How to create QuickLaunch Icons

by Greg Melton.
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The taskbar has a place that can hold tiny icons for favorite applications or folders, called the QuickLaunch menu. The selected applications can be launched with a single click without even opening the Start menu, and the icons don't clutter up your desktop. I strongly suggest that you customize your QuickLaunch menu by following these steps:

1. Right-click the taskbar. If Lock the Taskbar is checked, uncheck it and right-click the taskbar again.

2. Select Toolbars, and check Quick Launch.

3. If necessary, enlarge the QuickLaunch menu and/or adjust the height of the taskbar to make room for the QuickLaunch buttons. Some people keep 20 icons in it, but I like to keep it down to under a dozen; any more and I have trouble finding them more quickly there than I could in the Start menu.

4. Right-click any icons you don't want to have there, and select Delete.

5. Populate the QuickLaunch menu with icons from your desktop or Start menu. To get items from the Start menu, locate the desired Start menu item, right-click and hold the button down, and drag the icon to the desired position on the QuickLaunch menu. When you release it, select Copy Here from the menu that pops up. (If you inadvertently select Move Here, it will disappear from its original location in the Start menu. Immediately right-click the desktop and select Undo Move to fix this.) You can also open Windows Explorer and Alt+drag a shortcut to a favorite folder to the Quick Launch menu. Be sure to use the Alt key while dragging, otherwise you will copy the folder's contents.

6. When you've added icons for your most common applications, resize the QuickLaunch menu down to the minimum necessary size, and if you want, relock the taskbar.

Some surprisingly big-name software applications install icons in your Quick Launch bar whether you want them there or not, and occasionally reinstall them even after you've deleted them. It's arrogant and rude, but they do it anyway. You may have to weed your Quick Launch bar from time to time.

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