I dragged the recycle bin to the top of the start menu like I have all other versions of windows then discovered that I no longer have the option to empty the recycle bin.Well i tried to delete it from the start menu and I also don't have the option to delete it from the start menu. How do I delete the recycle bin from the start menu?

Hi Polymer You should be able to right click the Recycle Bin on the Start Menu and select Unpin from Start Menu or Remove from this list.Was this the Recycle Bin icon that appears on the Desktop that you placed on the Start Menu?Let us know. Ronnie Vernon MVP

Ronnie Vernon said:Hi Polymer You should be able to right click the Recycle Bin on the Start Menu and select Unpin from Start Menu or Remove from this list.Was this the Recycle Bin icon that appears on the Desktop that you placed on the Start Menu?Let us know. Ronnie Vernon MVPYes I dragged the icon to the start menu.. Then like a dummy I did it again and now I have 2.When I right click I only get OPEN or PROPERTIES options and no Unpin, Delete or Empty options..Right clicking on the icon still on the desktop works properly though.I've done this on XP and Vista with no problems.

Hi PolymerRight click the Desktop and select Personalize.In the personalize window, select Change Desktop icons, in the left side Tasks pane.Remove the check mark from the Recycle Bin item. Click Apply/OK.This should remove the icon from the desktop.Next, go into the Start Menu and try removing those icons again.Let us know the results. Ronnie Vernon MVP

Ronnie Vernon said: Hi PolymerRight click the Desktop and select Personalize.In the personalize window, select Change Desktop icons, in the left side Tasks pane.Remove the check mark from the Recycle Bin item. Click Apply/OK.This should remove the icon from the desktop.Next, go into the Start Menu and try removing those icons again.Let us know the results. Ronnie Vernon MVPNope still no go. Is the start menu contents stored in the registry?

It seems BUG. It occurs with all type of system folders like Pictures, Music, Computer, Recycle Bin etc. - Ramesh Kumar

Ramesh_Kumar said: It seems BUG. It occurs with all type of system folders like Pictures, Music, Computer, Recycle Bin etc. - Ramesh KumarI agree..I reported it to MS. Still doesn't fix my problem though. Its just a minor annoyance. I guess I'll just have to live with it.Thanks guys.

Yes. It's a bug as Ramesh Kumar rightly pointed out. But you don't have to live with it :) Apply my pinfolder.reg registry file from this article page.How to add "Pin to Start menu" option for folders in Windows 7/Vista/XP: http://windowsxp.mvps.org/pinfolder.htmThis adds the "Pin to Start menu" (and the "Unpin..." option) for folders (inclding the special folders such as Recycle Bin, Music, Pictures etc)Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP

Ramesh Srinivasan said: Yes. It's a bug as Ramesh Kumar rightly pointed out. But you don't have to live with it :) Apply my pinfolder.reg registry file from this article page.How to add "Pin to Start menu" option for folders in Windows 7/Vista/XP: http://windowsxp.mvps.org/pinfolder.htmThis adds the "Pin to Start menu" (and the "Unpin..." option) for folders (inclding the special folders such as Recycle Bin, Music, Pictures etc) Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP gr8 find Ramesh Srinivasan. Thanks for the FIXIt works flawlessly.- Ramesh Kumar

Ramesh Srinivasan said: Yes. It's a bug as Ramesh Kumar rightly pointed out. But you don't have to live with it :) Apply my pinfolder.reg registry file from this article page.How to add "Pin to Start menu" option for folders in Windows 7/Vista/XP: http://windowsxp.mvps.org/pinfolder.htmThis adds the "Pin to Start menu" (and the "Unpin..." option) for folders (inclding the special folders such as Recycle Bin, Music, Pictures etc)Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVPThat worked great although I still have to use the shift-Right Click to empty the recycle bin on the start menu. The one on the desktop still works with just the right click. . Interesting though before the fix if I renamed one of the recycle bins all 3 of them changed names including the one on the desktop. Didn't try it after. Don't want to press my luck. :) Thanks Ramesh. You da man!Jerry

Thanks Ramesh.Glad that helped, Jerry. Thanks for the update!Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP

I still cannot unpin the Recycle Bin from the start menu. I applied the registry edit, but it still does not allow me to delete it from the start menu/unpin it from the start menu.

This is a long shot, but you could try deleting the key {645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E} under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CLSID.Make sure you export the key first.If the hack doesn't work, or messes something up, you can import the file you exported.The usual precautions and warnings about editing the registry apply.

Does the Unpin from Start menu option appear when you right-click the Recycle Bin icon in the Start menu?Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP

This method does not work if control panel is pinned to start menu :)

None of those options work. I tried deleting that one registry, it didn't work. The unpin option does not show up either. There does not seem to be a way to delete this recycle bin from the start menu, it's rather annoying.