How to Pin a Folder to the Windows 10 Taskbar – 5 Ways

In this article, we’ll see how to pin a folder or file to the Windows 10 taskbar so that you can use the icons on the taskbar to quickly launch an application, or to quickly access a file you need. Some users are faced with the need to pin a file, folder or shortcut (link) to a file on the Windows Taskbar.

This is necessary to quickly launch a program, access a specific folder or computer drive. Thanks to this, a lot of time is saved due to the fact that the application or folder opens in one click of the mouse, without unnecessary gestures.

Another plus of this method: cleaning the desktop of unnecessary shortcuts. All shortcuts can be placed in a folder, opening the folder when needed without cluttering the workspace on the PC screen.

For a long time, there were only a few items on the Desktop of my computer: “Recycle Bin”, “This PC” and the “Programs” folder, with the most frequently used applications. Most of these programs are portable (portable), they are not installed on the system.

I need “Recycle Bin” and “This Computer” on the Desktop, but I still decided to remove the folder with programs from the Desktop. It would be possible to put this folder in the list of programs in the Start menu, but I find it more convenient to place the folder with program shortcuts on the Windows taskbar.

I do not need an additional panel for icons on the desktop like RocketDock , for our purposes we use the standard taskbar.

In this guide, I will talk about how to pin a link to the taskbar, how to pin a folder to the taskbar, how to add a shortcut to the taskbar.

How to pin a folder in Explorer to the Taskbar – 1 way

Most users pin shortcuts to the most used programs on the Windows taskbar to quickly launch applications. Due to the size of the taskbar area, too many items cannot be placed there.

You can collect shortcuts in a folder, but adding this folder directly to the taskbar in Windows 10 will not work. A folder can be pinned to File Explorer located on the taskbar.

You can do this in the following way:

1. Drag the folder with the mouse to an empty place on the taskbar, the item “Pin to Explorer” will appear in the context menu.
2. Release the mouse, this folder will appear in the list of pinned folders in Explorer.

Now, to open the desired folder, you will need to right-click on Explorer on the taskbar, and in the context menu, in the Pinned group, you must click on the appropriate folder. In this case, it’s the Programs folder where I placed the program shortcuts.

This option did not suit me, on my computer I chose other ways to place the folder, which you can read about later in the article.

How to display icons on the taskbar: pin any file

In the Windows operating system, you can pin an executable file with the extension “.exe” to the taskbar, but a file of another type, for example, with the extension “.bat”, which is necessary to start some action, cannot be pinned. Therefore, we will have to take a detour.

In the instructions, I describe the actions with the “bat” file. You can use this action algorithm for a file with a different extension, which cannot be pinned to the taskbar by default.

Go through the following steps:

1. In the Explorer window, click the View tab.
2. In the Show/Hide group, check the box next to File name extensions.
3. Right-click on the file, select “Rename” from the context menu.
4. Instead of the original file extension, in our case “.bat”, make the extension “.exe”.
5. In the “Rename” window, click on the “OK” button.
6. The file has changed its extension to “.exe”, now it can be pinned to the taskbar. Drag a file from a folder on your computer to the Windows taskbar to pin it.
7. Open the folder where the original file is located, change its extension back to “.bat” or something else if you pin a different file type.
8. Right-click on a file pinned to the taskbar.
9. In the context menu that opens, right-click on the file name, then in the additional menu, click on “Properties”.
10. In the file properties window, in the “Shortcut” tab, in the “Object:” field, change the extension to the original one, in our case “.bat”, and then click on the “OK” button.
11. Click the “Change Icon…” button.
12. In the warning window, click the “OK” button.
13. In the “Change Icon” window, select the appropriate icon for this type of file, click the “OK” button.
14. Restart your computer or restart Windows Explorer .

As a result, our file is pinned to the taskbar, it has its own icon, we can run this file in one click.

How to Create a Folder on the Windows Taskbar – Method 2

Similarly, you can pin a folder by creating icons on the Windows 10 taskbar. This is the same method described above.

Instructions on how to add a folder to the taskbar:

1. Turn on the display of file extensions on the PC.
2. Create a text document with the name of the folder you want to pin to the Windows taskbar.
3. Change the extension of the text file from “.txt” to “.exe”.
4. Right-click on the file, select “Pin file to taskbar” from the context menu.
5. Right-click on the file, then right-click on the file name again, select “Properties” from the menu that opens.
6. In the Properties: X window, in the “Shortcut” tab, in the “Object:” field, add the path to the desired folder.
7. Click the “Change Icon…” button.
8. Select the appropriate icon (there are several options for displaying folders).
9. Restart File Explorer or restart your PC.

The folder on the Windows 10 taskbar is pinned.

How to make a folder in the Windows taskbar – 3 way

There is a way to add a folder to the taskbar by creating a new toolbar.

Do the following:

1. Select the folder on your computer that you want to place on the taskbar. In my case, this is the Programs folder with shortcuts to frequently used programs.
2. Click on an empty space on the taskbar.
3. In the context menu, click on “Panels”, then in the menu that opens, on “Create a toolbar …”.
4. In the Explorer window, select the desired folder, click on the “Select Folder” button.
5. A new panel has appeared near the notification area. To open the contents of the folder, you need to click on the created panel.

In my case, in the “Programs” folder there are other folders, divided into appropriate categories, in which there are program shortcuts.

Place links on the Windows taskbar – 4 way

Another similar way: adding links to the taskbar. These are not links to sites, but links to folders. This method is suitable for launching the programs you need from a folder on the taskbar located near the notification area.

Do the following:

1. Follow the path:

C:\Users\User\Favorites\Links

2. In the “Links” folder, create a folder with program shortcuts. This folder may contain other folders by category, and they contain shortcuts.
3. Right-click on the taskbar, select “Panels” from the menu, then “Links”.
4. Right-click on the taskbar again, uncheck the box next to “Lock the taskbar”.
5. Click on the created “Links” panel, in the context menu, uncheck the boxes next to the items “Show captions” and “Show title”.
6. Click on “Lock the taskbar”.

A folder with the necessary program shortcuts appeared on the Windows 10 taskbar.

Create a Folder Shortcut to Add to the Taskbar – Method 5

Pinning a folder shortcut to the taskbar is a pretty easy fix.

Go through the following steps:

1. Right-click on an empty space on the desktop.
2. In the context menu, first click on “Create”, and then on “Shortcut”.
3. In the “Create Shortcut” window, in the “Specify the location of the object:” field, insert the path to the desired folder in the form:

%windir%\explorer.exe path_to_folder

4. Click on the “Next” button.
5. In the next window, in the “Enter a shortcut name:” field, assign a folder name, click on the “Finish” button.
6. A folder icon, identical to Explorer, will appear on the Windows taskbar. This icon needs to be changed so as not to confuse Explorer with a shortcut to a specific folder.
7. Right-click on the icon, then on the icon name, select “Properties”.
8. In the shortcut properties window, click on the “Change icon …” button, select the appropriate option.
9. Restart your computer or restart File Explorer.

There is a folder shortcut on the taskbar. Remove the shortcut from your desktop, you won’t need it anymore.

Article Conclusions

Some users are experiencing an issue regarding pinning a folder to the Windows taskbar. There are several ways to solve this issue in different ways using the tools of the Windows 10 operating system without resorting to third-party applications.