Download as pdf or txt
Download as pdf or txt
You are on page 1of 10

How To Pin Desktop/Documents

/Downloads Folder To Taskbar In


Windows 10

You are here: Home » Windows 10 » How To Pin Desktop/Documents


/Downloads Folder To Taskbar In Windows 10

The Desktop, Documents, and Downloads folders are the most


frequently accessed folders on a PC running any recent versions of the
Windows operating system, including the latest Windows 10. With
default settings, all files downloaded using web browsers are saved in
the Downloads folder, which is located in the drive where Windows
operating system is installed. Likewise, most users save their
important files in the Documents folder. The desktop folder is also
often used to save files.

There are a couple of ways to access the Downloads folder from


Desktop as well as File Explorer. Either type its name in the Start
menu or taskbar search box and press enter key, or open File Explorer
(Windows Explorer) and then click Downloads folder located in the
navigation pane or type Downloads in the address bar followed by the
Enter key. If the File Explorer icon is on the taskbar, you can also
right-click on it to reveal the jump list and then click Downloads.

And if you prefer to quickly open the Downloads folder with a


keyboard shortcut, launch Run command with the help of Windows +
R hotkey, type Downloads, Shell:Desktop, or Shell:Documents, and
then press Enter key. Using the search feature is probably the easiest
way out there to quickly open the Downloads/Desktop/Documents
folder.
While one can always use one of the methods mentioned above to
quickly open Downloads folder, users who often need to access it
might want to create a desktop shortcut for Downloads folder or pin
Downloads folder to the taskbar for easy access.

In this guide, we will see how to add Downloads folder shortcut to


Desktop as well as to the taskbar in Windows 10. Luckily, pinning
Desktop/Documents/Downloads folder is not as complicated as
pinning standard folders.

NOTE: This method can only pin Downloads, Documents, Music,


Videos, and Pictures folders to the taskbar. To pin other folders,
please refer to our how to quickly pin folders to the taskbar in
Windows 10 guide for step-by-step instructions.

Step 1: Open File Explorer, right-click on the Downloads folder in the


navigation-pane (if you can’t see either expand Quick Access or This
PC), click Send to, and then click Desktop (create shortcut) to have the
shortcut of it on the Desktop.
Step 2: On the desktop, right-click on the newly created folder
shortcut and click Properties to open the Properties dialog.
Step 3: Under the Shortcut tab, you will see the Target field. Add
“Explorer” (without quotes) at the beginning of the target path and
then add a space, as shown in the picture below. Click the Apply
button.
Step 4: Next, drag and drop the Downloads shortcut from the
Desktop to the taskbar to pin to the taskbar.

Create a desktop shortcut for the


Downloads/Desktop/Documents folder
Step 1: Open File Explorer.

Step 2: Right-click on the Downloads folder in the navigation pane of


File Explorer, click Send to, and then click Desktop (create shortcut)
option to create the desktop shortcut of it. As simple as that!
To pin Downloads/Desktop/Documents
to Start menu
Step 1: Open File Explorer, right-click on the Downloads folder in the
navigation pane and then click Pin to Start.
Tip: In Windows 10, you can easily add the Downloads folder to the
left-pane of the Start menu, just above the power button. Refer to our
how to add downloads & documents folders to the Windows 10 Start
menu guide for step-by-step instructions.

You might also like