If you want to backup and restore items pinned to the Start Menu of your Windows 11/10 computer, then this post will help you. Once you have the backup and such or some of those pinned items are removed accidentally or for any other reason, you will be able to easily restore all those items anytime you want. Moreover, you will have the choice to backup pinned Start menu items for the current user or for a specific user. We have added step-by-step instructions for both cases.
Apart from that, you will also be able to restore the layout of your pinned Start menu items. So, let’s say if you have moved some item to the top and it is replaced with some other item and other pinned items are rearranged, then the backup of your pinned Start menu items will help you restore them as it is.
How to backup and restore Start Menu Pinned Items in Windows 11
Let’s first check how you can back up pinned Start menu items for the current user and then restore those items. Later, we will show you how to back up items pinned to the Start menu for a specific user.
Backup items pinned to Start menu for the current user in Windows 11
Here are the steps:
- Open File Explorer of your Windows 11/10 computer
- Paste the following path to the address bar of File Explorer to access the LocalState folder:
%LocalAppData%\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.StartMenuExperienceHost_cw5n1h2txyewy\LocalState
- Press the Enter key
- You will see a start.bin file. This is the file that contains data of your pinned Start menu items. Copy that file
- Paste the copied start.bin file to the desktop or any folder in your Windows 11/10 computer.
That’s it! You have successfully backed up pinned Start menu items for the current user.
Restore items pinned to Start menu for the current user in Windows 11
The steps are as follows:
- Open your Windows 11/10 File Explorer
- Paste the path given below in the address bar of File Explorer to go to the LocalState folder:
%LocalAppData%\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.StartMenuExperienceHost_cw5n1h2txyewy\LocalState
- Press the Enter key
- Delete the existing start.bin file
- Copy the start.bin file that you backed up
- Paste the copied start.bin file to the LocalState folder
- Finally, just restart File Explorer.
This will successfully restore pinned Start menu items for the current user.
Backup pinned Start menu items for a particular user in Windows 11
You need to follow these steps:
- Open the File Explorer
- Access the LocalState folder. The path is:
C:\Users\ENTERUSERNAMEFOLDER\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.StartMenuExperienceHost_cw5n1h2txyewy\LocalState
- Replace ENTERUSERNAMEFOLDER with the actual folder name for that specific user
- Hit the Enter key
- You will see a start.bin file. Copy it
- Paste the copied start.bin file to a folder of your choice.
Now the pinned Start menu items for that particular user are backed up successfully.
Restore pinned Start menu items for a particular user in Windows 11
Let’s check the steps:
- Launch the File Explorer
- Go to the LocalState folder by following this path:
C:\Users\ENTERUSERNAMEFOLDER\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.StartMenuExperienceHost_cw5n1h2txyewy\LocalState
- Replace ENTERUSERNAMEFOLDER with the original folder name of that user for which you want to restore pinned Start menu items
- Tap on the Enter key
- Delete start.bin file present in LocalState folder
- Copy the start.bin file that you backed up previously
- Paste the copied start.bin file under the LocalState folder
- Restart the File Explorer.
All pinned Start menu items will be visible again, as they are in the Start menu for that particular user.
Also read: How to Backup and Restore pinned Taskbar items in Windows 11/10
Where are pinned Start menu items stored?
All the pinned Start menu items are stored under the LocalState folder in a start.bin file. You will have the option if you want to access that start.bin file for a particular user or the current user. The path to access that file for the current user and a particular user is already mentioned in this post above. Once you access that file, simply copy it to have a backup of your pinned Start menu items. Later, when you want to restore all those pinned items, you can use that backup file to restore it.
How do I backup my Start Menu layout in Windows 11?
If you want to back up the Start menu layout on your Windows 11/10 computer, there are two ways to do it. You can:
- Use a freeware named Backup Start Menu Layout to backup the Start menu layout. Later, you can use the same free tool to reset your Start menu layout
- Manually backup, restore, and reset Start menu layout in Windows 11/10 computer.
Hope you find this helpful.
