SCCM | Change Win 10 Start Button Context Menu

With new shortcuts on offer in Windows 10 its a lot easier for users to navigate but harder for admin to hide applications and features which users shouldn’t be using. By default the context menu for the start button has a number of applications which you don’t really want to advertise to standard users. Things like Powershell, Disk Management etc.

Although fishing around in group policy there doesn’t seem to be anyway to configure this menu within group policy. Looking around the Windows 10 OS, it appears that every user has their own start button context menu and to cut a long story short, these are only shortcuts configured for users. This location sits in every users profile at the following location:

C:\Users\<Username>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\WinX

The shortcuts are grouped into three folders. Group1, Group2 and Group3.

Knowing this, they can amended to to suit the users needs.

There are two options to edit this menu.

1. Edit the menu during the OS deployment using SCCM
2. Create a group policy script for the users that will edit the menu upon login

Edit the menu during OS Deployment

1. Open your task sequence and insert a ‘Run a command’ step after OS installation
2. Add the following command:

   del /f "C:\Users\Default\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\WinX\Group2\1 - Run.lnk"
   
   del /f "C:\Users\Default\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\WinX\Group2\5 - Task Manager.lnk"

3. When the machine works through the task sequence it will delete the Task Manager shortcut from the default user profile. Any new users (Domain aswell) that log onto the machine will copy the default profile which will not have these shortcuts

Group Policy Logon Script

1. Edit or create a new group policy
2. On the Group Policy Management Editor windows navigate to the following location:
   
3. Open notepad and paste the following into it

   del /f "%userprofile%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\WinX\Group2\1 - Run.lnk"
   
   del /f "%userprofile%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\WinX\Group2\5 - Task Manager.lnk"

4. Save the notepad file as RemoveStartShortcuts.bat
5. Back in the GP Editor, double click on Logon
6. Click the ‘Show Files’ button and copy and paste the RemoveStartShortcuts.bat file into the ‘Show Files’ window
   
7. Close the show files window and click ‘Add’. In the script name enter RemoveStartShortcuts.bat and click ok
8. Ok all the open windows

Thats it!