The All Programs menu, which appears when you click or point to All Programs in the Start menu (Figure 2.8), displays all the programs that you, Windows Setup, your PC manufacturer, and/or your administrator have installed on your computer. Program installers add their own icons to the All Programs menu, but you can add, delete, or reorder them manually. The menu accepts not only program icons, but also document, folder, and disk icons.

By default, Windows keeps the All Programs menu sorted automatically: files alphabetically at top, followed by folders alphabetically. If you want to add an item to a specific place without having it jump to its sorted position, or if you want to move an item within the menu, turn off autosorting.

To turn off All Programs autosorting:

• Right-click the Start button and choose Properties > Customize > uncheck Sort All Programs Menu by Name > OK.

To add an item to the All Programs menu:
1. Locate the item (icon) that you want to add.
2. Drag the icon over the Start button and pause until the Start menu opens.
3. Continue to drag and pause over All Programs until the menu opens.
4. Drag the icon to the place in the All Programs menu where you want it to appear.
You can drag near the menu’s top or bottom edge to autoscroll up or down, or pause over a folder to open it. A black horizontal line shows where the icon will appear when you drop it (Figure 2.9).
5. Hold down Alt.
Holding down the Alt key guarantees that Windows will create a link (shortcut) in the All Programs menu rather than moving or copying the item to the All Programs folder.
6. Drop the icon on the All Programs menu and release Alt.

Tips

• Instead of dragging in step 2, you can right-drag instead. When you drop the icon, a shortcut menu appears to let you create the link (you don’t have to hold down Alt).
• Adding a folder to the All Programs menu creates a subfolder that lists its contents.
• The default name for an item’s shortcut ends with - Shortcut (Downloads - Shortcut, for example). To change the name, rightclick the item and choose Rename.
• If you can’t drag icons onto the All Programs menu, or if right-clicking the menu has no effect, turn on Start-menu dragging and dropping: Right-click the Start button and choose Properties > Customize > check Enable Context Menus and Dragging and Dropping > OK.
• If you’re using the classic (one-column) Start menu, you can manage icons with the Customize Classic Start Menu dialog box: Right-click Start and choose Properties > Customize.

To delete an item from the All Programs menu:
1. Right-click the item and choose Delete (Figure 2.10).
2. Confirm the deletion if a message box appears.

Tip

• To undelete an item from the Recycle Bin, see “Deleting Files and Folders” in Chapter 5.

To move an item in the All Programs menu:
1. Make sure that All Programs autosorting is turned off (described earlier in this section).
2. Drag the item to a new position. This technique works as shown in Figure 2.6.

To sort the All Programs menu alphabetically:

• Right-click any menu item and choose Sort by Name. (This command isn’t available if autosorting is turned on.) Windows sorts files in alphabetical order at the top, followed by folders in alphabetical order.

Tip

• You can use this command to sort any subfolder individually within the All Programs menu.

Figure 2.8 The All Programs menu superimposes itself over the left side of the Start menu.

Figure 2.9 If All Programs autosorting is turned off, the item stays where you drop it; otherwise, it jumps to its proper position in the sort order.

Figure 2.10 If your desktop is clear, you also can drag an item off the menu and drop it into the Recycle Bin to delete it.