It’s good to keep your desktop clean, clutter free and with a refreshing wallpaper. However, it does not make sense to remove all icons and search for them every time. Best thing is to remove unnecessary icons and add important items for quick access. Adding items in desktop does not mean you should save them in desktop location. All you need is to simply add shortcuts so that you can quickly access them.
Desktop Shortcuts Vs Pin to Start Menu / Taskbar
Since the Taskbar is generally visible all the time, many users tend to pin items there. Some users are also pin shortcuts to Start Menu. This works better for apps but not for files and folders. For a single file or folder, desktop is the best option to keep your shortcuts. For example, you can keep multiple project folders in D or other drive. But have shortcuts on desktop to open them easily without searching.
1. Adding App Shortcut in Desktop
Let us take an example that you want to add Command Prompt app’s shortcut on your desktop.
- First, search for “command prompt” using Windows Search and select “Open file location” option.
- This will open File Explorer and show Command Prompt shortcut location in Start Menu Programs.
- Select Command Prompt and press “Alt + Enter” keys or right-click and select “Properties” menu.
- Go to “Shortcut” tab in “Properties” dialog box. Copy the source app’s location from “Target:” box. For Command Prompt, it is %windir%\system32\cmd.exe.
- Now, right-click on the empty area on your desktop. Go to “New” menu and select “Shortcut” option.
- This will open “Create Shortcut” dialog box and paste the copied app location in “Type the location of the item” box. Click “Next” button to proceed further.
- Provide a name for your shortcut under “Type a name for this shortcut:” box. In our case, we provide Command Prompt. Click “Finish” button complete the process.
- Now, you will see a shortcut for Command Prompt is added on your desktop. Double-click on the shortcut to open Command Prompt any time you want.
2. Adding File Shortcut in Desktop
You can add shortcut of a file located in any local drives, OneDrive or from connected external drives.
- Open File Explorer and locate your file.
- Right-click on the file and select “Copy as path” option or highlight the file name and press “Control + Shift + C” keys to copy the location to clipboard.
- Now, right-click on the desktop and select “New > Shortcut” option.
- Paste the copied file path in the dialog box and click “Next” button.
- Windows will automatically show the file name as shortcut name. If required, change it or you can keep the name as it is and click “Finish” button.
- Now, check the desktop and you will see the shortcut for the file is added. Double-click on the file shortcut to open and edit the source file.
3. Adding Folder Shortcut in Desktop
The process of adding folder shortcut is same as adding file shortcuts.
- Open File Explorer and locate your folder. Right-click on it and select “Copy as path” option.
- Right-click on the desktop and select “Shortcut” option from “New” menu.
- Paste the folder’s path in the “Create Shortcut” dialog box and click “Next” button.
- Provide the name for your folder shortcut and click “Finish” button.
- Now, you can find the folder shortcut on your desktop and double-click to open the folder in a new File Explorer window.
Final Words
As you can see, it is easy to add app, file or folder’s shortcut on your desktop location in Windows 11. You can anytime delete the shortcuts to get rid of them from your desktop without deleting the source item. It is also possible to keep the shortcut on desktop as well as pin the item to Start menu or Taskbar.
