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Option to disable adding start menu entries
Added by
Didero When I install a game, Galaxy automatically creates a 'GOG.com' start menu map, with a subfolder for the installed game. I know that the standard GOG installer does that, but since I use Galaxy to launch the game, that start menu entry is superfluous and annoying. I'd like an option to not have Galaxy create that start menu entry.
mikeltheplayer I only recently installed my first GOG games.
I will not buy a single GOG game anymore until this is fixed.
Going back to buy on steam, which is NOT cluttering up my start menu.
Thrallia How is this still an issue when it's been a simple thing to not do in Windows for literally 20 years?
PonyFlare Cluttering the Start menu with shortcuts that will never be used since its inception. Please make it stop.
dividebyzeroZA Please add this as a feature.
But at this stage I'd even be happy with a GOG Galaxy folder and all games installed into that instead just to keep the menu free of clutter (assuming Windows 11 allows for that in the Start menu).
Spandalino I logged in just to add my name to the litany of people complaining about this. Ugh.
daniel_mm Why the F is this still not fixed in 2024?!?!
It's such an easy fix to _not_ do something!
Father_Jack_101 This has been requested since 2015 (!!). Yes, please make Start Menu icons an option during game install or in the client itself. I always use Galaxy to launch my GOG games and so definitely have no need for unnecessary Start Menu icons.
dmonch yes please, the Start menu es cluttered as it is!
dflemieux Would also like this fixed. Seems like it would be easy.
VoraciousP Please fix this, it's been an annoying issue for years.
ParticleSage Bump. Fix this terrible UX.
daniel_mm This would be so easy to fix, and yet, they don't.
GOG, what is the point of spamming the Windows start menu, when we have GOG Galaxy as a GAME LAUNCHER?!?!
spuukyu Please put a checkbox option in the Galaxy client and respect that this is *my* computer and *I* decide how to use it (I get enough of this from Microsoft already) and this is not how I use the start menu; virtually every other installer is polite enough to have a checkbox for Start Menu and Desktop shortcuts. I do not use shortcuts for GOG games--that is why I have the Galaxy client in the first place! I cleaned this up manually and after the games automatically patched my start menu is full of GOG litter.
whoozwah Until GOG decides to add this, you can use Power Automate to clean everything up for you. You just need to have a microsoft account and you can download power automate desktop. Then you create a flow just like this: imgur.com/a/ahK0QUn and if you run power automate as admin and kick that off it'll do the job.
Illixeo Went into "All apps" in the start menu the other day and found a ton of "<game> [GOG.com]" folders … really, GOG? Please provide the option to customize this behavior, or just get rid of it all together.
carlmacek Is this fixed? I stopped using more than a year ago gog galaxy because of this issue. Now that is black Friday I am buying all my gog games again in steam, because I doubt they fixed this. I am afraid to even install the application as I dont want to have garbage in windows, this is worse than spyware, is corruption of the system with thousands of entries. I am still waiting, hopefully some day this will be fixed. I heard that in Mac is even worse and you get an awful corruption to the launchpad and you need to restore the Mac to be able to keep clean Mac of unnecessary garbage, so stay away from gog Galaxy, only install it under a virtual machine or in a computer that you will not use for anything else
ernest_mecca i'm surprised this has been an overlooked issue for 7 years
SkyHighGam3r This is like the simplest fix possible and makes such a big impact. I actually was just searching online to see 'how' to do this because I assume it was 'me' being too stupid to find the option.
It's not 1997. Nobody uses the start menu to find their games. They either use the client (Such as GOG Galaxy) or a Frontend (LaunchBox, HyperSpin, etc).
The idea that nobody at GOG sees this as worth taking the relatively minimal time to fix this is honestly kind of shocking. (Relative to how long Gog Galaxy has been around, and how long this has been reported as a problem)
zemulia Please, this is unnecessary clutter.
zaaoshin0bi I sent a "support request" about these matters to the support staff, at support.gog.com/hc/en-us/requests/new?product=gog - you start off by "chatting" to a bot.. then, when it doesn't understand what you need support on, click on OTHER and paste a message about the issues at hand (start menu shortcuts which are unwanted/undesired)... provide your email address, and wait for the bot to fwd your request to their support staff. I also uploaded a screenshot, showing a bunch of GOG entries for games on my windows start menu. Hopefully that helps. Perhaps if more people did this, they might be more willing/likely to attend to the problem ;)
zaaoshin0bi BTW It seems that removing the shortcuts (one by one) from the Windows 10 start menu, doesn't really help much, since GOG just adds them back again whenever games are updated! It also adds lots of Add/remove programs entries - even when I have my games install folder set to an external USB drive. Is there no way to contact GOG and discuss these issues with them directly?
zaaoshin0bi I agree! I don't want loads of unnecessary start menu entries, when I am using the GOG galaxy launcher to have all the games in one place in a GAMES launcher; not on my start menu!
mactrix Annoying and bad UX. Fix this GOG.
scifidude79 Yes, please make this a reality. I don't need my Windows start menu loaded up with games that I launch from the Galaxy client.
NoAGood Yes, please get this done gog. Having a crap load of games hanging off the (win-10) start menu isn't fun. Well, since its been years and gog doesn't seem to care .. Has anyone figured out a quick and decent way to do this? Getting over 240 games off the S-Menu isn't going to be fun. I wish someone would write a utility / program to do this.
thmonky Agreed. Just downloaded a bunch of old DOS stuff to port over to a RPi setup with DosBox and now have like 40 games I'm going to have to uninstall one at a time because of this lazy garbage. And am yet again, like everyone in this thread, stupid crap like this is why I stopped using GOG in the first place.
ARE YOU PAYING ATTENTION, GOG??? WE F***ING HATE THIS. IT'S COSTING YOU CUSTOMERS AND MONEY. DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.
Lavres 6 years now, still badly needed this option and for some reason still not available.
jfsoljhfo Just found that you should be able to delete the folders by going to one of the areas below.
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs.
C:\Users\"UserNameFolder"\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs
Keep in mind, for the second link, you need to put your profile user name (mine is "Admin") in place of the quotation marks. However, I think each update might put them back in. I'll keep an eye on them to see.
jfsoljhfo This has been requested for over 5 years now. All that needs to happen is the line of code that creates these start menu folders and links needs to be disabled or deleted. Why has this not been done yet? Is GOG really that busy that they cannot take a few mins to disable a line or two of code after their paying customers have asked for it for 5 freaking years?
EmperorStorky This is why I not use GOG anymore. I don't want like 50+ useless start menu items when they created a launcher for the games.
Kowmei New Gog Galaxy absolutely sucks. Much better the previous version
jony_cave This needs to get fixed. Am not buying anything from GOG until this is fixed.I don't want my start menu with 40, 50 showing on it.
p.dub1511 Still doing it. I wrote a python script to delete them. It runs at windows startup. Not a pretty solution but it works. There really should be an option for this though. I have my own folder I organize games in and that's linked in the start menu. I don't need GOG creating its own.
electrocatalyst Same as others - hate the items in start menu. You don't need to write extra code for this. You just need to disable the already existing code that does this. So simple but still not done.
Jarmonster I would really like to have this be optional too. I like my start menu clean
coze Gog please turn this off, or at least add an option.
Lavres More than 4 years, still nothing? this is very annoying
carlmacek Is this fixed? I stopped using more than a year ago gog galaxy because of this issue. Now that is black Friday I am buying all my gog games again in steam, because I doubt they fixed this. I am afraid to even install the application as I dont want to have garbage in windows, this is worse than spyware, is corruption of the system with thousands of entries. I am still waiting, hopefully some day this will be fixed. I heard that in Mac is even worse and you get an awful corruption to the launchpad and you need to restore the Mac to be able to keep clean Mac of unnecessary garbage, so stay away from gog Galaxy, only install it under a virtual machine or in a computer that you will not use for anything else
Arxareon This absolutely needs to be added. I hate that.
I like to keep my Start menu clean, and I use a launcher to start my games, I don't need their shortcuts there (let alone entire folders of stuff).
Please, add an option to disable this! ♥
I use GOG Galaxy 2.0 - as I've read it, the installer itself creates the folders and icons, so it should be the same fix for 2.0 and the old Galaxy. Either way, it is much needed and would be welcome.
usePowerToolz How is this not a thing?
Soseu I'm glad I am not the only one who want this feature! My start menu is already cluttered enough. It would be nice to opt out and just be able to launch games via Galaxy just like I would on Steam.
BippoErnesti This should really be a thing by now. The Start Menu clutters up so easily on its own, it'd be nice to not have to delete folders Galaxy creates.
galneon It's 2019 and GOG is still creating worthless start menu program groups I will never use. It's also still installing games with hideous custom icons I always have to change out, but I've given up on GOG ditching their deplorable icons. I suppose there's a reason the general public can't name a single Polish artist.
EmperorStorky I would love this feature. It's annoying when you already use the Galaxy launcher.
geozid still annoying :-(
yiNXs For the love of god please this. I put all the game shortcuts in my "GAMES" folder, but whenever an update happens (or just whenever it feels like it, I don't know) galazy puts a new copy back into the root programs folder again. My start menu is so big on my laptop it doesn't even fit on the screen anymore because of this and I use classic start menu, in multi column mode. I'm constantly deleting and moving those shortcuts. It's getting a bit on my nerves.
carlmacek I have around 200 games. For me the only option is to install all games in a virtual machine in vmware as then I dont have my windows collapsed with200 start menu entries, 200 unnecessary registries and 200 entries in add/remove programs, this is stupid as a VM reduces the game quality, but is is that or destroy my Windows with garbagage
sirelc I wouldn't mind if it installed it under 1 folder gog.com or whatever. But spamming my start folder gets annoying.
MrKaosNL +1, would be a welcome setting
blkbrdsr71 I also want this. I'd like to run my games from GOG Galaxy, Like I do with Steam, and EA Origin. Please make this possible, thank you.
72 comments about this wish