Backup & restore the start menu layout in Windows 10
Software: Windows 10 | Last modified on 2018-06-18
Backup or restore the start menu layout on any Windows 10 PC.
[Step 1] Backup the Start Menu database
- Open the Control Panel and click Appearance and Personalisation.
- Open File Explorer Options and select View.
- Check Show hidden files, folders and drives and click OK to save the setting.
- Open the Windows Explorer and navigate to C:\Users \Username \AppData \Local \TileDataLayer. Replace Username with your account name.
- Copy the Database folder and save the folder on an external location.
You're able to use this folder on any Windows 10 installation to restore your Start Menu layout.
[Step 2] Restore the Start Menu database
- Sign in with an administrator account other than the account where you want to restore the backup.
- Open the Windows Explorer and navigate to C:\Users \Username \AppData \Local \TileDataLayer. Replace Username with the account name where you want to restore the backup.
- Rename the Database folder into Database.old and paste the backup folder inside the TileDataLayer folder.
- Sign in with the account you've used in step 2 and the restored menu will load.