How to Add an App to the Home Screen in Windows 11: A Simple Guide

Making App Pinning on Windows 11’s Home Screen a Breeze

Looking to streamline your Windows 11 setup? Pinning your favourite apps to the start menu or taskbar can really boost your productivity and make accessing tools much quicker. It’s easy as pie. Just open the Start menu, find your app, right-click, and choose to pin it — you can add it to your Start menu or the taskbar. For those who love a bit of a tech challenge, you can even do it via PowerShell for bulk pinning. Whatever works best for you! This way, your go-to apps are just a click away — no more rummaging through endless menus.

Getting Started with Pinning Apps

The goal is to make your workflow quicker by pinning frequently used apps. customise your workspace based on what you use daily. Here’s a quick rundown to get started:

Opening the Start Menu

First up, click the Windows icon in the corner of your screen. This opens the Start menu, your main hub for launching applications. Or, if you prefer shortcuts, just press the Windows key.

Locating Your App

Type your app’s name into the search bar for a speedy find or scroll through the list. Not sure of the exact name? Partial searches often bring up the right results. When the app appears, you’re nearly there.

Right-Click for Options

A right-click on the app icon opens a context menu with more options. Simply choose Pin to Start or Pin to taskbar. If you prefer keyboard shortcuts, select the icon and press Win + Z to open the menu quicker.

Pinning it Down

Select Pin to Start to add the app to your main menu, or Pin to taskbar to keep it handy at the bottom of your screen. For advanced users, you can even pin apps via the command line, though this usually relates to installing apps:

powershell -Command "Add-AppxPackage -Path 'C:\\Path\\To\\App.appxupload'"

Note: The above command is for installing apps – Windows doesn’t have a dedicated command for pinning apps directly. However, with some tweaks using layout files or third-party tools, automation is possible if you’re into that kind of thing.

Checking Your Pinned Apps

After pinning, verify that the app appears in your Start menu or on the taskbar. If it seems to be hiding, try refreshing the menu or restarting explorer.exe. To do that, open Task Manager with Ctrl + Shift + Esc, locate Windows Explorer, right-click and select Restart. Sometimes, a full restart of your PC is the easiest fix.

Useful Tips for Pinning Apps

Keep your most-used apps pinned to the taskbar for instant access — a real time saver during busy days.
You can resize tiles in the Start menu by right-clicking and choosing Resize. It helps keep things tidy and organised.
Create folders by dragging apps over each other within the Start menu to group related tools. Less clutter, more organisation.
Want to find apps fast? Use Search (press Windows key + S) to quickly locate pinned or unpinned apps.
Periodically review and clean your pinned apps. Right-click and select Unpin from Start or Unpin from taskbar to keep your workspace uncluttered.

Frequently Asked Questions about Pinning Apps

Can I pin any installed app?

Most of the time, yes! If the app is in your Start menu, it’s usually easy to pin. Some older or standalone apps might not show up unless you create a shortcut first. You can find hidden apps in All Apps or create shortcuts manually in the Start menu folder:

shell:Start Menu

What if my app isn’t appearing in the Start menu?

This can happen if the app wasn’t installed correctly or isn’t registered properly. You can add it manually by navigating to the Start menu folder, such as:

Right-click in Start menu: %AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs
Create a shortcut to the app’s executable file.
Right-click that shortcut and select your pinning preference.

If that doesn’t do the trick, you can try re-registering the Start menu using PowerShell:

powershell -Command "& {Start-Process PowerShell -Verb RunAs; & {Get-StartApps}}"

How do I remove an app from the home screen or taskbar?

Simply right-click the icon and choose Unpin from Start or Unpin from taskbar. For a more automated approach, PowerShell scripts can clear pinned apps, for example:

Get-StartApps | Remove-AppXPackage -Package ""

Can I pin an app in multiple places at once?

Absolutely! You can pin apps both to the Start menu and taskbar. For those into automation, PowerShell or third-party tools like StartisBack can manage multiple pinned locations with ease.

Is there a limit to how many apps I can pin?

There’s no fixed limit, but cluttered tiles can make your interface messy. It’s best to organise your apps into folders or keep only your most-used at the ready on the taskbar.

Wrapping Up

Pinning apps isn’t just about convenience — it’s about tailoring Windows 11 to suit your workflow. Head over to Settings > Personalisation > Start to tweak options like Show more pins or Use small tiles for a cleaner look.

If you want to save your layout for future use, you can export and import Start menu arrangements using PowerShell, like so:

Export-StartLayout -Path "C:\\Layout.xml"