Start menu item "Reset Settings to Default" is missing for AutoCAD

Autodesk Support

Oct 17, 2024

Products and versions covered

Issue:

After installing multiple versions of AutoCAD on Windows 10, one or both of the following menu items in the Windows Start menu are missing for one or more of the installed AutoCAD programs:
  • "Reset Settings to Default"
  • "Migrate From a Previous Release"

Causes:

Windows 10 groups together Start menu items that have identical names, showing only one instance of it. 

Every AutoCAD version has a function "Reset Settings to Default." located in the folder "C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\AutoCAD 20xx".  Windows 10 sees this as the same "program" and only shows it once in the Start menu, most likely for the first-installed AutoCAD version.
 

Solution:

To make the missing menu item appear as expected in the start menu:
  1. Click the Start menu and go to the affected AutoCAD menu.
  2. Right-click one of the existing shortcuts (such as "Batch Standard Checker," "Reference Manager," "AutoCAD 20xx," etc.) and choose More > Open file location.
  3. Right-click the shortcut "Reset Settings to Default" and choose Rename.
  4. Add a unique identifying at the end, such the full name of the AutoCAD (for example, "Reset Settings to Default - AutoCAD 20xx").
  5. Click up one folder level to see the "AutoCAD 20xx" folder within the Programs folder.
  6. Right-click the "AutoCAD 20xx" folder and choose Properties.
  7. Under the General tab, enable the "Hidden" checkbox and click Apply.
  8. Select "Apply changes to this folder, subfolders, and files" and click OK.
  9. Uncheck "Hidden" to turn it off again and click OK.
  10. Click OK again on "Apply changes to this folder, subfolders, and files."
Note: If this is being done to multiple AutoCAD versions, rename all the shortcuts first and then do the hide/unhide process on the higher-level "Programs" or "Start Menu" folder, adjusting all at once instead of one at a time.

Other alternative steps are to reset the settings by:
  1. Go to the Windows Start Menu.
  2. Go to the AutoCAD Architecture 2020 Folder.
  3. Right click on either Export/Import Settings.
  4. Click 'More'.
  5. Then 'Open File Locations'.
  6. Click back from 'Migrate Custom Settings'.
  7. To 'AutoCAD Architecture 2020 - English'.
  8. Select 'Reset Settings' and either 'Save to.....'.

Products:

AutoCAD Products;

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