Adding Shortcuts to the Quick Launch Toolbar
Although the desktop is a handy place for shortcuts, it does have one drawback. The desktop is often
covered by whatever you’re working on at the moment. To reveal the desktop, you need to click the
Show Desktop button down in the Quick Launch toolbar. If you don’t want to be bothered with that, you
can place the shortcut right on the Quick Launch toolbar. As you may recall, that’s the toolbar that
usually displays just to the right of the Start button, as shown in Figure 4-2. That way, it will always be
visible on your screen — at least whenever the Quick Launch toolbar is visible.
Figure 4-2: The Quick Launch toolbar includes the Show Desktop icon, plus any other shortcuts you care to
add to it.
The Quick Launch toolbar needs to be visible, and the taskbar unlocked, before you can add shortcuts.
So, to get started, follow these steps:
1. Right-click the taskbar and, if Lock the Taskbar is selected, choose that option to unlock the
taskbar.
2. If the Quick Launch toolbar isn’t visible in your taskbar, right-click the taskbar and choose
Toolbars Quick Launch.
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To copy a shortcut from your desktop onto the Quick Launch toolbar, just drag the shortcut icon from
the desktop and drop it anywhere on the Quick Launch toolbar. If you want to move, rather than copy,
the desktop shortcut icon onto the Quick Launch toolbar, right-drag the icon to the toolbar and choose
Move Here after you release the right mouse button.
To create a Quick Launch icon from an icon within Windows Explorer, drag the icon from Explorer and
drop it onto the Quick Launch toolbar. I have gotten mixed results when dragging program icons from
the All Programs menu into the Quick Launch toolbar. Occasionally, it moves the icon to the toolbar,
thereby removing it from the menu. The simple solution, however, is to create a desktop shortcut to the
program, as described earlier. Then just move or copy that new shortcut icon from the desktop onto the
Quick Launch toolbar.
Using the Quick Launch toolbar
While we’re on the subject of the Quick Launch toolbar, you might find handy a few facts about it:
If the toolbar contains more icons than currently visible, click the >> arrow at the right edge
of the toolbar to scroll other items into view.
To widen or narrow the Quick Launch toolbar, drag the dots at its right edge to the left or
right.
Note If you don’t see little dots at the edge of the Quick Launch toolbar, the taskbar is
locked. Right-click the taskbar and choose Lock the Taskbar to clear the check
mark and unlock the taskbar.
To reposition an icon in the Quick Launch toolbar, just drag the item to the left or right. A
black bar displays, showing you where the icon will land when you release the mouse
button.
To display an icon’s name, just point to the icon in the Quick Launch toolbar.
To show large or small icons in the Quick Launch toolbar, right-click the toolbar itself (not an
icon within the toolbar), and then choose View and an icon size.
To display icon names in the Quick Launch toolbar, right-click the toolbar and choose Show
Text.
To view the name of the Quick Launch toolbar within the toolbar, right-click the toolbar and
choose Show Title.
To separate the Quick Launch toolbar from the taskbar, drag the dots at the left edge of the
toolbar out to the desktop, and drop them there.
To move the Quick Launch toolbar back onto the taskbar, drag the Quick Launch window’s
title bar back onto the taskbar, and drop it there.
To reposition the Quick Launch toolbar on the taskbar, drag the buttons at the left edge of
the toolbar left or right. If you can’t get the toolbar back over to the Start button, drag the
dots nearest the Start button over to the right of the Quick Launch toolbar.
To change the height of the entire taskbar, drag its upper edge up or down slightly.
With regard to that last item, it is possible to make the taskbar so narrow that it becomes virtually
invisible. When that happens, just move the mouse pointer all the way to the bottom of the screen. Then
drag upward to widen the taskbar. You can control the behavior of the taskbar in other ways as well, as
discussed under “Personalizing the Taskbar” in Chapter 13.
Deleting Quick Launch icons
If you want to remove any unused shortcut icons from your Quick Launch toolbar, simply right-click the
icon you want to remove and choose Delete. Choose Delete Shortcut from the confirmation dialog box
that appears.

Tip If you haven’t already done so, you can create desktop icons for My Computer and
My Documents by right-clicking the desktop and choosing Properties. In the
Display Properties dialog box that opens, click the Desktop tab, and then click the
Customize Desktop button. Under Desktop Icons, choose My Documents and/or
My Computer.
If you get tired of going through the Start menu to launch a favorite program, you can easily put a
shortcut to that program right on your desktop. In some cases, however, you might not know the exact
name and location of the file needed to start the program. If so, instead of using Windows Explorer,
follow these steps:
1. Click the Start button, choose All Programs, and work your way to the option that enables you
to start the program to which you want to create a shortcut. However, don’t click that option.
Instead . . .
2. Right-click the menu option and choose Send To Desktop (create shortcut).
The Start menu might cover the new icon. If so, close it by clicking any neutral portion of the desktop, or
by pressing the Esc key.
Removing Desktop Shortcuts
To keep your desktop from getting too cluttered, you might occasionally want to remove shortcuts that
you’re not using much any more. This is simple to do. Just right-click the shortcut icon and choose
Delete. A dialog box displays asking for confirmation. To complete the job, simply click the Yes button.
If you ever do this by accident, and you catch the error right away, you can undo the deletion by rightclicking
the desktop and choosing Undo Delete. If it’s too late for that, you can recover the shortcut icon
from the Recycle Bin, as discussed under “Using the Recycle Bin” in Chapter 12.