Configure Start Menu Folders Next to the Power Button in Windows 11 per User

Windows 11 can display shortcuts such as Settings, File Explorer, Downloads, Documents, Pictures, Music, Network, etc. next to the Power button in the Start menu.

NTLite can configure these entries through its policy settings, but they can also be changed directly as a per-user setting using this registry entry.

The setting is stored here:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Start

in the binary value:
VisiblePlaces

Each folder is represented by a 16-byte value:
CE,D5,34,2D,5A,FA,43,45,82,F2,22,E6,EA,F7,77,3C = Documents
4A,B0,BD,74,4A,F9,68,4F,8B,D6,43,98,07,1D,A8,BC = Personal Folder
C5,A5,B3,42,86,7D,F4,42,80,A4,93,FA,CA,7A,88,B5 = Videos
44,81,75,FE,0D,08,AE,42,8B,DA,34,ED,97,B6,63,94 = Network
A0,07,3F,38,0A,E8,80,4C,B0,5A,86,DB,84,5D,BC,4D = Pictures
20,06,0B,B0,51,7F,32,4C,AA,1E,34,CC,54,7F,73,15 = Music
2F,B3,67,E3,DE,89,55,43,BF,CE,61,F3,7B,18,A9,37 = Downloads
BC,24,8A,14,0C,D6,89,42,A0,80,6E,D9,BB,A2,48,82 = File Explorer
86,08,73,52,AA,51,43,42,9F,7B,27,76,58,46,59,D4 = Settings

The order of the 16-byte entries does not matter.
If you do not want one of the folders, simply remove its corresponding 16-byte line from the VisiblePlaces value.

Registry example
This example enables all entries:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Start]
"VisiblePlaces"=hex:\
CE,D5,34,2D,5A,FA,43,45,82,F2,22,E6,EA,F7,77,3C,\
4A,B0,BD,74,4A,F9,68,4F,8B,D6,43,98,07,1D,A8,BC,\
C5,A5,B3,42,86,7D,F4,42,80,A4,93,FA,CA,7A,88,B5,\
44,81,75,FE,0D,08,AE,42,8B,DA,34,ED,97,B6,63,94,\
A0,07,3F,38,0A,E8,80,4C,B0,5A,86,DB,84,5D,BC,4D,\
20,06,0B,B0,51,7F,32,4C,AA,1E,34,CC,54,7F,73,15,\
2F,B3,67,E3,DE,89,55,43,BF,CE,61,F3,7B,18,A9,37,\
BC,24,8A,14,0C,D6,89,42,A0,80,6E,D9,BB,A2,48,82,\
86,08,73,52,AA,51,43,42,9F,7B,27,76,58,46,59,D4

For example, if you only want:
  • Downloads
  • File Explorer
  • Settings
use:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Start]
"VisiblePlaces"=hex:\
2F,B3,67,E3,DE,89,55,43,BF,CE,61,F3,7B,18,A9,37,\
BC,24,8A,14,0C,D6,89,42,A0,80,6E,D9,BB,A2,48,82,\
86,08,73,52,AA,51,43,42,9F,7B,27,76,58,46,59,D4

After changing the value, the Start menu should update automatically.

In the attachments, you can find a registry file with all Start menu folders enabled, as well as a .txt file that can be renamed to .ps1 and used to configure the registry settings via PowerShell.
 

Attachments

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