Work with shortcuts

You can’t be in more than one place at a time, but—with shortcuts—your files can. Shortcuts are links to programs, documents, files, or Web sites that you can add to your desktop or Start menu. Rather than searching through folders or the Internet every time you want to open a particular file or Web site, simply create a shortcut.
You may not know it, but you use shortcuts all the time. When you click the Start menu, every icon you see is a shortcut. The icons on your desktop are also shortcuts. Without these shortcuts (which are created by Windows or the programs you install), you would have to do a lot of extra work every time you wanted to open a program or empty your recycle bin.
You open a shortcut exactly as you would open a file: by double-clicking it. When you open a shortcut, Windows locates and opens the original file. If you delete the shortcut, the original file is still right where it was.
Find out how to:
• Add a shortcut to your desktop.
• Add a shortcut to your Start menu.
• Add a shortcut that links to a Web site.
• Change a shortcut icon.

How to add a shortcut to your

desktop

If you use your desktop frequently, you should consider adding shortcuts to your favorite files to your desktop.
To add a shortcut to a file on your desktop
1. Browse your My Documents folder and subfolders to find the file you want to create a shortcut for.
2. Right-click the file you want to link to from your desktop, click Send To, and then click Desktop.
File shortcut menu with Send To selected and Desktop selected on submenu
Your file stays in the same place, but you now have a shortcut to that file on your desktop. Notice that the icon on your desktop has an arrow in the lower-left corner. This arrow indicates that you are clicking a shortcut and not the actual file.
A shortcut icon on a desktop
If your desktop gets cluttered with too many shortcuts, you can organize and clean up your desktop.
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How to add a shortcut to your Start

menu

In addition to being able to add shortcuts to your desktop, you can also add shortcuts on your Start menu. Shortcuts to your favorite files can appear alongside your programs.
To add a shortcut to your Start menu
1. Browse your My Documents folder and subfolders to find the file you want to create a shortcut for.
2. Drag the file to the Start button and hold it for about one second.
3. When the Start menu opens, drag the file to the location where you want to add it.
4. Drop the file where you want the shortcut, and a shortcut icon appears.
A shortcut being dragged onto the open Start menu

How to add a shortcut to a Web site

In addition to linking to files on your own computer, you can create shortcuts to your favorite Web sites. Double-click the shortcut, and the Web site will open in your browser.
To create a shortcut to a Web site
1. Open the Web site in Microsoft Internet Explorer.
2. Click and drag the Internet Explorer icon in the Address bar (next to the URL) to your desktop or to the Start menu.
Pointer dragging Internet Explorer icon in Address bar
For more detailed instructions, watch the video Creating a desktop shortcut to a Web site.
Watching the video requires that you have Windows Media Player.
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How to change the icons in your shortcuts

Shortcuts include a picture called an icon, which can help you find a program or file faster. For example, the My Computer shortcut shows a computer icon, and the Recycle Bin shortcut shows a trash can icon.
Examples of shortcut icons
When you change your Windows theme, the new theme might include a set of custom icons that complement the look of the new desktop. For example, a jungle theme might change your My Computer icon to a giraffe. If you want, you can change one or more icons to something more interesting to you.
The method for changing an icon depends on the icon type. You can:
• Change a system icon.
• Change any other icon on your computer.