Windows 10 is the most convenient version of Windows to date. We, as consumers, love it when things are made more convenient as time is worth as much as money, in some cases. Thankfully, Pin to taskbar is a handy little area on your desktop that was made with convenience in mind.
You can pin everything from apps and programs to files and folders, and even website links to the taskbar in Windows 10. For the most part, pinning shortcuts to your taskbar is effortless. We’ve provided six different ways in which to accomplish the task.
1. Pin Shortcuts to Taskbar in Windows 10 from Desktop
This is the easiest way to pin shortcuts to the taskbar in Windows 10, so long as you already have a program or folder shortcut situated on your desktop.
You can either drag and drop the shortcut down into the taskbar or right-click the shortcut and select Pin to taskbar in the menu.
2. Pin Shortcuts to Taskbar in Windows 10 from the Start Menu
The same procedure used for the previous method, can be used here. Any of the apps that have tiles or shortcuts can be pinned to the Windows 10 taskbar.
Step 1. Left-click the Windows icon in the lower-left portion of the desktop screen to open the Start Menu.
Step 2. Navigate through the scrolling options to locate the app you want to pin to the taskbar.
Step 3. Right-click the app, select More, and click Pin to taskbar.
Similarly, if you’d prefer not to have to scroll, you can also use the Search function, right-click the app or folder, and select Pin to taskbar.
3. Pin A Program to Taskbar in Windows 10 from File Explorer
You can pin the .exe file of any program you have installed on your Windows 10 computer to the taskbar. Once a program has been installed:
Step 1. Locate and open the program’s installation folder via File Explorer.
Step 2. Navigate to the .exe file of the program and right-click it. Typically, the program can be found in the main folder.
Step 3. Select Pin to taskbar from the menu.
4. Pin A Program to Taskbar in Windows 10 when the Program is Running
While a program is in use, it should show up in the taskbar. However, the program will disappear once it has been closed. To add the shortcut to taskbar on Windows 10:
Step 1. Right-click the program already located in the taskbar. You can tell it’s in use because it’s been highlighted with an underline.
Step 2. Select Pin to Taskbar from the menu.
Now when you close the program, the shortcut should remain in the taskbar for later use.
5. Pin A Folder Shortcut to Taskbar in Windows 10
Pinning a folder shortcut to taskbar in Windows 10 is more difficult than it should be.
Step 1. First, right-click an empty space on your desktop, select New, and then Shortcut.
Step 2. Browse for the folder you want to be added to your Windows 10 taskbar.
Step 3. In front of the folder’s name, type in explorer.exe and add a space between them.
Step 4. Click Next.
Step 5. Name your shortcut and click Finish.
Step 6. Now you can treat this shortcut like any other program or app on your desktop. Either right-click and choose Pin to taskbar or drag and drop it into your taskbar directly.
6. Pin “This PC” to Taskbar in Windows 10
All Windows 10 computers should have This PC. It can be found in File Explorer, along with the left-hand side menu.
Step 1. To get started, drag and drop This PC onto your desktop to create a new shortcut.
Step 2. Now, drag and drop the This PC shortcut into the taskbar.
Not the most straightforward approach, but easy nonetheless.
7. How Can I Pin a Website to Taskbar Using Google Chrome?
You now know how to pin programs, files, and folder shortcuts to your taskbar in Windows 10. Websites can also be pinned to the taskbar for direct access. We’ll use Brave as an example, but both Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox use similar steps.
Step 1. Open Brave and navigate to the website you want to pin. In our case, we’ve chosen YouTube.
Step 2. Open your customize (hamburger) menu located in the upper right corner.
Step 3. Scroll and select More tools… and then Create shortcut.
Step 4. A dialog box will pop up requiring a name for the shortcut.
Step 5. Select Create. You’ll then find the shortcut on your desktop.
Step 6. From the desktop, drag and drop the new shortcut on the Windows 10 taskbar.
Read More: How to Create Website shortcut in Windows 10
FAQs About Taskbar in Windows 10
How To Unpin A Programs/Files/Folders From Windows 10 Taskbar
Knowing how to add shortcuts to the taskbar in Windows 10 could see your taskbar fill up rather quickly. It’s also good to know how to remove or unpin files, folders, and programs from the taskbar.
Step 1. Highlight (move cursor over) the pinned app on your taskbar you wish to remove.
Step 2. Right-click the app.
Step 3. Select Unpin from taskbar from the menu.
Read More: How to Unpin Programs from Taskbar in Windows 10
What To Do When Pin To Taskbar Is Missing Or Not Working?
Unfortunately, sometimes there can be unforeseen complications when dealing with Pin to taskbar. If you encounter an issue where the Windows 10 pin to taskbar isn’t working, it could be a registry or antivirus issue.
We would suggest:
- Open Run dialog (Win + R) and copy/paste the following:
%APPDATA%\\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\User Pinned\TaskBar - Delete all apps found in the Quick Access menu, then restart your computer.
If the complication still persists:
- Open Run dialog (Win + R) and type in regedit.exe
- Next, navigate to the following registry key:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\lnkfile - In the right pane, right-click an empty space and select New, then String Value (REG_SZ) to create a new registry value.
- You can then rename the registry to IsShortcut, without value data.
- Again, restart your PC.
Continue if the problem lingers, as now it’s likely your antivirus. In this case, we suggest running the System File Checker.
- Open the Power menu (Win + X) and select either the Command Prompt (Admin) or PowerShell (Admin) options.
- Type sfc /scannow, followed by Enter.
- Allow the scan to complete and attempt to pin items to taskbar again.
You could also attempt to modify settings in Group Policy Editor, however, this method is not available to Windows Home users.
- Open Run dialog (Win + R) and type in gpedit.msc and press Enter.
- Inside the Group Policy Editor, navigate to User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Start Menu and Taskbar.
- Locate Remove pinned programs list from the Start Menu and double-click it.
- Make sure that Not configured is unselected, and then click Apply, followed by OK.
- Repeat this process for Remove pinned programs from the Taskbar.
- Reboot the computer and try to pin again.
Other than the above methods, should the pin to taskbar still fail, your PC could need a full reinstall of Windows 10. Now you know all that you need to know when it comes to pinning and unpinning folders to the taskbar on Windows 10.
