Hi,

For our Windows 10 deployment we want the start menu to be pre-configured to our likings. We have tried this with several methods, the default user profile is the best option.

We copy our layout in the default user profile (c:\users\default\appdata\local\microsoft\windows\shell). Something is probably wrong with our layout because after loading a new user profile we only see the settings tile in the start menu.
When we try this with a slightly edited version of the defaultlayouts.xml this does work, so something is clearly wrong with our layout.

Below the layouts we have used.

The layout that works:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<FullDefaultLayoutTemplate 
    xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/FullDefaultLayout"
    xmlns:start="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/StartLayout"
    Version="1">
    <StartLayoutCollection>
      <!-- 6 cell wide Desktop layout N-SKU with Preinstalled apps and no Cortana -->
      <StartLayout
          GroupCellWidth="6">
        <start:Group
            LocalizedNameResourceTag="TileGrid_DefaultGroup1">
          <start:Tile
              AppUserModelID="microsoft.windowscommunicationsapps_8wekyb3d8bbwe!Microsoft.WindowsLive.Calendar"
              Size="2x2"
              Row="0"
              Column="0"/>
          <start:Tile
              AppUserModelID="microsoft.windowscommunicationsapps_8wekyb3d8bbwe!Microsoft.WindowsLive.Mail"
              Size="4x2"
              Row="0"
              Column="2"/>
          <start:Tile
              AppUserModelID="Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe!MicrosoftEdge"
              Size="4x2"
              Row="2"
              Column="0"/>
          <start:Tile
              AppUserModelID="Microsoft.Windows.Photos_8wekyb3d8bbwe!App"
              Size="2x2"
              Row="2"
              Column="4"/>
          <start:Tile
              AppUserModelID="Microsoft.BingWeather_8wekyb3d8bbwe!App"
              Size="2x2"
              Row="4"
              Column="0"/>
          <start:Tile
              AppUserModelID="Microsoft.WindowsPhone_8wekyb3d8bbwe!CompanionApp.App"
              Size="2x2"
              Row="4"
              Column="2"/>
          <start:SecondaryTile
              AppUserModelID="Microsoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager_cw5n1h2txyewy!App"
              TileID="PreInstalled.DefaultStartLayout1.1"
              Arguments="creative-ms:default?p=DefaultStartLayout1&amp;launch=ms-windows-store://"
              DisplayName=" "
              ShowNameOnSquare150x150Logo="true"
              Square150x150LogoUri="ms-appx:///Experiences/PreInstalledApps/DefaultSquareTileLogo1.png"
              IsSuggestedApp="true"
              Size="2x2"
              Row="4"
              Column="4"/>
          <start:Tile
              AppUserModelID="Microsoft.WindowsStore_8wekyb3d8bbwe!App"
              Size="4x2"
              Row="6"
              Column="0"/>
          <start:SecondaryTile
              AppUserModelID="Microsoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager_cw5n1h2txyewy!App"
              TileID="PreInstalled.DefaultStartLayout2.1"
              Arguments="creative-ms:default?p=DefaultStartLayout2&amp;launch=ms-windows-store://"
              DisplayName=" "
              ShowNameOnSquare150x150Logo="true"
              Square150x150LogoUri="ms-appx:///Experiences/PreInstalledApps/DefaultSquareTileLogo1.png"
              IsSuggestedApp="true"
              Size="2x2"
              Row="6"
              Column="4"/>
        </start:Group>
        <start:Group
            LocalizedNameResourceTag="TileGrid_DefaultGroup2">
          <start:Tile
              AppUserModelID="Microsoft.MicrosoftSolitaireCollection_8wekyb3d8bbwe!App"
              Size="2x2"
              Row="0"
              Column="0"/>
          <start:Tile
              AppUserModelID="Microsoft.XboxApp_8wekyb3d8bbwe!Microsoft.XboxApp"
              Size="4x2"
              Row="0"
              Column="2"/>
          <start:DesktopApplicationTile
              DesktopApplicationID="Microsoft.Windows.Explorer"
              Size="2x2"
              Row="4"
              Column="0"/>
          <start:SecondaryTile
              AppUserModelID="Microsoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager_cw5n1h2txyewy!App"
              TileID="PreInstalled.DefaultStartLayout2.2"
              Arguments="creative-ms:default?p=DefaultStartLayout2&amp;launch=ms-windows-store://"
              DisplayName=" "
              ShowNameOnSquare150x150Logo="true"
              Square150x150LogoUri="ms-appx:///Experiences/PreInstalledApps/DefaultSquareTileLogo3.png"
              IsSuggestedApp="true"
              Size="2x2"
              Row="2"
              Column="4"/>
          <start:SecondaryTile
              AppUserModelID="Microsoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager_cw5n1h2txyewy!App"
              TileID="PreInstalled.DefaultStartLayout1.2"
              Arguments="creative-ms:default?p=DefaultStartLayout1&amp;launch=ms-windows-store://"
              DisplayName=" "
              ShowNameOnSquare150x150Logo="true"
              Square150x150LogoUri="ms-appx:///Experiences/PreInstalledApps/DefaultSquareTileLogo2.png"
              IsSuggestedApp="true"
              Size="2x2"
              Row="4"
              Column="0"/>
          <start:Tile
              AppUserModelID="Microsoft.BingNews_8wekyb3d8bbwe!AppexNews"
              Size="4x2"
              Row="4"
              Column="2"/>
          <start:SecondaryTile
              AppUserModelID="Microsoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager_cw5n1h2txyewy!App"
              TileID="PreInstalled.DefaultStartLayout1.3"
              Arguments="creative-ms:default?p=DefaultStartLayout1&amp;launch=ms-windows-store://"
              DisplayName=" "
              ShowNameOnSquare150x150Logo="true"
              Square150x150LogoUri="ms-appx:///Experiences/PreInstalledApps/DefaultSquareTileLogo2.png"
              IsSuggestedApp="true"
              Size="2x2"
              Row="6"
              Column="0"/>
          <start:Tile
              AppUserModelID="Microsoft.Office.OneNote_8wekyb3d8bbwe!microsoft.onenoteim"
              Size="2x2"
              Row="6"
              Column="2"/>
          <start:Tile
              AppUserModelID="Microsoft.MicrosoftOfficeHub_8wekyb3d8bbwe!Microsoft.MicrosoftOfficeHub"
              Size="2x2"
              Row="6"
              Column="4"/>
        </start:Group>
      </StartLayout>
	  </StartLayoutCollection> 
</FullDefaultLayoutTemplate>

The layout that doesn't work:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<FullDefaultLayoutTemplate 
    xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/FullDefaultLayout"
    xmlns:start="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/StartLayout"
    Version="1">
    <StartLayoutCollection>
      <StartLayout
          GroupCellWidth="6">
        <start:Group 
		LocalizedNameResourceTag="TileGrid_DefaultGroup1">
          <start:Tile
              AppUserModelID="Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe!MicrosoftEdge"
              Size="4x2"
              Row="0"
              Column="0"/>
          <start:Tile
              DesktopApplicationID="Chrome"
              Size="2x2"
              Row="0"
              Column="4"/>
		</start:Group>
		<start:Group
			LocalizedNameResourceTag="TileGrid_DefaultGroup2">
          <start:Tile
              DesktopApplicationID="Microsoft.Office.OUTLOOK.EXE.15"
              Size="2x2"
              Row="0"
              Column="0"/>
          <start:Tile
              DesktopApplicationID="Microsoft.Office.EXCEL.EXE.15"
              Size="2x2"
              Row="0"
              Column="4"/>
          <start:Tile
              DesktopApplicationID="Microsoft.Office.WINWORD.EXE.15"
              Size="2x2"
              Row="0"
              Column="2"/>
          <start:Tile
              DesktopApplicationID="Microsoft.Office.POWERPNT.EXE.15"
              Size="2x2"
              Row="2"
              Column="0"/>
          <start:Tile
              DesktopApplicationID="Microsoft.Office.ONENOTE.EXE.15"
              Size="2x2"
              Row="2"
              Column="2"/>
          <start:Tile
              DesktopApplicationID="Microsoft.Office.lync.exe.15"
              Size="2x2"
              Row="2"
              Column="4"/>			  
        </start:Group>
      </StartLayout>
	  </StartLayoutCollection> 
</FullDefaultLayoutTemplate>

Hi,

You can import this Start Screen layout to the default user account of the computer you are on. This way, any new profiles created will get your Start Screen. Run this from an Administrator Command Prompt.

POWERSHELL -NonInteractive -Command Import-StartLayout -LayoutPath C:\StartLayout.bin -MountPath %SystemDrive%\

I believe Import-StartLayout and Export-StartLayout work only with .xml files in Windows 10, and not the .bin option used in previous versions.

Rather than modify the DefaultLayouts.xml file in C:\Users\Default\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Shell, try saving your customized .xml file in that same folder as LayoutModification.xml.  Injecting this file into the .wim file is how I've been able to override the initial Start Menu layout, with both desktop programs like File Explorer, and newer apps like Calculator.

This is not a solution for my problem unfortunately. The layout I am using is not working when copying it to the default user profile, the import function doesn't solve this.

The problem might be in my customized layout. Maybe you can see if something is wrong there?

Thanks very much for your help.