Member Avatar for ice_breaker

Often, we want to access to word,powerpoint or excel. We click start -> all programs -> microsoft office -> choose word,ppoint or excel.

My friend's computer does not show it. Anybody knows how to find and add these to start menu. Please advise

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Helpful summary and next steps (adds to advice from , , and )

Several replies are on the right track: the Office programs themselves are normally still installed even when their Start menu shortcuts were moved or deleted. Rather than hunting for individual *.exe files, it’s faster and more reliable to look in the Start‑menu folders that Windows actually uses, and to recreate or let the Office installer/repair recreate the missing links.

Where Windows keeps Start menu entries (per‑user vs. all users)

  • Older Windows (XP era) uses user profile folders under C:\Documents and Settings\…\Start Menu\Programs; modern Windows uses the roaming and common Start menu folders under the user profile and ProgramData respectively (AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs for the current user, C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs for all users). (learn.microsoft.com)

How to open those folders quickly (so shortcuts can be inspected or restored)

  • The Run/explorer “shell:” names open them directly: shell:Programs opens the current user Programs folder and shell:Common Programs opens the shared (All Users) Programs folder. Right‑clicking the Start button and choosing the Explorer/Open variants also exposes the Start menu folders on older systems. These are the places to check when icons vanished or were moved. (pureinfotech.com)

If shortcuts are truly missing or Office entries won’t appear

  • Confirm Office is still installed; if items are missing even though Office is present, run the Office repair tool (Programs & Features / Apps & features → Change/Repair) or rerun the installer to restore Start‑menu entries. Administrator rights are required to change the shared (All Users) folder. If the system is 64‑bit, remember 32‑bit Office shortcuts may point to locations under Program Files (x86). (support.microsoft.com)

Notes: ’s warning about moving rather than copying shortcuts is important for preventing accidental loss. If Group Policy or hidden attributes have been applied, Start menu folders can be suppressed — check folder attributes and policy if the Programs list still won’t show. (learn.microsoft.com)

Recommended Answers

All 13 Replies

Member Avatar for sillyboy

If you locate the executables (e.g. C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12) simply right-click + drag theem onto the start menu and into the location you want. you can then set it as a shortcut

Member Avatar for ice_breaker

I'll meet my friend on Mon. I'll follow your instructions to see whether it works on his laptop and I'll let ya know the result right after that. Thanks

Member Avatar for MidiMagic

The real problem is usually that someone has dragged the icons to the desktop, then later deleted them. Now they are gone.

Be sure to COPY icons when you put them somewhere, rather than moving them.

Member Avatar for abu taher

I think it was right. I did it before and got benifit.

Member Avatar for MidiMagic

They made a change in Windows that removed the protection from dragging the icons out of the start menu. They used to be protected from change, but they are no longer protected.

It is always safer to copy the shortcuts.

Member Avatar for ice_breaker

It's been solved by dragging these shortcuts into start menu. My question is what happens if those shortcuts have been deleted. How can we find them?

Member Avatar for sillyboy

well a shortcut is just that. a shortcut to some application, so if it has been deleted you need to simply replace the shorcut. you don't need to find the shortcut, but the actual application to replace them. if you are lucky enough to have other shortcuts lying around you can have a look at the "target" should be in the properties.

for me personally, finding the application is just a matter of crawling the usual suspects (i.e. C:\, C:\Program Files etc...). usually there is a company name as a folder (blah blah blah... i'm sure you get the point). if it is in an obscure location and you can't seem to find it (e.g. google chrome) look it up on google.

Member Avatar for ice_breaker

It seems you haven't faced my situation. I know google is the best place to look for needed info. Thanks anyway

Member Avatar for MidiMagic

Find the original program's exe file, right click, and select Create Shortcut. It will be created in the same folder. Then drag the shortcut where you want it. Repeat for more shortcuts.

This works best in Windows Explorer with the Folders pane open.

Member Avatar for uthman4u2nv

if the shortcut has been deleted from desktop you can always replace it by going back to the application whereever you saved it, you right click on the application then you select send to, then you select desktop (create shortcut), and voila its replaced, and from there you can move it to anywhere you like.

Member Avatar for ice_breaker

Thanks MidiMagic and uthman4u2nv for guiding me. I have tried and it does work.

Thanks again.
Ice

Member Avatar for smith_

right click the start menu > go to it's properties and you can find here to add the program to start menu that you want...

Member Avatar for ice_breaker

I have accessed to the properties of start menu, but I can't find me. Pls guide me step by step to find it out. Thanks

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