Get-StartApps (PowerShell 5.0+)

Get the names and AppIDs of apps installed on the Start Menu.

Syntax
      Get-StartApps [[-Name] Object] [CommonParameters]

Key
   -Name [Object]    The name of an app.
                     Wildcard accepted.
                     If you do not specify this, all start menu apps will be retrieved.

Get-StartApps can be piped into measure-object, to count the number of shortcuts.

Early versions of Windows 10 limit the number of start menu icons to 512, this has since been increased to 2048.

Examples

Get all Start Menu Apps:

PS C:\> Get-StartApps

Count the number of shortcuts:

PS C:\> Get-StartApps | measure
Count    : 125
Average  :
Sum      :
Maximum  :
Minimum  :
Property :

“You've got a whole screen as a start button” ~ Steve Ballmer asked by AP whether there was any chance of bringing back the Windows 8 Start Menu.

Related PowerShell Cmdlets

Invoke-Command - Run a command.
Run/Call & - Run a command (call operator).
"%userprofile%\AppData\Local\IconCache.db" - Icon cache for Start Menu (Hidden).
"%userprofile%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer\" - Additional cache files
ClearIconCache.ps1 - PowerShell script to refresh the Start Menu by calling SHChangeNotify.
NirCmd.exe shellrefresh - Refresh the Start Menu icons.