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Solved Where did this File Explorer shortcut come from?
𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐬 𝐀𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐆𝐞𝐞𝐤
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I never noticed this until today. There's a File Explorer shortcut in my Start menu All Apps list. It's not there on my other PC, which has essentially the same apps, settings, and version of Windows.
I'm aware that this is a trivial concern, but I'd really like to know how this shortcut got there and how I can get rid of it.
I would never go through Start to All apps to the FE shortcut to open FE when there's a perfectly good shortcut to FE in the middle of my taskbar!
Windows Build/Version
22H2 900
Last edited: Dec 6, 2022
OS
11 Pro 24H2 26100.2454
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Manufacturer/Model
Lenovo ThinkCentre M920S SFF
CPU
i7-9700 @ 3.00GHz
Motherboard
Lenovo 3132
Memory
32GBDDR4 @ 2666MHz
Graphics Card(s)
Intel HD 630 Graphics onboard
Sound Card
Realtek HD Audio
Monitor(s) Displays
LG E2442
Screen Resolution
1920x1080
Hard Drives
1 x Samsung 970 EVO PLUS 500GB NVMe SSD, 1 x WD_BLACK SN770
250GB NVMe SSD (OS and programs), 1 x WD_BLACK SN770
500GB NVMe SSD (Data)
Case
Lenovo SFF
Keyboard
Cherry Stream TKL JK-8600US-2 Wired
Mouse
LogiTech M510 wireless
Internet Speed
Fast (for fixed wireless!)
Browser
Chrome, sometimes Firefox
Antivirus
Malwarebytes Premium & Defender (working together beautifully!)
Operating System
11 Pro 24H2 26100.2454
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Manufacturer/Model
Lenovo ThinkCentre M920S SFF
CPU
i5-8400 @ 2.80GHz
Motherboard
Lenovo 3132
Memory
32GB DDR4 @ 2600MHz
Graphics card(s)
Intel HD 630 Graphics onboard
Sound Card
Realtek High Definition Audio onboard
Monitor(s) Displays
LG FULL HD (1920x1080@59Hz)
Screen Resolution
1920 x 1080
Hard Drives
1 x Samsung 970 EVO PLUS NVMe; 1 x Samsung 980 NVMe SSD
Case
Lenovo Think Centre SFF
Mouse
LogiTech M510 wireless
Keyboard
Cherry Stream TKL JK-8600US-2 Wired
Internet Speed
Fast (for fixed wireless!)
Browser
Chrome
Antivirus
Malwarebytes Premium and MS Defender, beautiful together
Pragmatic Member
Pro User
VIP
You will find the shortcut here:
%APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs
OS
Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
Computer type
Laptop
Manufacturer/Model
ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. TUF Gaming FX705GM
CPU
2.20 gigahertz Intel i7-8750H Hyper-threaded 12 cores
Motherboard
ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. FX705GM 1.0
Memory
24428 Megabytes
Graphics Card(s)
Intel(R) UHD Graphics 630 / NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060
Sound Card
Intel(R) Display Audio / Realtek(R) Audio
Monitor(s) Displays
Integrated Monitor (17.3"vis)
Screen Resolution
FHD 1920X1080 16:9
Hard Drives
2 SSD SATA/NVM Express 1.3
WDS500G2B0A-00SM50 500.1 GB
WDCSDAPNUW-1002 256 GB
PSU
19V DC 6.32 A 120 W
Cooling
Dual Fans
Mouse
MS Bluetooth
Internet Speed
Fiber 1GB Cox -us & IGB Orange-fr
Browser
Edge Canary- Firefox Nightly-Chrome Dev-Chrome Dev
Antivirus
Windows Defender
Other Info
VMs of Windows 11 stable/Beta/Dev/Canary
VM of XeroLinux- Arch based & Debian 13 (Trixie)
Operating System
Windows 11 Insider Canary
Computer type
Laptop
Manufacturer/Model
ASUS X751BP
CPU
AMD Dual Core A6-9220
Motherboard
ASUS
Memory
8 GB
Graphics card(s)
AMD Radeon R5 M420
Sound Card
Realtek
Monitor(s) Displays
17.3
Screen Resolution
1600X900 16:9
Hard Drives
1TB 5400RPM
𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐬 𝐀𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐆𝐞𝐞𝐤
Pro User
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Thread Starter
@OAT
Should have thought of checking there. Thanks so much for pointing me to the solution. It's gone now.
OS
11 Pro 24H2 26100.2454
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Manufacturer/Model
Lenovo ThinkCentre M920S SFF
CPU
i7-9700 @ 3.00GHz
Motherboard
Lenovo 3132
Memory
32GBDDR4 @ 2666MHz
Graphics Card(s)
Intel HD 630 Graphics onboard
Sound Card
Realtek HD Audio
Monitor(s) Displays
LG E2442
Screen Resolution
1920x1080
Hard Drives
1 x Samsung 970 EVO PLUS 500GB NVMe SSD, 1 x WD_BLACK SN770
250GB NVMe SSD (OS and programs), 1 x WD_BLACK SN770
500GB NVMe SSD (Data)
Case
Lenovo SFF
Keyboard
Cherry Stream TKL JK-8600US-2 Wired
Mouse
LogiTech M510 wireless
Internet Speed
Fast (for fixed wireless!)
Browser
Chrome, sometimes Firefox
Antivirus
Malwarebytes Premium & Defender (working together beautifully!)
Operating System
11 Pro 24H2 26100.2454
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Manufacturer/Model
Lenovo ThinkCentre M920S SFF
CPU
i5-8400 @ 2.80GHz
Motherboard
Lenovo 3132
Memory
32GB DDR4 @ 2600MHz
Graphics card(s)
Intel HD 630 Graphics onboard
Sound Card
Realtek High Definition Audio onboard
Monitor(s) Displays
LG FULL HD (1920x1080@59Hz)
Screen Resolution
1920 x 1080
Hard Drives
1 x Samsung 970 EVO PLUS NVMe; 1 x Samsung 980 NVMe SSD
Case
Lenovo Think Centre SFF
Mouse
LogiTech M510 wireless
Keyboard
Cherry Stream TKL JK-8600US-2 Wired
Internet Speed
Fast (for fixed wireless!)
Browser
Chrome
Antivirus
Malwarebytes Premium and MS Defender, beautiful together
Well-known member
Power User
VIP
OS
Windows 11 Pro 24H2 (RP channel)
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Manufacturer/Model
MSI
CPU
AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D 8-core
Motherboard
MEG X870E Godlike
Memory
64GB Corsair Titanium 6000/CL30
Graphics Card(s)
MSI Suprim X 3080 Ti
Sound Card
Soundblaster AE-5 Plus
Monitor(s) Displays
ASUS TUF Gaming VG289Q
Screen Resolution
3840x2160
Hard Drives
Samsung 9100 Pro 4TB (gen 5 x4, system drive/games)
Samsung 990 Pro 2TB
Samsung 980 Pro 2TB
Samsung 870 Evo 4TB
Samsung T7 Touch 1TB
PSU
Seasonic PX-2200
Case
Bequiet! Dark Base Pro 901
Cooling
Noctua NH-D15S
Keyboard
Logitech G915 X (wired)
Mouse
Logitech G903 with PowerPlay charger
Internet Speed
900Mb/sec
Browser
Microsoft Edge
Antivirus
Windows Defender
𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐬 𝐀𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐆𝐞𝐞𝐤
Pro User
VIP
Thread Starter
@BrianInEngland
If you delete it from %APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs, it'll be gone forever.
OS
11 Pro 24H2 26100.2454
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Manufacturer/Model
Lenovo ThinkCentre M920S SFF
CPU
i7-9700 @ 3.00GHz
Motherboard
Lenovo 3132
Memory
32GBDDR4 @ 2666MHz
Graphics Card(s)
Intel HD 630 Graphics onboard
Sound Card
Realtek HD Audio
Monitor(s) Displays
LG E2442
Screen Resolution
1920x1080
Hard Drives
1 x Samsung 970 EVO PLUS 500GB NVMe SSD, 1 x WD_BLACK SN770
250GB NVMe SSD (OS and programs), 1 x WD_BLACK SN770
500GB NVMe SSD (Data)
Case
Lenovo SFF
Keyboard
Cherry Stream TKL JK-8600US-2 Wired
Mouse
LogiTech M510 wireless
Internet Speed
Fast (for fixed wireless!)
Browser
Chrome, sometimes Firefox
Antivirus
Malwarebytes Premium & Defender (working together beautifully!)
Operating System
11 Pro 24H2 26100.2454
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Manufacturer/Model
Lenovo ThinkCentre M920S SFF
CPU
i5-8400 @ 2.80GHz
Motherboard
Lenovo 3132
Memory
32GB DDR4 @ 2600MHz
Graphics card(s)
Intel HD 630 Graphics onboard
Sound Card
Realtek High Definition Audio onboard
Monitor(s) Displays
LG FULL HD (1920x1080@59Hz)
Screen Resolution
1920 x 1080
Hard Drives
1 x Samsung 970 EVO PLUS NVMe; 1 x Samsung 980 NVMe SSD
Case
Lenovo Think Centre SFF
Mouse
LogiTech M510 wireless
Keyboard
Cherry Stream TKL JK-8600US-2 Wired
Internet Speed
Fast (for fixed wireless!)
Browser
Chrome
Antivirus
Malwarebytes Premium and MS Defender, beautiful together
Same here, Default on my two Win11 Pro and one Win11 Home.
OS
Win11 Pro RTM
Computer type
Laptop
Manufacturer/Model
Dell Vostro 3400
CPU
Intel Core i5 11th Gen. 2.40GHz
Memory
12GB
Hard Drives
256GB SSD NVMe M.2
Operating System
Windows 11 Pro RTM x64
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Manufacturer/Model
Dell Vostro 5890
CPU
Intel Core i5 10th Gen. 2.90GHz
Memory
16GB
Graphics card(s)
Onboard, no VGA, using a DisplayPort-to-VGA adapter
Monitor(s) Displays
24" Dell
Hard Drives
512GB SSD NVMe, 4TB Seagate HDD
Browser
Firefox, Edge
Antivirus
Windows Defender/Microsoft Security
𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐬 𝐀𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐆𝐞𝐞𝐤
Pro User
VIP
Thread Starter
@Berton
Just another example of Microsoft's preference for absolutely unnecessary redundancy.
OS
11 Pro 24H2 26100.2454
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Manufacturer/Model
Lenovo ThinkCentre M920S SFF
CPU
i7-9700 @ 3.00GHz
Motherboard
Lenovo 3132
Memory
32GBDDR4 @ 2666MHz
Graphics Card(s)
Intel HD 630 Graphics onboard
Sound Card
Realtek HD Audio
Monitor(s) Displays
LG E2442
Screen Resolution
1920x1080
Hard Drives
1 x Samsung 970 EVO PLUS 500GB NVMe SSD, 1 x WD_BLACK SN770
250GB NVMe SSD (OS and programs), 1 x WD_BLACK SN770
500GB NVMe SSD (Data)
Case
Lenovo SFF
Keyboard
Cherry Stream TKL JK-8600US-2 Wired
Mouse
LogiTech M510 wireless
Internet Speed
Fast (for fixed wireless!)
Browser
Chrome, sometimes Firefox
Antivirus
Malwarebytes Premium & Defender (working together beautifully!)
Operating System
11 Pro 24H2 26100.2454
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Manufacturer/Model
Lenovo ThinkCentre M920S SFF
CPU
i5-8400 @ 2.80GHz
Motherboard
Lenovo 3132
Memory
32GB DDR4 @ 2600MHz
Graphics card(s)
Intel HD 630 Graphics onboard
Sound Card
Realtek High Definition Audio onboard
Monitor(s) Displays
LG FULL HD (1920x1080@59Hz)
Screen Resolution
1920 x 1080
Hard Drives
1 x Samsung 970 EVO PLUS NVMe; 1 x Samsung 980 NVMe SSD
Case
Lenovo Think Centre SFF
Mouse
LogiTech M510 wireless
Keyboard
Cherry Stream TKL JK-8600US-2 Wired
Internet Speed
Fast (for fixed wireless!)
Browser
Chrome
Antivirus
Malwarebytes Premium and MS Defender, beautiful together
@Berton
Just another example of Microsoft's preference for absolutely unnecessary redundancy.
Or maybe just a hold-over from similar on previous Versions to help folks get used to things?
OS
Win11 Pro RTM
Computer type
Laptop
Manufacturer/Model
Dell Vostro 3400
CPU
Intel Core i5 11th Gen. 2.40GHz
Memory
12GB
Hard Drives
256GB SSD NVMe M.2
Operating System
Windows 11 Pro RTM x64
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Manufacturer/Model
Dell Vostro 5890
CPU
Intel Core i5 10th Gen. 2.90GHz
Memory
16GB
Graphics card(s)
Onboard, no VGA, using a DisplayPort-to-VGA adapter
Monitor(s) Displays
24" Dell
Hard Drives
512GB SSD NVMe, 4TB Seagate HDD
Browser
Firefox, Edge
Antivirus
Windows Defender/Microsoft Security