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Windows 11 Group Policy settings

3,621 settings · 25H2 · 1.0 · 29 Sep 2025

1 folder · 25 settingsCSV
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Start Menu and Taskbar

List desktop apps first in the Apps view

UserNative Intune settingDesktopAppsFirstInAppsView

Supported on Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows 8.1 or Windows RT 8.1 only

What it does

This policy setting allows desktop apps to be listed first in the Apps view in Start. If you enable this policy setting, desktop apps would be listed first when the apps are sorted by category in the Apps view. The other sorting options would continue to be available and the user could choose to change their default sorting options. If you disable or don't configure this policy setting, the desktop apps won't be listed first when the apps are sorted by category, and the user can configure this setting.

What it writes

Hive
HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Registry key
Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer
Value name
DesktopAppsFirstInAppsView
When enabled
DWORD 1
When disabled
DWORD 0
Why it needs changes for Intune
  • Policy references a Windows supportedOn definition.
  • ADMX-INTUNE-WINDOWS-SUPPORTEDON-REFERENCE

In Intune

Native Intune setting: Yes — Policy CSP

  • ./User/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/ADMX_StartMenu/DesktopAppsFirstInAppsViewADMX_StartMenu on Microsoft LearnADMX-backed: Windows ships this template, so it is set with the template's own values, without an import.Windows builds listed: 10.0.22000, 10.0.19043.1202, 10.0.19042.1202, 10.0.19041.1202.

From Microsoft's Policy CSP DDF files (DDF v2 Files, February 2026), read 18 Oct 2026.

Configure and deploy

Choose a state; the output below is generated from the template for exactly that.

State

Enabled · User · template defaults

Registry file (.reg)

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer]
"DesktopAppsFirstInAppsView"=dword:00000001


PowerShell

$ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'

function Set-RegistryValue {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Name,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $PropertyType,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][object] $Value
    )

    if (-not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path)) {
        New-Item -Path $Path -Force | Out-Null
    }

    New-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -PropertyType $PropertyType -Value $Value -Force | Out-Null
}

function Remove-RegistryValue {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Name
    )

    if (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path) {
        Remove-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
    }
}

function Clear-RegistryKeyValues {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path
    )

    if (-not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path)) {
        return
    }

    foreach ($propertyName in (Get-Item -LiteralPath $Path).Property) {
        Remove-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $propertyName -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
    }
}

# Policy: List desktop apps first in the Apps view
# Name: DesktopAppsFirstInAppsView
# Scope: User
# State: Enabled
# Source: StartMenu.admx

Set-RegistryValue -Path 'Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer' -Name 'DesktopAppsFirstInAppsView' -PropertyType 'DWord' -Value 1

These deployment candidates come from the ADMX template; they are separate from the native CSP mapping above.

  • The OMA-URI is an inferred ADMX-backed Policy CSP candidate derived from the source ADMX file name and policy name.
  • Some Microsoft policies use built-in Policy CSP pages whose area names don't match the ADMX file name, so verify the candidate against Microsoft Learn before deployment.

ADMX profile candidate (OMA-URI)

./User/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/ADMX_StartMenu/DesktopAppsFirstInAppsView

ADMX SyncML candidate

<SyncML xmlns="SYNCML:SYNCML1.2">
  <SyncBody>
    <Replace>
      <CmdID>1</CmdID>
      <Item>
        <Meta>
          <Format>chr</Format>
          <Type>text/plain</Type>
        </Meta>
        <Target>
          <LocURI>./User/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/ADMX_StartMenu/DesktopAppsFirstInAppsView</LocURI>
        </Target>
        <Data>&lt;enabled/&gt;</Data>
      </Item>
    </Replace>
    <Final/>
  </SyncBody>
</SyncML>
Intune remediation scripts

Detection

$ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'
$reasons = [System.Collections.Generic.List[string]]::new()

function Test-RegistryValueExists {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Name
    )

    if (-not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path)) {
        return $false
    }

    return $null -ne (Get-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue)
}

function Test-RegistryValueEquals {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Name,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Kind,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][object] $Expected
    )

    if (-not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path)) {
        return $false
    }

    $valueObject = Get-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
    if ($null -eq $valueObject) {
        return $false
    }

    $actual = $valueObject.$Name
    switch ($Kind) {
        'String' { return [string]$actual -ceq [string]$Expected }
        'ExpandString' { return [string]$actual -ceq [string]$Expected }
        'DWord' { return [uint32]$actual -eq [uint32]$Expected }
        'QWord' { return [uint64]$actual -eq [uint64]$Expected }
        'MultiString' {
            $actualArray = @($actual)
            $expectedArray = @($Expected)
            if ($actualArray.Count -ne $expectedArray.Count) { return $false }
            for ($index = 0; $index -lt $actualArray.Count; $index++) {
                if ([string]$actualArray[$index] -cne [string]$expectedArray[$index]) { return $false }
            }
            return $true
        }
        'Binary' {
            $actualArray = [byte[]]$actual
            $expectedArray = [byte[]]$Expected
            if ($actualArray.Length -ne $expectedArray.Length) { return $false }
            for ($index = 0; $index -lt $actualArray.Length; $index++) {
                if ($actualArray[$index] -ne $expectedArray[$index]) { return $false }
            }
            return $true
        }
        default { return [string]$actual -ceq [string]$Expected }
    }
}

# Policy: List desktop apps first in the Apps view
# Name: DesktopAppsFirstInAppsView
# Scope: User
# State: Enabled
# Source: StartMenu.admx

$isMatch = Test-RegistryValueEquals -Path 'Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer' -Name 'DesktopAppsFirstInAppsView' -Kind 'DWord' -Expected 1
if (-not $isMatch) {
    $reasons.Add('Value mismatch: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer\DesktopAppsFirstInAppsView') | Out-Null
}

if ($reasons.Count -eq 0) {
    Write-Output 'Compliant'
    exit 0
}

$reasons | ForEach-Object { Write-Output $_ }
exit 1

Remediation

$ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'

function Set-RegistryValue {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Name,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $PropertyType,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][object] $Value
    )

    if (-not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path)) {
        New-Item -Path $Path -Force | Out-Null
    }

    New-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -PropertyType $PropertyType -Value $Value -Force | Out-Null
}

function Remove-RegistryValue {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Name
    )

    if (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path) {
        Remove-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
    }
}

function Clear-RegistryKeyValues {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path
    )

    if (-not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path)) {
        return
    }

    foreach ($propertyName in (Get-Item -LiteralPath $Path).Property) {
        Remove-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $propertyName -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
    }
}

# Policy: List desktop apps first in the Apps view
# Name: DesktopAppsFirstInAppsView
# Scope: User
# State: Enabled
# Source: StartMenu.admx

Set-RegistryValue -Path 'Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer' -Name 'DesktopAppsFirstInAppsView' -PropertyType 'DWord' -Value 1

History 5 retained releases

  1. 22H2 · 1.015 Jul 2024
    • Already present in the first release ChangeIntel keeps.

4 later releases left it unchanged.

Template

Internal name
DesktopAppsFirstInAppsView
Namespace
Microsoft.Policies.StartMenu
Template file
StartMenu.admx
Release
Windows 11 25H2 · 1.0 · file set de4e49983ebd651f…
Definition, editor controls and support

Definition

<policy class="User" displayName="$(string.DesktopAppsFirstInAppsView)" explainText="$(string.DesktopAppsFirstInAppsView_Help)" key="Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer" name="DesktopAppsFirstInAppsView" valueName="DesktopAppsFirstInAppsView" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
      <parentCategory ref="Microsoft.Policies.Windows:StartMenu" />
      <supportedOn ref="Microsoft.Policies.Windows:SUPPORTED_Windows_6_3only" />
      <enabledValue>
        <decimal value="1" />
      </enabledValue>
      <disabledValue>
        <decimal value="0" />
      </disabledValue>
    </policy>

Editor controls

Supported platforms and category

Microsoft.Policies.Windows:category:StartMenu
<category displayName="$(string.StartMenu)" explainText="$(string.StartMenu_Help)" name="StartMenu" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions" />
Microsoft.Policies.Windows:definition:SUPPORTED_Windows_6_3only
<definition displayName="$(string.SUPPORTED_Windows_6_3only)" name="SUPPORTED_Windows_6_3only" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
        <or>
          <range ref="Microsoft.Policies.Products:MicrosoftWindows_6_3" />
          <range ref="Microsoft.Policies.Products:MicrosoftWindowsServer_6_3" />
          <range ref="Microsoft.Policies.Products:MicrosoftWindows_6_3_RT" />
        </or>
      </definition>
Microsoft.Policies.Windows:unresolved:Microsoft.Policies.Products:MicrosoftWindowsServer_6_3
<unresolved reference="Microsoft.Policies.Products:MicrosoftWindowsServer_6_3" />
Microsoft.Policies.Windows:unresolved:Microsoft.Policies.Products:MicrosoftWindows_6_3
<unresolved reference="Microsoft.Policies.Products:MicrosoftWindows_6_3" />
Microsoft.Policies.Windows:unresolved:Microsoft.Policies.Products:MicrosoftWindows_6_3_RT
<unresolved reference="Microsoft.Policies.Products:MicrosoftWindows_6_3_RT" />
Microsoft.Policies.Windows:category:StartMenu
<category displayName="$(string.StartMenu)" explainText="$(string.StartMenu_Help)" name="StartMenu" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions" />
<strings><string id="Microsoft.Policies.Windows:StartMenu">Start Menu and Taskbar</string><string id="Microsoft.Policies.Windows:StartMenu_Help">Contains settings that allow you to add, remove, or disable items from the Start menu, taskbar, and notification area.</string></strings>
Microsoft.Policies.Windows:definition:SUPPORTED_Windows_6_3only
<definition displayName="$(string.SUPPORTED_Windows_6_3only)" name="SUPPORTED_Windows_6_3only" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
        <or>
          <range ref="Microsoft.Policies.Products:MicrosoftWindows_6_3" />
          <range ref="Microsoft.Policies.Products:MicrosoftWindowsServer_6_3" />
          <range ref="Microsoft.Policies.Products:MicrosoftWindows_6_3_RT" />
        </or>
      </definition>
<strings><string id="Microsoft.Policies.Windows:SUPPORTED_Windows_6_3only">Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows 8.1 or Windows RT 8.1 only</string></strings>
ChangeIntel

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Sources read 18 Oct 19:25 UTC · 253 of 255 readable · 252 fully read · documentation 0/410 current