Booting your Windows 10 operating system takes you to the desktop. Below it is the Taskbar where you pin your frequently used applications. To the extreme left-hand corner is the start button that contains the start menu with various Windows useful programs and features.
Image showing missing item at the Start Menu
When the Start Menu files you enabled are missing from there it takes little more effort to navigate around to get the folder you want to use, most especially, from the Start Menu. The usefulness of this feature becomes obvious when it is disabled. The cause of this problem can be related to different culprits, ranging from bug to shortcut issues. In many cases it is due to shortcuts error in the 'Start Menu Places' which prevent normal operation and disable the 'Choose which folders appear on Start' section of the Settings automatically.
Image of a disabled Settings for Start Menu items
However, the problem is easily solvable and it requires rudimentary process which I am going to state step by step below.
Red arrows pointing to how to empty Recycle Bin at the desktop
STEP 1: Right-click on 'Recycle Bin' and select 'Empty recycle Bin' from the drop-down menu to empty it.
Red indicating location of Windows Key + R
STEP 2: Press Windows Key + R to open 'Run' dialog.
Red arrows pointing to process
STEP 3: Type or copy and paste C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu Places into 'Run' and click 'OK' to continue.
Image of Start Menu Places folder
STEP 4: Select all the shortcuts in the 'Start Menu Places' directory or folder , right-click on your mouse or touchpad and choose 'Delete' from the drop-down menu to remove all the files.
Arrows showing how to restore files from recycle Bin
STEP 5: Double-click on ' Recycle Bin' to open it. Select all the files, right-click on your mouse or touchpad and choose 'Restore'.
Image of Windows 10 Settings
STEP 6: Click on 'Start button' and select 'Settings' to continue.
Image of an enabled 'Choose which folders appear on Start' section of Settings
STEP 7: At 'Settings' click on 'Personalization', next go to 'Start' and click on 'Choose which folders appear on Start' link below to the right-hand side of the dialog to choose which files you want to appear on the 'Start Menu'.
