Hi all! This may seem simple (maybe even funny) to some computer users, but it can be useful for beginners. Lately, I've been getting emails quite often asking me to create a mini guide to creating shortcuts.
Therefore, in this article we will look at how to create a desktop shortcut in Windows 10 (great for Windows 7 users too) for your favorite programs, sites, etc. and place it in any folder for convenient and quick access to the necessary information.
How to remove a shortcut from the All Programs menu
For example, let's display a Word shortcut on the desktop.
Click the Start button 1. Then move the cursor (without clicking the mouse buttons) over the All Programs menu 2. A list of programs installed on your computer opens. Follow the arrow to this list and hover over the folder you need - Microsoft Office 3.
A list of programs included in Microsoft Office will open. Move the cursor to the program we need: Microsoft Office Word 2003 4
Now, hovering the cursor over Microsoft Office Word 2003, press the right mouse button.
A context menu will open in front of you.
After releasing the right mouse button, move the cursor to the Send 5 item, a submenu will open on the right, in which you select Desktop ( create shortcut ) 6 and press the left mouse button.
That's it, now you can admire the program shortcut that has appeared on your desktop and launch Microsoft Office Word using it.
How to create a Shortcut yourself?
For example: you need to create an icon for the same “Skype” or any other program. By default, the Skype folder is located in the “Program files (x86)” folder. Therefore, to find it, you need to go to My Computer > > Program Files (x86) and there enter the “Skype” folder, if you don’t know how to find a program, use the Explorer search engine, in the article about finding programs I’ll tell you everything described in detail. If so, then find out how to solve this problem using the link.
After you find the desired folder, go into it and look for the icon of the program you are interested in, in my case it is Skype.
Right-click on it, a context menu will open, in it find the inscription “Send” and then click “desktop (create shortcut)”. And after several successful operations, you will see the created program icon on the desktop.
You can also learn about creating a shortcut from the article in which I described two ways to switch programs.
To summarize, now you have learned what a desktop shortcut is, and also learned how to create icons yourself, and if you want, you can also learn how using the context menu. And my article is coming to an end, thank you all for your attention and see you soon, friends.
Shortcuts on the computer desktop. What it is? How are they different from folders and files? How to create a shortcut on the desktop, and what happens if you delete it? Is it possible to change the shortcut icon? You will find answers to all these questions in this lesson.
While working on the Windows 10 operating system, you've probably noticed that you spend too much time opening the Start menu, finding the desired folder or program, opening that folder or launching the program, and returning back to the desktop. But all this can be done much faster and easier. All you need to do is create a shortcut and place it on your desktop.
What is a shortcut
Label
is just an icon that links to a program or file, so it doesn't take up system resources or affect your computer's performance. A shortcut, unlike a folder or file, has very few " ". Therefore, it is much safer and more convenient to keep shortcuts on the desktop rather than folders.
If you do not find the program you need in the Windows Main Menu
But sometimes you cannot find the desired program in the main menu (someone accidentally or deliberately deleted the shortcut). Don't despair, the matter can be fixed. If the program is on the computer, then you need to find the program launching file and display a shortcut from it on the desktop.
For the Word text editor, the path will be like this. Using Windows Explorer or the Total Commander file manager, find the Program Files folder, in it the Microsoft Office folder, then open the OFFICE11 folder and find the WINWORD.exe file in it
On the found file, right-click to open the context menu, and then act in the already proven way. Proceed the same way with any other program. Find its folder in Program Files, then find in the folder the file that launches the program (most often it has the extension .exe, but there are others). If you don’t immediately understand which file is launching, double-click it and try to launch it. If the program starts, then everything is correct, this is the main file. Display the shortcut from it on the desktop using the method shown above.
Note: You cannot delete anything in the Program Files folder using the Delete button. Otherwise, the program located in this folder will stop working!
Shortcut in Windows: what is it?
Let's start with the simplest. In general, it is a mistake to consider a Windows or any other operating system shortcut to be only a picture depicting the logo of a particular program or object being opened. In the Russian version, all such icons are usually called shortcuts, but the English terms may vary.
So, for example, for Windows in English translation the shortcut is shortcut, on Linux - freedesktop, on Mac - either shortcut or alias. Despite the different names, the purpose of all shortcuts is the same - to communicate with objects that need to be opened or launched without searching for the file to which it is linked in various menus, file managers or browsers.
In addition, like any other system object, a shortcut is a file ranging in size from 10 to 100 bytes, which does not take up much space, but contains information about the path of the file, folder or resource to which it refers.
How to rename a desktop icon
If you don't like the name assigned to the shortcut by Windows, for example, Shortcut for
Word, then you can change it.
To do this, hover the cursor over the shortcut (icon), right-click to open the context menu and select Rename
. Immediately the signature text under the label will be highlighted and you can remove the words “Shortcut for”, or completely rename the shortcut. After this, be sure to press the Enter key - only then will your name be saved.
Please note that such actions (rename, delete) can only be performed with shortcuts (they have a small black arrow in the lower left corner of the shortcut). Program files located in their own folders in Program Files cannot be renamed! Otherwise they will stop working. You can only display shortcuts from them, and do what you want with the shortcuts!
How to place shortcuts to launch programs on the Windows taskbar
The Windows taskbar is located at the very bottom of the Windows interface. Here she is:
As you can see, in my example, there are several icons on the taskbar - search, display of open tasks on the computer, and the Microsoft Edge browser icon (icon “e”). You can add other shortcuts to this same panel to launch programs that you often use. Usually there is a shortcut to launch a browser, a shortcut to launch Windows Explorer, and possibly a text editing program (for example, Microsoft Word).
The principle of placing shortcuts on the taskbar is exactly the same as on the start screen of the Start menu (see above).
All you need to do is right-click on any file, folder or existing shortcut and select “Pin to taskbar”. For example, I will place a shortcut on the taskbar to launch the Microsoft Word text editor:
As a result, a new shortcut has appeared on the taskbar with which I can quickly launch Microsoft Word:
Keep in mind that you can only place shortcuts to launch programs on the taskbar! Those. You cannot place a shortcut on the taskbar to quickly jump to a folder or your file!
How to display a website shortcut on your desktop
A site visitor asked me a question: “How to display a site shortcut on the desktop?” At first I thought that there was no point in this, because links can be placed in Favorites. But after testing this option, I became convinced that this method of opening a site has a right to exist. After clicking on the shortcut, the web browser launches and the site opens at the same time (two actions at the same time). How to create a shortcut on your desktop to your favorite site that you open every day? Since Internet Explorer is installed along with Windows on any computer, let's create a shortcut using it.
So, open Internet Explorer and open the desired site in it. Now in the File menu, move the cursor to the Send link, then to the right and click on the link Shortcut to desktop . That's it, the shortcut ( icon ) is already on the desktop. You can check!
You may also be interested in:
- How to properly remove programs from your computer
- How to put a shortcut (icon) in the Quick Launch bar
- Disk cleanup using Windows itself
Launching shortcuts
In Windows settings, opening or launching any object by using a shortcut is done by double-clicking, in fact, just like for any other file or directory.
Depending on which object the shortcut refers to, one or more sequential actions will be performed. So, for example, if the shortcut corresponds to the executable file of the program, the application will start. In the case of links to directories, individual files or web pages, the main program (office or other editor, Explorer, web browser) will be launched first, after which the application itself will open the required file or link.
ONLY FOR WINDOWS 10! Placing folders in the Quick Access Toolbar in Windows Explorer
The new Windows 10 operating system has another option to quickly open important and frequently used folders. Now this can be done using special bookmarks in Windows Explorer.
The area in Windows Explorer where you can add bookmarks is called the “Quick Access Toolbar” and is located on the left side of the window:
You can add any folder to this panel in order to open it quickly, without the need to climb and search throughout the computer. A pushpin icon appears next to pinned folders. If you have the Windows 10 operating system installed on your computer, then I think you will find this feature very useful. Also in the same panel will appear the folders that you opened last.
Pinning a folder to the Quick Access Toolbar is very easy! You need to find the folder on your computer that you want to pin to the Quick Access Toolbar, right-click on it and select “Pin to Quick Access Toolbar”:
After this, the selected folder will immediately appear in the Quick Access Toolbar in Windows Explorer:
Notice the pushpin icon next to pinned folders. Those folders in this panel that do not have this icon are not pinned, but are simply the last open folders that will constantly change.
