and .appref-ms targets
• Duplicate shortcuts that point to the same application
• Common clutter such as release notes, support links, and uninstall entries
• Script hosts, network targets, hidden launches, encoded commands, and unusually long arguments
• Reparse points that should not be followed during a scan or file operation
• Installation sources including Chocolatey, Scoop, MSIX, WinGet, and traditional installers

The item table shows the target, location, status, and risk flags together. Search works across names, paths, and targets.

Cleanup and organization

The Actions tab can prepare plans to remove flagged entries, keep one copy of each duplicate, flatten single-item folders, clear empty folders, or move shortcuts to the Start Menu root. Category tools recognize development apps, browsers, communication tools, media apps, graphics software, office tools, utilities, games, system tools, security products, and networking software.

Batch rename can remove version numbers, clean common vendor and architecture text, or apply a custom find and replace rule.

Backups, undo, and restore

The app does not permanently erase a selected shortcut during a normal cleanup. It moves recoverable items into an operation backup area and records the original path in the undo journal.

Restore is protected separately. A backup is copied into a staging area and checked before the live Start Menu is replaced. The current contents are saved as a rollback snapshot first. If restoration fails, the app attempts to put the previous contents back automatically.

Data	Location
Backups	%LOCALAPPDATA%\StartMenuOrganizerPro\Backups
Restore snapshots	%LOCALAPPDATA%\StartMenuOrganizerPro\Backups\_restore_rollback
Undo journal	%LOCALAPPDATA%\StartMenuOrganizerPro\undo.json
Settings	%LOCALAPPDATA%\StartMenuOrganizerPro\config.json
Logs and crash reports	%LOCALAPPDATA%\StartMenuOrganizerPro\Logs

Work with other profiles

Open Settings, choose a profile root such as C:\Users\Alice or an offline profile on another drive, then select Selected Profile from the scope list. Default User targets %SystemDrive%\Users\Default for preparing new Windows accounts.

Changes to either target require administrator access. Backups keep separate folders for each scope.

Try the interface with sample data

Demo mode loads a realistic, read-only set of shortcuts. It does not scan or change this PC.

powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\StartMenuOrganizerPro.ps1 -Demo

Use -DemoView Settings or -DemoView Log to open another part of the tour.

Verify a release

Each release includes a .sha256 file for the zip and SHA256SUMS.txt inside it. Compare the published value with:

certutil -hashfile .\StartMenuOrganizer-v0.15.1.zip SHA256

The release scripts are not Authenticode-signed unless the release notes say otherwise. Review the source before running it if your environment requires signed PowerShell code.

Build and test

Run the full local gate:

powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\tests\Run-Tests.ps1

Build the installable archive and package metadata:

powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\tools\Build-Release.ps1

The build produces Scoop and Chocolatey metadata beside the zip. It also signs the packaged scripts when a code-signing certificate is available in the current user certificate store.

Contributing

Bug reports and focused pull requests are welcome. Include the Windows version, selected scope, and the relevant log excerpt when reporting a failed scan or file operation.

Brand assets

The selected route-and-menu identity is preserved as an untouched master. The concept archive contains all four original directions and a selection record. Use the production PNG sizes and ICO in assets/brand/ when integrating the icon.

License

Start Menu Organizer is available under the MIT License.

For exporting and deploying a finished Start layout across several PCs, see Start Menu Manager.