How to Pin Shortcuts to the Taskbar on Windows 10? (10 Ways)

If you pin a shortcut to the taskbar, you can quickly open that program or folder even the shortcut is not on your desktop. To pin shortcuts to the taskbar is quite recommended if you use the program or folder frequently.

In this post, we will show you how to pin to taskbar on Windows 10 using different methods under various situations.

#1. How to Pin Shortcuts from the Start Menu to the Taskbar

1. Click Start you can see the list of all programs installed on your computer.
2. Find the program you want to pin to the taskbar and right-click it.
3. Go to More > Pin to taskbar.

#2. How to Pin Shortcuts from Desktop to the Taskbar

If the short you want to pin to the taskbar is located on your desktop, you can just right-click it and then select Pin to taskbar.

#3. How to Pin Apps/Programs’ Shortcuts from File Explorer to the Taskbar

After a program’s installation, there will be a .exe file named after the program. You can also use it to pin a shortcut of a program to the taskbar.

1. Open the program’s installation folder in File Explorer.
2. Find the .exe file of the program and right-click it.
3. Select Pin to taskbar.

#4. How to Pin a Running Program to the Taskbar

If the program is opened and you can see its icon in the taskbar, you can right-click the icon and then select Pin to taskbar to directly pin it to the taskbar.

After you close that program, you still can see the program icon in the taskbar. If you want to use it again, you just need to click the icon on the taskbar to quickly open it.

#5. How to Pin Folder Shortcuts to the Taskbar

You need to first create a shortcut for the folder and then drag the folder to the taskbar.

Step 1: Create a Folder Shortcut

1. Right-click the empty space on the desktop.

2. Go to New > Shortcut.

3. Click Browse on the pop-up interface to select the target folder.

4. Add explorer before the location of the folder and add a space between them.

5. Click Next.

6. Name the shortcut and click Finish.

Step 2: Drag the Folder Shortcut to the Taskbar

If the folder has a shortcut on the desktop, it will be very simple to pin it to the taskbar. You can right-click the shortcut and then select Pin to taskbar. You can also directly drag the shortcut to the taskbar.

By default, the icon of a folder shortcut is the same as the File Explorer. You can change the folder icon if you want to identify them from each other.

#6. How to Pin This PC to the Taskbar

You can’t use the universal method to pin This PC to the taskbar because you can’t find Pin to taskbar after you right-click it.

What to do to pin This PC to the taskbar?

You can create a shortcut for This PC and drag the shortcut to the taskbar. Here are the things you should do.

1. Right-click This PC and select Create shortcut. Then, you can see the shortcut of This PC on the desktop.
2. Drag the shortcut of This PC to the taskbar.

#7. How to Pin Recycle Bin to the Taskbar

Likewise, you can’t use the universal method to pin Recycle Bin to the taskbar. This post shows you how to do this: How Can I Pin Recycle Bin to the Taskbar in Windows 10?

#8. How to Pin Control Panel to the Taskbar

If you use Control Panel frequently, you can also pin it to the taskbar. Since it has no shortcut, you can’t use the universal method to pin it. Here is one method you can try.

1. Use Windows search to search control panel and open it by clicking the first search result.
2. You can see the Control Panel icon on the taskbar. Then, you just need to right-click the icon and then select Pin to taskbar.

#9. How to Pin Items from Control Panel to the Taskbar

If you want to pin some items from Control Panel to the taskbar, you also need to create a desktop shortcut for them and then pin the shortcuts to the taskbar.

1. Right-click the empty space on the desktop and go to New > Shortcut.

2. You will see the create shortcut interface. Then, you need to enter the location of the item you want to create a shortcut for it. You can select and use your needed location from the following list:

• Printer: rundll32.exe shell32.dll,SHHelpShortcuts_RunDLL AddPrinter
• Color and Appearance: explorer shell:::{ED834ED6-4B5A-4bfe-8F11-A626DCB6A921} -Microsoft.PersonalizationpageColorization
• Desktop Background: explorer shell:::{ED834ED6-4B5A-4bfe-8F11-A626DCB6A921} -Microsoft.PersonalizationpageWallpaper
• Device Manager: devmgmt.msc
• File Explorer Options (General tab): rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Options_RunDLL 0
• File Explorer Options (View tab): rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Options_RunDLL 7
• File Explorer Options (Search tab): rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Options_RunDLL 2
• Notification Area Icons: explorer shell:::{05d7b0f4-2121-4eff-bf6b-ed3f69b894d9}
• Personalization: explorer shell:::{ED834ED6-4B5A-4bfe-8F11-A626DCB6A921}
• System Icons: explorer shell:::{05d7b0f4-2121-4eff-bf6b-ed3f69b894d9} SystemIcons,,0
• User Accounts (netplwiz): netplwiz

For example, if you want to create a shortcut for Device Manager, you need to input devmgmt.msc to the location box and then click Next.

3. Type a name for the shortcut.

4. Click Finish.

5. You can see the shortcut of Device Manager on the desktop. Then, you need to right-click the shortcut and then select Pin to taskbar.

#10. How to Pin the Shortcuts of Administrative Tools to the Taskbar

You can also pin Administrative Tools to the taskbar. If you need to do this, you can follow this guide:

1. Open Control Panel.

2. Select Category for View by.

3. Go to System and Security > Administrative Tools.

4. The Administrative Tools folder will open. Then, you need to find the tool you want to pin to the taskbar and right-click it.

5. Select Pin to taskbar from the right-click menu.

Those are the methods to pin shortcuts to the taskbar on Windows 10. You can just select one method to pin to shortcut according to your requirement.