Windows 10 – Set Start Layout via GPO

group-policywindows 10

I could really use some help with this.

Following the official instructions on technet.microsoft.com, I am trying to deploy a start menu to my windows 10 machines.

Unfortunately, this doesn't work as expected, the start menu is not changing for the user. It is locked, though, which just means that the GPO was actually applied, and I could confirm this using GPRESULT.

Furthermore, I checked the registry, the two registry values 

HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer\LockedStartLayout  DWORD 1
HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer\StartLayoutFile String \\domain.local\share\pathtoxml.xml

are set correctly.

The xml file is on a file share, I reference it using the UNC path in the GPO. The "domain users" group has read access to the file. I verified that from a user account.

What else could have gone wrong here?

Best Answer

Looks like you have all the basic troubleshooting steps complete. Some points that are easily missed:

  • Are you running Windows 10 Enterprise? Start layout control is not supported in Windows 10 Pro.

  • Is the target system the same architecture as the system you exported the layout from? Start layout can only be applied to a device using the same architecture (32-bit or 64-bit) as the device on which Start layout was created.

If neither of those is an issue, for testing purposes, copy the XML file onto a target system, and change the path to point to it locally, just to rule out any possible strange network issues.

Also, try manually importing the layout to a target system using the Import-StartLayout PowerShell script. This would rule out any issues with the XML file

Finally, check it the source and target machines running the same version/build of Windows 10, with the same updates. Although not explicitly stated anywhere, it wouldn't be the first time Microsoft has failed to ensure backward compatibility with an update.

EDIT: Confirmation on the lack of Windows 10 Pro compatibility is given here under the section entitled "Existing Fundamentals":

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EDIT #2: With the newest release of Windows 10 Pro (version 1703) it is now possible to deploy a customized start layout via GPO (only to W10 systems running v1703, though). See: What's new in Windows 10 1703

Enterprises have been able to apply customized Start and taskbar layouts to devices running Windows 10 Enterprise and Education. In Windows 10, version 1703, customized Start and taskbar layout can also be applied to Windows 10 Pro.

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