Lock certain groups on Windows 10 Start menu

Q. How can I lock only certain groups within the Start screen in Windows 10?

A. Windows 10 Enterprise and Education enables a Start menu layout to be captured then applied to machines to either create a locked down Start menu or an initial state for the Start menu that could then be modified by the user. Windows 1511 enables an additional option and that is the ability to lockdown certain groups within the Start menu but allowing other groups to be modified by the user.

As before export out the Start menu of a template machine using:

Export-StartLayout -path d:tempwin10start.xml

This template can be used via PowerShell (which will not enforce the layout) or Group Policy (which will enforce the layout). For 1511 and above it is possible to use partial lockdown and only enforce the groups configured in the XML file while other groups can be created and modified by users. To enable an XML file to be partial lockdown open the XML file and modify the line:

to

Save the XML and then use for 1511 and above Windows 10 deployments.