{"id":5754,"date":"2017-11-03T11:52:14","date_gmt":"2017-11-03T06:22:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/198.58.113.91\/blog\/?p=5754"},"modified":"2026-02-28T23:45:39","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T18:15:39","slug":"pin-any-file-or-folder-taskbar-windows-10","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/pin-any-file-or-folder-taskbar-windows-10\/","title":{"rendered":"Pin Any File or Folder to the Taskbar in Windows 10"},"content":{"rendered":"

Windows 8 and Windows 10 lets you pin folders to the Start screen, but pinning data files and folders to the taskbar is not allowed. The context menu entry Pin to Taskbar never exists for data files and folders.\u00a0However, here is a neat little trick that lets you pin any file or folder (directory) to the taskbar.<\/p>\n

Pin Any File or Folder to the Taskbar<\/h3>\n
    \n
  1. First, configure Windows to show the extension of known file types. To do so, open File Explorer, click File menu and select Change folder and search options. In the Folder Options dialog, select the View tab, and uncheck\u00a0Hide extensions for known file types<\/strong>\u00a0setting if it’s already enabled.<\/li>\n

    \"hide<\/p>\n

  2. \"pinChange the extension (to .exe) of the data file you want to pin to taskbar. Let’s say you have a text file named Notes.txt. Rename that to Notes.exe. You’ll see the following message when renaming the file. Click Yes<\/strong> when you see the prompt “Are you sure you want to change it?”.<\/li>\n
  3. Right-click on the file Notes.exe<\/code> and choose Pin to Taskbar.<\/li>\n
  4. Then change the extension of the file back to original (.txt). Alternately, you can right-click on an empty area on the folder where the file resides, and click Undo Rename option.<\/li>\n
  5. Press and hold the Shift key, and right-click on the pinned icon on the taskbar and click Properties.<\/li>\n
  6. In the Properties dialog that opens, change the file extension in the shortcut’s Target field, so that it points to the original file (Notes.txt).<\/li>\n

    \"shortcut<\/p>\n

  7. Additionally, make sure you customize the icon as it’s showing an unknown or generic icon right now. To set the correct icon, click Change icon and select an icon from the list. If you don’t like the stock icons from shell32.dll<\/code>, try imageres.dll<\/code> or browse to locate the related application to pick suitable icon.<\/li>\n
  8. Once done, click OK and OK to close the dialogs.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The taskbar icon won’t be refreshed unless you restart the explorer shell<\/a>, or sign out of your user account and sign back in.<\/p>\n

    \"pinHowever, one downside of this method is that when you click on the pinned taskbar item, a new icon for the executable will show up on the taskbar and there is nothing that can be done about it.<\/p>\n

    The same method can be used to pin any folder<\/strong>. To pin folders, another option would be to create a folder shortcut with explorer.exe prefix<\/a>. But everytime you click on it, it spawns a new explorer.exe process<\/a> that doesn’t exit when the folder is closed. Whereas the above method won’t create extra explorer.exe instances.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Windows 8 and Windows 10 lets you pin folders to the Start screen, but pinning data files and folders to the taskbar is not allowed. The context menu entry Pin to Taskbar never exists for data files and folders.\u00a0However, here is a neat little trick that lets you pin any file or folder (directory) to … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-windows-10"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2207,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/pin-folder-to-taskbar-windows-10\/","url_meta":{"origin":5754,"position":0},"title":"How to Pin a Folder to Taskbar in Windows 10?","author":"Ramesh","date":"March 19, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"By default, when you drag a folder and drop it in Taskbar, the folder is added to the File Explorer Jump list, and not as a separate item. To Pin a folder as a separate item in the Taskbar, use these steps.Right-click on the folder you want to Pin to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Windows 10"","block_context":{"text":"Windows 10","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/windows-10\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/w10\/pin-folder-1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/w10\/pin-folder-1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/w10\/pin-folder-1.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2113,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/restore-pin-to-taskbar-option-windows-10\/","url_meta":{"origin":5754,"position":1},"title":"Restore Missing “Pin to Taskbar” Option in Windows 10\/11","author":"Ramesh","date":"March 15, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Summary: \"Pin to Taskbar\" option is missing when you right-click on a .exe file or its shortcut on a Windows 10 or Windows 11 computer. The issue occurs due to the Taskbar policies applied on the computer using the local group policy editor or the registry. For example, TaskbarNoPinnedList Policy\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Windows 10"","block_context":{"text":"Windows 10","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/windows-10\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2433,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/cascading-menu-jump-lists-issue-windows-10\/","url_meta":{"origin":5754,"position":2},"title":"Cascading Menu and File Explorer Jump Lists Issue in Windows 10","author":"Ramesh","date":"March 28, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"When you implement Cascading Menus in File Folders (Directory) using the SubCommands or ExtendedSubCommands registry keys in Windows 10, an interesting thing happens. The last item in your Cascading menu gets executed when you right-click Pinned File Explorer shortcut in the Taskbar, and click on a folder in the Jump\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Windows 10"","block_context":{"text":"Windows 10","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/windows-10\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/w10\/cascade1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/w10\/cascade1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/w10\/cascade1.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1614,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/pin-to-start-missing-windows\/","url_meta":{"origin":5754,"position":3},"title":"How to Restore Missing “Pin to Start” in Windows 10","author":"Ramesh","date":"February 11, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Summary: \"Pin to Start\" Option missing and \"Show more tiles\" Option Locked in Personalize window, due to Policy settings. In Windows 10, when you right-click on a folder, .exe file, or a shortcut to a .exe file, the option Pin to Start may be missing. Also, when you right-click an\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Windows 10"","block_context":{"text":"Windows 10","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/windows-10\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/w10\/w10-pin-to-start-1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1083,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/pin-to-taskbar-start-menu-missing-context-menu-windows-7\/","url_meta":{"origin":5754,"position":4},"title":"“Pin to Taskbar” and “Pin to Start Menu” Missing in Windows 7","author":"Ramesh","date":"September 15, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"After deleting the IsShortcut registry value to remove the shortcut arrow overlay in shortcuts (.lnk) files, you may notice that the \"Pin to Taskbar\" and the \"Pin to Start Menu\" context menu items go missing when you right-click on a shortcut. Also, one or more of the context menu items\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Windows 7"","block_context":{"text":"Windows 7","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/windows-7\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1097,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/backup-pinned-taskbar-shortcuts-restore\/","url_meta":{"origin":5754,"position":5},"title":"How to Backup and Restore Pinned Taskbar Shortcuts in Windows 10","author":"Ramesh","date":"October 2, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"When you install Windows on a new computer, customizing Windows takes a lot of time and effort. One such thing is the taskbar. You may have to redo the procedure of pinning the applications which you frequently use. If you're planning to move to a new Windows PC or a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Windows"","block_context":{"text":"Windows","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"taskband registry key","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/w10-taskband-key.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/w10-taskband-key.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/w10-taskband-key.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/w10-taskband-key.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5754"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5754\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}