Windows 10 Start menu tiles (icons) don't move / Pin to start is missing

I suddenly started having this problem with a few tiles, not all. Especially for folders.

To solve this, I went to Windows Explorer and right-clicked on the folder I wanted a Start Tile for. Instead of Pin to Start, I clicked Create shortcut. I then right-clicked on the shortcut and pinned that to Start. Works fine after that.

I had the same issue for a long time and have finally found the answer. Initally I thought it was an overzealous IT admin, who had pushed down a policy setting, so I checked the Local group Policy (gpedit.msc) as well as the Resultant Set of Policies (rsop.msc) I tried all of the steps in Can’t pin apps to Start in Windows 10 [COMPLETE GUIDE]

Finally found a site with an answer that works: Reset Start Layout in Windows 10

In short it requires removing the following registry entry and logging out then back in.

HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionCloudStoreStoreCacheDefaultAccount

I hope this helps. It's taken me ages to find the solution.

You mention you've checked

Group Policies -> User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Start Menu and Taskbar

...in there, have you checked the setting "Prevent users from customizing their Start Screen"? Your description resembles the behavior of when that is configured.

Alternatively, check in the Registry:

SOFTWAREPoliciesMicrosoftWindowsExplorerLockedStartLayout

for both HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and HKEY_CURRENT_USER. Set LockedStartLayout to 0 or delete it.

You'll need to reboot (or kill the Explorer process) to know whether the change worked.

It seems that you have changed permissions on Windows folders that are critical for correct functioning, and this causes Windows to fail to make changes in these important folders.

You must undo these permission changes. The problem is that some of these cannot be done from any user account, meaning that only the Windows installer can set such permissions.

To be sure of restoring Windows to a working condition, I suggest doing Repair Install of Windows 10 with an In-place Upgrade.

As explained in the article, download the latest Windows 10 ISO for the installation.

This operation will keep all installed applications and almost all Windows settings. However, this is a serious operation and you should ensure good backups and perhaps also a backup image of the system disk.