Duplicate Program icons in Windows 10 Start Menu

Some reports indicated that users found duplicate entries for programs on the Start menu. This problem may be due to a number of factors. This includes incomplete installations, corrupted installations, etc. The bottom part of this problem is the fact that in some cases you only see one icon for the program in question in the Start menu shortcuts folder.

Duplicate program icons or shortcuts on the Windows 10 Start menu

If you see duplicates of Office or any other program or application icons and shortcuts on the Windows 10 Start menu, try these suggestions to solve the problem.

1. Delete duplicate entries from the Start Menu folder (if any).
2. Reset the TileDataLayer cache
3. Delete unwanted files and registry entries
4. Run the troubleshooter from the Windows 10 Start menu.

1) Remove duplicate entries from the Start Menu folder (if any)

Open the File Explorer and navigate to the following location:

C: ProgramData Microsoft Windows Start Menu Programs

Select all the duplicate entries in the Start menu that you see in this directory.

Wipe off using them Shift + Delete combination of buttons.

You may not see these duplicate entries in the directory. Do not worry and proceed to the next method.

2) Reset the TileDataLayer cache

Open the Windows PowerShell command line with administrator-level rights.

Run the following command to reset your TileDataLayer cache and re-register the applications on the Start menu. You may also need to know that the dynamic thumbnail layout of the Start menu will be reset:

TDLrecover.exe -resetcache -resetlayout -reregister -allowparallel

It will take a few minutes to complete. You must wait until it is the case.

3) Clear unwanted files and registry entries

You can try running a program such as CCleaner to clean up unnecessary files and registry entries that cause this problem on your Windows 10 device.

4) Run the Windows 10 Start Menu Troubleshooting

You can try running Windows 10 Start Menu Troubleshooting.

It will automatically detect and correct any problems that may appear with your Start menu.

Good luck!