Adding Custom Tiles to the Windows 10 Start Menu (including files) with no external software

[colonel_mortis]

By default on Windows 10, it's not possible to pin files or programs with specific command lines to the start menu - when you try to add it, you get

However, using no external software, you can add anything you like to the start menu, and you don't even need to make any registry tweaks.

• Open Windows Explorer (or press Win+E), and enter shell:Programs (or if you want the tiles to be pinnable on all accounts, enter shell:Common Programs instead) into the address bar.
• Create a new folder in here - you can name it anything you like, but I called mine "Custom Shortcuts".
• Inside this new folder, create shortcuts to any files or executables that you want to use, either by right click-dragging the file into the folder then clicking "Create Shortcut Here" or by right clicking in the folder and going to new->shortcut. If it's an executable program, you can customise the icon that will show on the start menu by opening the shortcut properties and clicking "Change Icon" on the Shortcut tab (the windows default icons can be found in C:\Windows\system32\imageres.dll)
• Open the Start Menu->All Apps, then open the new folder that you created and drag the file into the pinned pane. It should turn into a tile when you release it.
  
• As a bonus, now the new shortcut will also be prioritised when you search from the Start Menu/Search Bar

If you delete the shortcut from the custom folder, it will also remove it from the start menu, so you need to leave it there.
 
This method should also work for steam games, websites, and anything else that you might want to pin. The only disadvantage is that you are limited to only small and medium tiles (no wide or large tiles), and there's no way to have content displayed on it. If you really need either of those options, Pin More (on the Windows Store) might work for you. At time of posting, it's temporarily free. Combine it with SnowyDune Launcher (by the same person) to be able to launch programs with specific command lines. Note though that in my experience, it's really slow because when you click the tile, it launches the modern UI app, which takes a few seconds, before then launching the program that you want to run.

For better tiles for pinned steam games, you can download Steam Tile from the Windows Store.

 

Why this isn't a stock feature of Windows 10 I don't know, but at least it's not too difficult to fix.

[C0LL0SS0S]

thats neat, a bit too late since I just downloaded Pin More but I'll appreciate your post

[Arty]

Steam games thier is a steam tile feature. windows app store

in which you can pin steam games to task bar with nice pretty tiles.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/apps/steam-tile/9wzdncrfhzkv

[Guest]

"it launches the modern UI app, which takes a few seconds"

 

gotta love SSDs, I can barely see the Pin More screen it's so fast

[colonel_mortis]

Steam games thier is a steam tile feature. windows app store

in which you can pin steam games to task bar with nice pretty tiles.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/apps/steam-tile/9wzdncrfhzkv

Added to OP

[colonel_mortis]

"it launches the modern UI app, which takes a few seconds"

 

gotta love SSDs, I can barely see the Pin More screen it's so fast

Weird - I have an SSD, but it still took a good two seconds to launch. Maybe it's just because I had only recently installed it, or because I'd only just closed it. IDK, but this method is still more elegant IMO (and doesn't require that you pick colours and icons for all sizes).