How to pin file to start menu windows 10

 Ok, this is a workaround that worked for me.

Any shortcut to a file you put in here:

C:\Users\*YourUserName*\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs

will appear in the "All apps" list under the Windows "Start" button on the taskbar. (Note: "AppData" is a hidden folder, so from file explorer, you might want to go to "view" and put a checkbox beside "hidden items" first. Otherwise type the whole string into File Explorer to get to this folder.)

To pin a File, 
1. Right-click on the File you want to pin to the Start Screen.
2. Click "Copy"
3. Go to "C:\Users\*YourUserName*\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs"
4. Right-click again in the folder window, then click "Paste shortcut"
5. Go to your "All apps" list under the Start button, and scroll down to find the name of the File you just pasted.
6. Right click on this file from the "Apps list" and click "Pin to start".
7. Your done.

There is a registry hack to enable "Pin to start" from the Right Click menu. For those who don't mind editing the registry, 

Ok, as promised here is the Registry hack for Windows 10 that will save you about 4 steps in the previous method. This is a bit more elegant, but involves a registry edit.

First we want to create the Registry value to merge with the Registry. To do so, open up Notepad and copy and paste the below code just as it appears into a new text document.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\PintoStartScreen]
@="{470C0EBD-5D73-4d58-9CED-E91E22E23282}"

Save the text file to your desktop with a name like, "PinToStartHack.txt"

Now, Right-click on this text file and rename the file extension from ".txt" to ".reg", so your text file will now be called "PinToStartHack.reg"

Double click this file to merge its contents with your Registry.



Click Yes.




Click OK.


IMPORTANT: You'll only be able to Pin a Shortcut to any file, not the actual file itself. So you'll need to create the shortcut first, right-click it and choose pin to start, then delete the shortcut. So let's do that.

Right-click on the File you want to pin (My Holiday Plans.docx in the example below), and click "Create shortcut".

Next, right click on the shortcut you just created, and choose, "Pin to Start"



Once you have pinned the File, you can then delete the shortcut. (Right-click on the shortcut you created and choose, "Delete shortcut".)

Now, go to the Start Screen, and you should see your File as the last tile on the Start Screen.


Enjoy :-)

To Remove the Registry Hack

If for some unknown reason, you wish to delete the registry entry, just type "regedit" in the search bar, and run "regedit.exe". Then drill down to

"HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\PintoStartScreen"

Delete the "PintoStartScreen" folder item.

Close the registry editor.