If you have installed a program that you do not want other computer users to use, for example, you can hide the program.
Hiding a program in this case means that the program or app no longer appears in the Start menu or in the list of installed programs. The application itself is not affected by this. You can still use this, but you will need to open the executable itself from the location where it is installed. After all, it is no longer available in, for example, the Start menu.
It is important to use this feature ethically. Abusing this feature to hide malicious software or deceive users is strongly discouraged and may be illegal. It is also important to keep system security in mind and avoid hiding software that may be harmful to the system if it cannot be easily removed. Now that we've got this, here's how it works.
Hide program in Start menu or Installed apps
To do this you need to make an adjustment to the Windows registry. It is advisable before you proceed to get one Create a Windows restore point. If something unexpectedly goes wrong, you can always make a restore point.
Open the Windows registry. Go to the key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall
Below the Uninstall key you will see several other keys, many of which have a unique name (GUID). You can click on each key and check the DisplayName value in the right panel to find the key that corresponds to the program you want to hide.
Below is an example.
Once you have found the key for the program, right-click in the right panel. Now click on “New” and then on “DWORD (32-bit) value”. Name this new value “SystemComponent”. Double-click “SystemComponent” and set the value data to “1”. Click OK to save the change.
Optional: If you want to display the program again in the future, change the “SystemComponent” value back to “0” or delete the SystemComponent value.
Then check if the program is hidden in the Start Menu and the installed apps. Below is a before and after.
FOR:
AT:
I hope this helped you. Thank you for reading!