Using Intune to customise the Start Menu on Windows 10 and Windows 11

I’m sure most of you are now either moving to or considering a switch to Windows 11 and want to configure the start menu the same as on Windows 10. I’m sure you’ve also noticed that the method to configure it has changed so the previous policies won’t be working.

In this post I’ll run through creating a policy for both Windows 10 and Windows 11 and then using an Applicability Rule to only apply the policy to the appropriate OS.

Windows 10

Starting with Windows 10, I’m sure everyone has this policy by now, but just in case:

Create a new Device Restrictions Policy and select Start. Now you need to upload a custom XML file. You can follow the Microsoft guide here or just amend mine:

<LayoutModificationTemplate xmlns:defaultlayout="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/FullDefaultLayout" xmlns:start="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/StartLayout" Version="1" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/LayoutModification" xmlns:taskbar="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/TaskbarLayout">
  <LayoutOptions StartTileGroupCellWidth="6" />
  <DefaultLayoutOverride LayoutCustomizationRestrictionType="OnlySpecifiedGroups">
    <StartLayoutCollection>
      <defaultlayout:StartLayout GroupCellWidth="6">
        <start:Group Name="">
          <start:DesktopApplicationTile Size="2x2" Column="4" Row="0" DesktopApplicationID="Microsoft.Office.EXCEL.EXE.15" />
          <start:DesktopApplicationTile Size="2x2" Column="2" Row="2" DesktopApplicationID="Microsoft.Office.POWERPNT.EXE.15" />
          <start:DesktopApplicationTile Size="2x2" Column="0" Row="4" DesktopApplicationID="MSEdge" />
          <start:DesktopApplicationTile Size="2x2" Column="0" Row="0" DesktopApplicationID="Microsoft.Office.OUTLOOK.EXE.15" />
          <start:DesktopApplicationTile Size="2x2" Column="2" Row="4" DesktopApplicationID="Microsoft.Office.ONENOTE.EXE.15" />
          <start:DesktopApplicationTile Size="2x2" Column="4" Row="4" DesktopApplicationID="com.squirrel.Teams.Teams" />
          <start:DesktopApplicationTile Size="2x2" Column="2" Row="0" DesktopApplicationID="Microsoft.Office.WINWORD.EXE.15" />
          <start:Tile Size="2x2" Column="0" Row="2" AppUserModelID="Microsoft.CompanyPortal_8wekyb3d8bbwe!App" />
          <start:Tile Size="2x2" Column="4" Row="2" AppUserModelID="Microsoft.WindowsStore_8wekyb3d8bbwe!App" />
        </start:Group>
      </defaultlayout:StartLayout>
    </StartLayoutCollection>
	</DefaultLayoutOverride>
    <CustomTaskbarLayoutCollection PinListPlacement="Replace">
      <defaultlayout:TaskbarLayout>
        <taskbar:TaskbarPinList>
   <taskbar:DesktopApp DesktopApplicationID="Microsoft.Windows.Explorer"/>
	<taskbar:DesktopApp DesktopApplicationID="Microsoft.Office.OUTLOOK.EXE.15"/>
	<taskbar:DesktopApp DesktopApplicationID="MSEdge"/>
        </taskbar:TaskbarPinList>
      </defaultlayout:TaskbarLayout>
    </CustomTaskbarLayoutCollection>
</LayoutModificationTemplate>

When assigning the policy we need to select an Applicability Rule:

This will only apply the policy if the OS version is Windows 10

Windows 11

Windows 11 is currently configured via a Custom OMA-URI policy (I imagine it will switch to Settings Catalog at some point) and is configured via JSON

First up, create your custom policy with these details:

The OMA-URI is:

./Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/Start/ConfigureStartPins

My JSON is as follows:

{ 
  "pinnedList": [ 
    { "desktopAppId": "MSEdge" }, 
    { "desktopAppId": "Microsoft.Office.EXCEL.EXE.15" }, 
    { "desktopAppId": "Microsoft.Office.POWERPNT.EXE.15" }, 
    { "desktopAppId": "Microsoft.Office.OUTLOOK.EXE.15" }, 
    { "desktopAppId": "Microsoft.Office.ONENOTE.EXE.15" }, 
    { "desktopAppId": "Microsoft.Office.com.squirrel.Teams.Teams" }, 
    { "desktopAppId": "Microsoft.CompanyPortal_8wekyb3d8bbwe!App" }, 
    { "desktopAppId": "Microsoft.Office.WINWORD.EXE.15" }, 
    { "packagedAppId": "Microsoft.WindowsStore_8wekyb3d8bbwe!App" }, 
    { "desktopAppId":  "Microsoft.Windows.Explorer" } 
  ] 
}

It is pinning the same apps as on Windows 10, Office suite, Teams, company portal, Store and Windows Explorer (I just find it easier to read in JSON)

That’s it for the config, now we just need the Applicability Rule:

As Windows 11 is still very much being updated, you need to keep on top of these versions (the Microsoft official list is here) or you may find newer machines not picking up the config

I hope this is of use, feel free to add any comments below!