How to Create and Organise Start Menu Folders in Windows 11

The Windows 11 Start menu features a streamlined “Pinned” apps section where you can keep your most frequently launched software within immediate reach. However, as you pin more applications, browsers, and utilities, the pinned grid can quickly overflow across multiple pages. To maintain a clean, compact layout, Windows 11 allows you to group related pinned apps into custom Start menu folders—similar to grouping apps on a smartphone home screen.

Requirements for Start Menu Folders

Start menu folder grouping is supported natively in Windows 11 Version 22H2 and all later releases (including 23H2 and 24H2). If your system is up to date, you do not need third-party modification utilities or registry tweaks to organise your pinned apps into structured directories.

How to Create an App Folder in the Start Menu

Creating a new folder requires a simple drag-and-drop gesture:

1. Click the Start button on the taskbar (or press the Windows key) to open the Start menu.
2. Locate the Pinned apps section near the top of the menu.
3. Click and hold any pinned application icon with your mouse.
4. Drag the icon directly on top of another pinned app you wish to group with it (e.g., drag Spotify on top of VLC Media Player).
5. Release the mouse button. Windows 11 will automatically create a new rounded folder icon containing miniature previews of both applications.
6. Drag additional related applications into the newly created folder at any time.

Naming and Renaming Start Menu Folders

By default, newly generated folders do not have a title. Giving each folder a clear category label improves visual organisation:

1. Click on the folder in your Start menu to expand its contents into an overlay tray.
2. At the top of the expanded folder, click on the text field reading Edit name.
3. Type your desired category name (such as “Productivity”, “Browsers”, “Media”, or “Games”).
4. Press Enter or click outside the text box to save the label.
5. The folder will now proudly display your category name on the main Start menu screen.

Rearranging and Removing Apps from Folders

Managing the contents of your Start menu folders is intuitive:

• Reorder within a Folder: Click a folder to open it, then drag icons around to adjust which app appears in the top preview slot.
• Remove an App: Drag an application icon out of the expanded folder tray and drop it back onto the open Start menu canvas.
• Dissolve a Folder: If you remove apps until only one single icon remains inside, Windows 11 automatically dissolves the folder container and restores the remaining app as a standard pinned icon.