Windows 8.x and Windows 10 include the Start Screen Control feature. This feature allows you to configure your Start Screen layout to prevent users from making changes. You can assign a default start screen over Group Policy Object. So, the Start Screen cannot be changed!
The first thing is to export your “default” start screen with the Export-StartLayout cmdlet. Open up an elevated command prompt and run the following command:
PS > Export-StartLayout –Path C:\DefaultStartMenu.xml
Below is the xml content:
<LayoutModificationTemplate Version="1" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/LayoutModification"> <LayoutOptions StartTileGroupCellWidth="6" /> <DefaultLayoutOverride> <StartLayoutCollection> <defaultlayout:StartLayout GroupCellWidth="6" xmlns:defaultlayout="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/FullDefaultLayout"> <start:Group Name="Default" xmlns:start="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/StartLayout"> <start:Tile Size="2x2" Column="0" Row="0" AppUserModelID="microsoft.windowscommunicationsapps_8wekyb3d8bbwe!microsoft.windowslive.calendar" /> <start:Tile Size="2x2" Column="0" Row="2" AppUserModelID="Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe!MicrosoftEdge" /> <start:Tile Size="4x2" Column="2" Row="0" AppUserModelID="Microsoft.WindowsStore_8wekyb3d8bbwe!App" /> <start:Tile Size="2x2" Column="2" Row="2" AppUserModelID="Microsoft.BingWeather_8wekyb3d8bbwe!App" /> <start:Tile Size="2x2" Column="4" Row="2" AppUserModelID="Microsoft.WindowsCalculator_8wekyb3d8bbwe!App" /> </start:Group> <start:Group Name="Others" xmlns:start="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/StartLayout"> <start:Tile Size="2x2" Column="0" Row="0" AppUserModelID="61908RichardWalters.Calculator_486nvj664v5b0!App" /> <start:Tile Size="2x2" Column="2" Row="0" AppUserModelID="Microsoft.Office.OneNote_8wekyb3d8bbwe!microsoft.onenoteim" /> </start:Group> </defaultlayout:StartLayout> </StartLayoutCollection> </DefaultLayoutOverride> </LayoutModificationTemplate>
Now, you can deploy it easily by GPO or import it manually with the Import-StartLayout cmdlet:
PS > Import-StartLayout -LayoutPath C:\DefaultStartMenu.xml -MountPath $env:SystemDrive\
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