How can I pin a program to the Start Screen, but not Apps?

VeganWithaYoYo

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I'm trying to set up the cleanest interface I possibly can on my Windows 8.1 PC, and I've spent a lot of time cleaning up my Apps folder so that only useful things are displayed, and they're in an order that's helpful to me.

I'm now trying to set up my Start Screen, and there are some things I'd like to pin to it (the My Documents folder, various websites, etc) that I don't think of as applications and don't want to see in the Apps folder. However, anything I pin to Start shows up in Apps as well. Is it possible to pin something to the Start Screen but not have it show up in Apps? I'm okay with using registry tweaks or 3rd party software to do this!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Origin
    CPU
    i7
    Memory
    8GB
Everything installed on the PC shows up on the Apps screen. It used to be called "All Apps". You then pick and chose from that list what's pined to the Start Screen. They aren't moved from one to the other, they are duplicated. If you start removing things from the Apps screen it more than likely will disappear from the Start Screen too. If that happens you'll have no easy way to launch that program. I'm not saying don't do it, just don't be surprised if you break something in the process.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Education 64 Bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Deneb 3.7GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4N68T-M V2 µATX Motherboard
    Memory
    8GB 4GBx2 Kingston PC10600 DDR3 1333 Memory
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA Geforce GT640 2 Gig DDR3 PCIe
    Sound Card
    VIA VT1708s High Definition Audio 8-channel Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22" LG E2242 1080p and 2 19" I-INC AG191D
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024 - 1920x1080 - 1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    Crucial MX100 256 GB SSD and 500 GB WD Blue SATA
    PSU
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    Stock heatsink fan
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    Logitech Wireless K350 Wave
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    Logitech M570 Trackball and T650 TouchPad
    Internet Speed
    80 Mbps Down 30 Mbps Up
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    Internet Explorer 11
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    Other Info
    HP DVD1040e Lightscribe - External USB2
Right, I've definitely found that the Start Screen and Apps folder are linked rather than wholly separate. Has no one figured out a way to supercede the link?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Origin
    CPU
    i7
    Memory
    8GB
you mean something like this ?
Screenshot (12).png
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo G580
    CPU
    Inter Core I5 3210M
    Memory
    4GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia Geforce 610
    Screen Resolution
    1366*786
    Internet Speed
    1MBpS
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    Google Chrome
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    medical student who enjoys gaming
Zaref, that's a good-looking Start Screen, but unfortunately I'm not sure that it shows tiles that don't also show up in "apps." Am I missing something?

Alternate version of the question: is there a way to hide things in Apps but have them still show up as tiles on the Start Screen?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Origin
    CPU
    i7
    Memory
    8GB
I don't know if this will help but here are some locations to look at. I don't know where what is shown on the Apps screen is stored, of if it is?
"C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup" <All users
"C:\Users\(your user name)\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup" < just you
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Education 64 Bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Deneb 3.7GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4N68T-M V2 µATX Motherboard
    Memory
    8GB 4GBx2 Kingston PC10600 DDR3 1333 Memory
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA Geforce GT640 2 Gig DDR3 PCIe
    Sound Card
    VIA VT1708s High Definition Audio 8-channel Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22" LG E2242 1080p and 2 19" I-INC AG191D
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024 - 1920x1080 - 1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    Crucial MX100 256 GB SSD and 500 GB WD Blue SATA
    PSU
    Thermaltake TR 620
    Case
    Power Up Black ATX Mid-Tower Case
    Cooling
    Stock heatsink fan
    Keyboard
    Logitech Wireless K350 Wave
    Mouse
    Logitech M570 Trackball and T650 TouchPad
    Internet Speed
    80 Mbps Down 30 Mbps Up
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    HP DVD1040e Lightscribe - External USB2
i got you
Screenshot (15).png
you mean pinning website , folders or files like music files ?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo G580
    CPU
    Inter Core I5 3210M
    Memory
    4GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia Geforce 610
    Screen Resolution
    1366*786
    Internet Speed
    1MBpS
    Browser
    Google Chrome
    Antivirus
    Avira
    Other Info
    medical student who enjoys gaming
AlphaNumeric, those are indeed the folders where the shortcuts in the Apps folder are stored. I've found a few things from organizing my Apps folder over the past few weeks:

1. If a shortcut is hidden, it won't show up in Apps or the Start Screen. If a folder is hidden, none of its contents in Apps or on the Start Screen.

2. If you right-click something and choose "Pin to Start," a shortcut for that something will be placed into one of the folders that AlphaNumeric mentioned. Choosing "Unpin from Start" will delete the shortcut from the folder.

3. Deleting the shortcut mentioned in #2 in File Explorer will make the Start Screen tile disappear. Making a copy of the shortcut, deleting the original, then putting the copy into the folder with other App shortcuts will make a new Start Screen tile appear, though making a shortcut manually and placing it in the folder won't make a Start Screen tile appear. Thus there's some property of a shortcut that makes Windows place a tile on the Start Screen. I have no idea what this property is or how to change it. If anyone knows, that'd be a big help in figuring this out!

I'm assuming there's no separate folder for the Start Screen itself, as certain shortcuts in the folders for the Apps folder have a property that places them on the Start Screen. However, I'm wondering if the property that's recognized by Windows can be used somehow, or if there's a list somewhere of the files Windows found when it searched for Start Screen tiles that can be edited manually so it finds a hidden file that Apps doesn't find?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Origin
    CPU
    i7
    Memory
    8GB
I've manually made shortcuts and placed them in those folders in the past. The tiles didn't always show up right away but they did eventually show up. Stuff in the one I tagged as All Users every user see's. Put it in the other one and only you will see it on your start Screen. Doesn't really matter though if your the only user account. How I found those locations was by right clicking a tile and selecting open file location. It won't work for Metro Apps though, just programs.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Education 64 Bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Deneb 3.7GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4N68T-M V2 µATX Motherboard
    Memory
    8GB 4GBx2 Kingston PC10600 DDR3 1333 Memory
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA Geforce GT640 2 Gig DDR3 PCIe
    Sound Card
    VIA VT1708s High Definition Audio 8-channel Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22" LG E2242 1080p and 2 19" I-INC AG191D
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024 - 1920x1080 - 1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    Crucial MX100 256 GB SSD and 500 GB WD Blue SATA
    PSU
    Thermaltake TR 620
    Case
    Power Up Black ATX Mid-Tower Case
    Cooling
    Stock heatsink fan
    Keyboard
    Logitech Wireless K350 Wave
    Mouse
    Logitech M570 Trackball and T650 TouchPad
    Internet Speed
    80 Mbps Down 30 Mbps Up
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    HP DVD1040e Lightscribe - External USB2
Yeah, I've found that when I put shortcuts in manually I often have to restart Windows entirely to get manually-made shortcuts to show up in Apps.

Still Googling around to see if anyone else has figured this out. Worst case scenario I'm just going to put all the things I don't want in "Apps" in one folder, then name it something like ZZZ so it's at the very end of the Apps list and doesn't need to be scrolled past to access other apps. :-/
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Origin
    CPU
    i7
    Memory
    8GB
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