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.
Backup and restore items pinned to Start Menu in Windows 11/10
Let’s first check how you can backup pinned Start menu items for the current user and then restore those items. Later, we will show you how to backup items pinned to the Start menu for a specific user.
Backup items pinned to Start menu for the current user in Windows 11/10
Here are the steps:
Open File Explorer of your Windows 11/10 computerPaste the following path to the address bar of File Explorer to access the LocalState folder:
Press the Enter keyYou will see a start.bin file. This is the file that contains data of your pinned Start menu items. Copy that filePaste 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 11/10
The steps are as follows:
Open your Windows 11/10 File ExplorerPaste the path given below in the address bar of File Explorer to go to the LocalState folder:
Press the Enter keyDelete the existing start.bin fileCopy the start.bin file that you backed upPaste the copied start.bin file to the LocalState folderFinally, 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 11/10
You need to follow these steps:
Open the File ExplorerAccess the LocalState folder. The path is:
Replace ENTERUSERNAMEFOLDER with the actual folder name for that specific userHit the Enter keyYou will see a start.bin file. Copy itPaste 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 11/10
Let’s check the steps:
Launch the File ExplorerGo to the LocalState folder by following this path:
Replace ENTERUSERNAMEFOLDER with the original folder name of that user for which you want to restore pinned Start menu itemsTap on the Enter keyDelete start.bin file present in LocalState folderCopy the start.bin file that you backed up previouslyPaste the copied start.bin file under the LocalState folderRestart the File Explorer.
All pinned Start menu items will be visible again as it is 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?
If you want to backup the Start menu layout of your Windows 11/10 computer, then there are two ways to do it. You can: Hope you find this helpful.
