This guide explains how to add any UWP app as a Quicklaunch Action Tile. Some UWP apps are already in our catalogue, please check the catalogue for your desired application before attempting to follow this guide.
Contents
1) Finding UWP Location and AppUserModelID through Windows
2) Finding UWP Location by executing PowerShell commands.
3) Creating Custom Action Tile in Quicklaunch Settings.
1) Finding UWP Location and AppUserModelID through Windows
a) From Windows "run" enter "shell:appsfolder"
b) This will open the C:\Programfiles\WindowsApps which cannot normally be accessed directly.
c) Select Details.
d) Select Organize->Layout and enable the Menu bar.
e) From the Menu bar select View->Choose details…
f) In Choose details.. Enable AppUserModeL ID.
g) You will now see the AppUserModelId for Each UWP Application registered in Windows.
2) Finding UWP Location by executing PowerShell commands.
Create a folder on the C: Drive of your computer called "FindUWP".
Download the attached file and save it to the folder you created (C:\FindUWP)
Open the Windows Start Menu, Type in "PowerShell". Right click and Run as Administrator.
This will launch a Windows PowerShell Session as an administrator. Enter the text on the following line and hit Enter:
Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope CurrentUser -ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted
Enter the letter "Y" and hit Enter.
Next, Enter the text on the following line and hit enter:
cd C:\FindUWP
Finally, we will run the script you downloaded earlier. Enter the text in the following line and hit Enter:
.\Show-UwpApps.ps1
Enter the letter "R" and hit Enter:
The "Show-UwpApps.ps1" script will run and show a list of all installed UWP apps in the Windows PowerShell window. Read through the list and find the desired UWP application. Copy the line of text beginning with the work "shell". We'll use The Khan Academy UWP as an example.
Paste the copied line into a Document for use later. The copied text for this example is shown below:
shell:appsfolder\KhanAcademy.KhanAcademy_h7gxd2e83qjmg!App
3) Creating Custom Action Tile in Quicklaunch Settings
Start Quicklaunch
Enter Settings by pressing CTRL + ALT + S on your keyboard or by selecting the gear icon.
Navigate to Settings > Actions > [Group] > Actions
Select the Plus icon to add a new Action Tile
Select Add Program. This will create a generic Action Tile that we'll customize to launch our example UWP app.
Select the new Action Tile. In the Program Path box, paste the text from the line below.
%WINDIR%\explorer.exe
In the Arguments box, paste the location we copied earlier. Your text will be different than the example shown in the image.
Select the Start New Instance box.
Select Save. The main Quicklaunch screen will be shown again. Test the Action Tile we just created (it will be a giant question mark).
If your desired UWP app launches, good job. You can now Customize the Action Tile (add a name, change the image, etc.)
NOTE: After the desired UWP apps have been added to Quicklaunch and confirmed to be working, it may be important to set PowerShell Execution Policies back to "Restricted." To do so copy the following command into Windows PowerShell and select Enter:
Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope CurrentUser -ExecutionPolicy Restricted
Then Type in "Y" and select Enter.