You can pin your favorite programs to the Taskbar so that you can access them quickly without opening up folders or navigating through your files. To pin a program to the Taskbar you just need to right-click on its shortcut icon and select Pin to Taskbar. Unfortunately, Windows 7 does not allow you to do this with main system programs like My Documents. That’s just the way the Windows 7 Pin feature works. Personally, I’d like an option which allows you to pin separate folders rather than adding it under the Explorer icon. But, until then we’ll do it the old fashioned way.

In this tutorial we’ll learn how to pin various useful system shortcuts like My Documents, Control Panel, My Computer, Recycle Bin, and Programs and Features, to Windows 7 Taskbar.

1. Create a new shortcut. To do this, right-click on Desktop and select New. You’ll then see a side menu. From this menu, select Shortcut.

2. This will launch the Create Shortcut wizard. Next, enter the command to open your desired system shortcut. You can use any of following commands to create the desired shortcut:

  • explorer shell:MyComputerFolder (for My Computer shortcut)
  • explorer shell:RecycleBinFolder (for Recycle Bin shortcut)
  • explorer shell:ControlPanelFolder (for Control Panel shortcut)
  • explorer shell:Administrative Tools (for Administrative Tools shortcut)
  • explorer shell:ChangeRemoveProgramsFolder (for Programs and Features shortcut)
  • explorer shell:NetworkPlacesFolder (for Network shortcut)
  • explorer shell:Favorites (for Favorites shortcut)
  • explorer shell:HomegroupFolder (for Homegroup shortcut)
  • explorer shell:Games (for Games shortcut)
  • explorer shell:UserProfiles (for Users folder shortcut)
  • explorer shell:Profile (for your username folder shortcut)
  • explorer shell:Public (for Public folder shortcut)
  • explorer shell:My Documents (for Documents shortcut)
  • explorer shell:Common Documents (for Public Documents shortcut)
  • explorer shell:My Music (for Music folder shortcut)
  • explorer shell:CommonMusic (for Public Music folder shortcut)
  • explorer shell:My Pictures (for Pictures folder shortcut)
  • explorer shell:CommonPictures (for Public Pictures folder shortcut)
  • explorer shell:My Video (for Videos folder shortcut)
  • explorer shell:CommonVideo (for Public Videos folder shortcut)
  • explorer shell:Downloads (for Downloads folder shortcut)
  • explorer shell:CommonDownloads (for Public Downloads folder shortcut)

For this example, we will be using the My Documents shortcut.

3. After entering the command, click on Next button located on the bottom right of the Create Shortcut Wizard.

4. Next the Wizard will ask you: What would you like to name the shortcut? Enter a name for your new shortcut and click on Finish button. This will create a new shortcut on the Desktop.

5. Next we’re going to change the new shortcut icon. Right-click the newly created shortcut icon on your desktop and select Properties.  Then click on the Change Icon button.

6. Browse and select any desired icon. We recommend using the imageres.dll file for selecting new icon as this file contains lots of good default icons. To do this, enter imageres.dll under Look for icons in this file then select Browse.  

7. After you’ve selected your new icon, click on OK and then Apply the changes.

8. Finally, pin this new shortcut to Taskbar. You can either drag-n-drop the shortcut to Taskbar or right-click on the shortcut and select Pin to Taskbar option.

 

You’re finished! Why Microsoft believed their set up would work easier is beyond me, but for now, this is what we’ll have to put up with.

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