News Ditch Useless Apps: How to Customize the Power User Menu in Windows

Right-clicking the Start button in Windows 8.1, 10, or 11 brings up a menu with commands for Power Options, Device Manager, Task Manager, File Explorer, and more. It’s called the power user menu because it provides one-click access to some of the more powerful features in Windows.

But what if a command you never use takes up space here? Or what if your favorite command doesn’t exist? For example, maybe you don’t use Event Viewer, or maybe you’re still using Control Panel and want to have access to it. You can tweak the power user menu in File Explorer, but there’s a limit to how much you can control, and Microsoft hasn’t made it easy. Instead, you’re better off turning to a third-party utility called Win+X Menu Editor.

First, right-click the Start button or press Windows key + X Check out the power user menu. Depending on which version of Windows you’re running, you’ll see slightly different commands.

Windows 8.1 provides the following commands:

• Programs and Features

• mobile center

• power options

• event viewer

• system

• device Manager

• Internet connection

• disk management

• computer management

• command prompt

• Command Prompt (Admin)

• task manager

• control Panel

• file manager

• search

• running

• shutdown or logout

• desktop

Windows 10 provides the following commands:

Windows 11 provides the following commands:

• Apps and Features

• power options

• event viewer

• system

• device Manager

• Internet connection

• disk management

• computer management

• Windows terminal

• Windows Terminal (Administrator)

• task manager

• set up

• file manager

• search

• running

• shutdown or logout

• desktop

First, let’s see how to modify the power user menu in File Explorer. In Windows 8.1, 10 or 11, open File Explorer and navigate to the following folder. (If you don’t see the AppData folder, turn on the “Hidden Items” option from the “View” menu).

C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\WinX

You will see three groups listed, each representing one of the three sections in the power user menu. Group 1 contains commands for bottom sections, such as the desktop. Group 2 contains commands in the middle, such as Task Manager, Search, and File Explorer. Group 3 contains commands from the top section, such as Computer Management, Disk Management, and System.

Power User Menu in File Explorer

With File Explorer, you can’t really modify the power user menu, but you can make some tweaks. For example, you can move shortcuts from one section to another. To try this out, select a shortcut in Group 2 and either cut and paste or drag and drop it into Group 1. Move any other shortcuts from one group to another.

Move shortcuts from one section to another.

To see changes, log out of Windows, and then log back in. Right-click on the Start button.

You cannot add new shortcuts to any group, but you can create a new group to hold specific shortcuts. Return to the WinX folder. Create a new folder and name it Group4. Then move some shortcuts from another group to the new Group4 folder.

Log out and log back in again. Right-click the Start button to see your changes.

A more efficient and effective way is to use third-party utilities to modify power user menus, and Win+X Menu Editor is certainly up to the task. The program fully supports Windows 8.1 and 10, but does not run reliably in Windows 11, possibly due to changes made by Microsoft to the Power User Menu in recent versions of Windows.

Get the Win+X Menu Editor from the pages of the Winaero website(opens in new window). Scroll to the bottom of the page and click the link to download the program. Download and unzip the WinXMenuEditorRelease.zip file. From the unzipped folder, double-click the WinXEditor.exe file to start the program.

If you haven’t made any changes to the Power User menu, you’ll see three groups of shortcuts listed – Group1, Group2, and Group3.

delete command

Let’s try to delete a command first. Maybe you don’t use event viewer and want to remove that command.In the Group3 folder, right-click the Event Viewer shortcut and select remove from the popup menu.

change order

Now, maybe you want to change the order of some commands. Right-click on the specific command to move.In the pop-up menu, click move to top to move it to the top of the menu, move to bottom Move it to the bottom of the menu, promote move it up one bit, or move down Move it down one.

move to another group

You can also move commands to different groups. Perhaps you want to move the command from group 2 to group 1 so that it is placed further down the overall menu.Right-click the command in group 2, hover over the move to groupthen select Group1.

add command

Now suppose you want to add a command. Maybe you missed a shortcut for Control Panel.Right-click Group2, hover over Add, and choose Add control panel item.

Add all control panel items

In the window for adding a control panel item, click the All Control Panel Items then choose.

Customize to your liking

You can continue to modify the menu by removing, moving and adding items, and creating new groups.When you’re done and want to see your new work, log out and back in to Windows, or simply click the restart explorer Win+X button in the menu editor.

Right-click the Start button and you’ll see the new and hopefully improved power user menu.

If you don’t like the changes you’ve made, you can restore the menu to its default state with a single click Restore Defaults In the Win+X menu editor.