How to create a shortcut on the desktop

The presence of shortcuts on the desktop will help you to save a lot of time while navigating through the labyrinth, in whose role the hard drive of your computer acts. There are a few fairly simple methods by which you can create them for almost any file or folder on your computer. How to create a shortcut on the desktop?

For these purposes, Windows provides two possible ways to choose.

Method number 1:

- Right-click once on the free area of the desktop, then select "Create", and then click "Create Shortcut".

- In a new window, click "Browse."

- Now select the file or program for which you want to create a shortcut, highlight it / him, click "Open", then click the "Next" button.

- Then enter a name for the label. If the "Close" button appears in the dialog box , click on it. If not - click "Next", select the icon you want to use for quick access, and then click the "Done" button.

Method number 2:

- Click "Start", click "Programs", and then right-click on the program for which you want to create a shortcut.

- Click the "Create Shortcut" button.

- It is now located at the very end of the list of programs. For example, if you created a shortcut for Microsoft Word to find it, click "Start", select "Programs." You will find the shortcut "Microsoft Word (2)", (of course, without the quotes) at the very bottom of the list.

- Drag it to the free space on the desktop.

How to create a shortcut for a printer or an Internet connection?

To do this, you need to do the following:

- Click "Start", then select "Control Panel" - "Printers". For an Internet connection, you need to perform almost identical actions: also click "Start", select "Control Panel", then "Network and Internet".

- Right-click on the printer or connection icon, drag it to the open space of the desktop, the shortcut will appear automatically.

How to create a shortcut for other objects?

For other objects (for example, a folder, documents, a computer or a recycle bin), it is created almost the same way:

- Use "My Computer" to find the object for which you want to create a shortcut.

- Right-click on this object, and then select "Create Shortcut".

- Transfer the ready-made label to the open space of the desktop.

Helpful Tips

To change the shortcut settings, right-click on the shortcut, and then click the "Properties" button. Thus, you can modify the shortcut in the opened tab, which is used to launch the shortcut, and also minimize-maximize the icon itself.

To delete a shortcut, right-click on it, and then click "Delete." Or you can just drag it into the trash. When you delete it, the original object will not be destroyed and will not change (unless it's the only shortcut to a file or program).

Sometimes I want to use other icons for shortcuts or files. There are many alternative options that you can use in Windows, but it can be difficult to find them if the desired file is not used yet.

Icons are in a file named SHELL32.dll, which is located in a special folder System32 in the Windows folder. Right-click the icon that you want to change, and click "Properties." Select "Edit." Click on the "Browse" button, and then on the "My Computer" button on the left. After that, double-click the local drive (C :), WINDOWS, system32, and then shell32.dll. By default in Windows, icons will appear in the change window. Select any icon and click on the "OK" button. Be extremely attentive! The files in System32 are very important, so be careful and do not try to access the icons differently.

Before creating a shortcut, think - are you going to move the folder or source file, since after that it will not work.