How to Reset Microsoft Store Pin Layout for Live Tiles on Windows 11

Quick fix: Windows 11 removed Live Tiles entirely (replaced with widgets and pinned apps). To reset Start menu / pinned apps layout: open Settings → Personalization → Start → Reset to default button isn’t there. Manual: unpin all from Start, re-pin only what you want. Or PowerShell: Get-StartApps | Format-Table Name, AppID to see and customize.

Live Tiles ended with Windows 11. The Start menu now shows static app pins. To reset the layout: unpin existing items, re-pin from All apps. For Widgets panel (replacing Live Tiles partially), Settings has its own customization.

What causes this need

Windows 11’s Start menu has Pinned apps section (replacing Live Tiles from Win10). Need to reset:

• Too many pinned apps; want to start fresh.
• Pinned apps disorganized.
• Migrating from Win10 brought over Live Tile pins that don’t fit Win11.
• Want to remove default Microsoft-recommended apps.
• Multi-user PC; new user setup.

Method 1: Unpin all and re-pin manually

The standard route.

1. Open Start menu.
2. Right-click each pinned app → Unpin from Start. Repeat for each.
3. Click All apps (top right) to see full app list.
4. Right-click apps you want → Pin to Start.
5. Drag pinned apps to arrange.
6. For folders: drag one app onto another to create folder. Name folder.
7. For Microsoft Store apps: Start menu shows them when installed; right-click → Pin to Start.
8. For Win32 apps: same. Pin to Start works.
9. For chronic mess: use PowerShell to bulk-manage (Method 3).

This is the manual reset.

Method 2: Apply a default layout via XML

For consistent layout across users / PCs.

1. Microsoft provides Export-StartLayout and Import-StartLayout for managed deployment.
2. Open PowerShell as Admin.
3. Export current layout:

   Export-StartLayout -Path "C:\Layout.xml"

4. Edit XML to define desired pins.
5. Apply to new users:

   Import-StartLayout -LayoutPath "C:\Layout.xml" -MountPath "C:\"

6. For Windows 11: layout uses .json instead of .xml in some builds. Check learn.microsoft.com for current syntax.
7. For corporate Intune deployment: Configuration Profile with Start menu layout.
8. For per-user reset: delete %LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.StartMenuExperienceHost_cw5n1h2txyewy\TempState\start.bin + restart Explorer.

This is the managed deployment.

Method 3: Reset Start menu via PowerShell registry

For nuclear reset.

1. Backup first: reg export "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced" C:\backup.reg.
2. Reset Start menu layout:

   Remove-Item -Path "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.StartMenuExperienceHost_cw5n1h2txyewy\TempState\*" -Force
   Stop-Process -Name StartMenuExperienceHost -Force
   Stop-Process -Name explorer -Force
   Start-Process explorer

3. Start menu shows default layout (Microsoft’s default Win11 pins).
4. Now customize: pin only apps you want.
5. For Widgets reset: Widgets has its own Customize button (top right of Widgets panel).
6. For Taskbar (related): Settings → Personalization → Taskbar → Taskbar behaviors → reset.
7. For full personalization reset: Settings → System → Recovery → Reset PC → Keep my files. Comprehensive.

This is the nuclear reset.

How to verify the fix worked

• Start menu → Pinned section shows your chosen apps only.
• No leftover Live Tiles from Windows 10.
• Layout matches your preference.
• Layout persists across reboots.

If none of these work

If layout doesn’t reset: Group Policy: corporate-managed PCs may enforce specific layout. For OEM defaults restoring: vendor utilities (Lenovo Vantage, ASUS Armoury) may re-pin their apps. Disable. For pinned apps reappearing: Settings → Privacy & security → General → Show me suggested content in the Settings app. Disable. For Microsoft Store re-pinning: separate Microsoft Store account setting. For chronic mess: clean local user profile, create new, transfer files. For Insider builds: Start menu redesign in progress. Layout may shift. For Live Tiles desire: Live Tiles removed in Win11. Use Widgets instead. Old apps that had Live Tiles now show as static.

Bottom line: Right-click each pin → Unpin from Start. Re-pin from All apps. PowerShell delete start.bin + restart Explorer for nuclear reset. Live Tiles gone in Win11; use Widgets for dynamic content.