Windows – make Windows 7 Start Menu search show items in order of most frequently used

start-menuwindows-search

I work as a web applications developer; during the course of a day I open applications a lot.

The search box in the start menu that appeared in Vista & 7 has been a godsend. Hit the start key, type a few letters, enter, bam – application launched. Much faster than navigating my often enormous start menu with a mouse.

But, lately, I notice the application I want is often not first in the search results.

Take this example:

picture of searching "sql"

When I type sql into the search box, it appears to sort the results alphabetically – but 95% of the time I want to open SQL Server Management Studio. It is an order of magnitude slower to open the application when it is not the first item in the list.

Is there any way to affect the order of search results here?

Preferably, it would use a most frequently used algorithm to prioritize items I select more often, but if I can influence it in any way I would like to know.

Best Answer

I have the same problem but made a work around.

Rename the start menu item.
Add a symbol such as "~" in the front of the shortcut name.

~SQL Server Management Studio

Type "sql" and the renamed item will always be on top.

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