Pin to Taskbar in Windows 11 & 10: Apps, Folders, Files, Websites and More

To pin an app to the taskbar in Windows 11 or 10, open Start, find the app, right-click it and choose Pin to taskbar. If the app is already open, right-click its icon on the taskbar and choose Pin to taskbar. To unpin, right-click the icon and choose Unpin from taskbar, and drag icons left or right to reorder them. Here is what trips people up: Windows 11 has no "Pin to taskbar" option for folders, drives or files, unlike older Windows. The workaround is a shortcut: create one that points to explorer "C:\your\folder", and that shortcut can be pinned. This page covers apps, folders, files, websites, settings pages and scripts, plus what to do when pins disappear or the option is missing.

Ethan's cousin is an accountant who opens the same five things fifty times a day: the accounting app, a client folder on a network drive, a spreadsheet of deadlines, the tax portal in Edge, and the calculator. Every one of them took a trip through Start or File Explorer. He tried to drag the client folder to the taskbar and Windows 11 simply refused. At Jake's shop, they built a taskbar that did it all in one click each: the app and calculator pinned normally, the folder through an explorer shortcut, the spreadsheet pinned in Excel's Jump List, and the tax portal as a pinned site from Edge. With Windows + 1 to 5 opening them in order, he barely touches Start now. This page shows how to build the same kind of taskbar.

Pinning only adds a shortcut to the taskbar. It never moves, copies or changes the app or file, and unpinning never deletes anything. Experiment freely.

What you can pin, and how

The pattern is simple: apps pin directly; almost everything else pins through a shortcut whose target starts with a program, such as explorer or cmd. Windows pins programs, and the shortcut makes your folder or page look like one.

Pin an app to the taskbar

From Start

1. Click Start and find the app in your pins, or click All (All apps) and scroll to it, or type its name.
2. Right-click the app and choose Pin to taskbar. In search results, the option is also on the right side of the panel.

From the running app

1. Open the app.
2. Right-click its icon on the taskbar.
3. Choose Pin to taskbar.

Both give the same result. The running-app method is handy for programs that are hard to find in Start, such as tools that live inside a folder. Some apps, including a few installers, utilities and apps running as administrator, cannot be pinned from the running icon; pin them from Start or with a shortcut instead.

Pin apps that are not in Start (portable programs)

Portable programs run from a folder without installing, so they never appear in Start. To pin one, open its folder in File Explorer, right-click the program's .exe file, and choose Show more options > Pin to taskbar, which works for program files on most versions. If the option is missing, create a desktop shortcut to the .exe and pin the shortcut. Keep portable programs in a permanent folder, such as C:\Tools, before pinning; if you move the folder later, the pin breaks and must be redone.

For portable apps you update often, such as tools that come as new folders with each version, point the shortcut at a fixed folder name and copy new versions into it, so the pin keeps working after every update.

Pin system tools: Task Manager, Terminal, Snipping Tool

Handy tools to pin for power users: Task Manager (press Ctrl + Shift + Esc, then right-click its icon and pin), Terminal (search, right-click, Pin to taskbar), Snipping Tool, Calculator and Notepad. Pinned Terminal is especially useful because Ctrl + Shift + clicking it opens an administrator session instantly. Pinning Task Manager gives a one-click way to check what is slowing the PC down, without remembering the shortcut.

On Windows 11 you can also add End task to the right-click menu of taskbar icons: open Settings > System > For developers (System > Advanced on some versions) and turn on End task. Right-clicking a frozen app's icon then closes it in one click, without opening Task Manager.

Unpin and reorder taskbar icons

Right-click any pinned icon and choose Unpin from taskbar. The app stays installed. To reorder, drag icons left or right; the order matters because of the keyboard shortcuts below. Pinned icons stay on the taskbar whether the app is open or not, while unpinned running apps appear to the right of the pins and disappear when closed. Windows 11 places Start, Search, Task view and Widgets before your pins; those can be hidden in Settings > Personalization > Taskbar to give your pins more room.

On a touch screen, press and hold an icon to open its menu, then tap Unpin from taskbar; drag with your finger to reorder.

Open pinned apps with Windows + number

Each of the first ten pinned icons has a shortcut: Windows + 1 opens or switches to the first, Windows + 2 the second, and so on to Windows + 0 for the tenth. Related combinations:

Put your most-used app first. Ethan's cousin's accounting app is Windows + 1, the client folder Windows + 2, and so on; after a week his fingers found them without looking.

Pin an app with custom launch options

A pinned shortcut can carry extra instructions. Create a desktop shortcut to the program, open its Properties, and add options after the path in Target: for example, a browser in private mode, a specific document, or a startup folder for a terminal. In Start in set the working folder, and in Run choose Normal, Minimized or Maximized. Then pin the shortcut. This turns one app into several specialized buttons, such as "Excel with the budget file" and "Excel blank", each with its own icon.

Keep the original app pinned as well if you sometimes need it without the options; two pins with different icons and names make the difference obvious at a glance.

Pin separate browser profiles

If you use work and personal browser profiles, a pin for each saves switching. In Edge and Chrome, open the profile you want, then use the browser's profile menu to create a desktop shortcut for that profile (Edge: Settings > Profiles > your profile > Add profile to desktop; Chrome: profile settings > Create desktop shortcut). Pin those shortcuts. Each opens straight into its profile with its own icon badge, and windows group under the matching pin. This keeps work and personal sign-ins neatly apart.

If two profile pins group together on the taskbar, open each profile's settings and make sure each has its own desktop shortcut created by the browser, since hand-made shortcuts may not carry the profile identity Windows uses for grouping.

Pin a folder or drive to the taskbar

Windows 11 does not show Pin to taskbar when you right-click a folder. The shortcut workaround works on every version:

1. Right-click the desktop and choose New > Shortcut.
2. For the location, type explorer "C:\Clients", replacing the path with your folder. For a drive, use explorer D:\. For a network share, use explorer "\\NAS\Clients".
3. Click Next, name it, such as Clients, and click Finish.
4. Optional: right-click the shortcut, choose Properties > Change Icon, and pick a folder icon from %SystemRoot%\System32\imageres.dll so it looks distinct.
5. Right-click the shortcut and choose Show more options > Pin to taskbar (Windows 11) or Pin to taskbar (Windows 10).
6. Delete the desktop shortcut if you do not want it there; the pin stays.

Clicking the pin opens a File Explorer window at that folder. This is exactly how Ethan's cousin got his client folder onto the taskbar.

The Jump List alternative

Folders can also be pinned inside File Explorer's Jump List. Right-click the File Explorer icon on the taskbar; under Pinned you will see your Quick access or Home pins. Pin a folder to Quick access in File Explorer (right-click the folder > Pin to Quick access), and it appears in that Jump List too. That keeps the taskbar uncluttered while giving one-right-click access to many folders.

Pin network folders and mapped drives

Network locations pin with the same shortcut method: use explorer "\\SERVER\Share\Folder" for a share, or explorer Z:\ for a mapped drive letter. The pin opens instantly when you are on that network. Away from it, File Explorer waits and then reports the location is unavailable, which is normal. If you use the folder offline often, keep a synced copy through OneDrive or the NAS's own sync app and pin the local copy instead. Ethan's cousin pins the network share at the office and the synced copy on his laptop for working from home.

Give network pins a different icon from local folders so you can tell at a glance which ones need the office connection.

Pins after moving or renaming things

A pin is a shortcut, so it follows a path. Rename or move the folder, file or program it points to, and the pin breaks, usually showing a message that the item cannot be found. Windows sometimes repairs shortcuts automatically when a file moves within the same drive, but not reliably. Unpin the broken item and pin the new location. Choosing stable folder names before pinning, and keeping work folders in one place, avoids this entirely.

The same applies after reinstalling an app to a different drive or folder: the old pin points at the previous location. Pin the reinstalled app fresh from Start, and remove the old pin if it is still there.

Pin a file to the taskbar (Jump Lists)

Individual files pin inside the app that opens them:

1. Open the file once in its app, such as a spreadsheet in Excel, so it appears in the app's recent list.
2. Right-click the app's taskbar icon. The Jump List shows recent files.
3. Hover over the file and click the pin icon. It moves to the Pinned section and stays there.

Now right-clicking the app icon and clicking the file opens it directly. To give a single file its own taskbar icon instead, create a shortcut whose target is the app followed by the file, such as "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\Office16\EXCEL.EXE" "D:\Work\Deadlines.xlsx", and pin that shortcut. Jump Lists depend on the setting Show recently opened items in Start, Jump Lists, and File Explorer under Settings > Personalization > Start; if it is off, Jump Lists stay empty.

If a file you pinned in a Jump List is renamed or moved, the pinned entry stops working; open the file from its new place and pin it again. Files on OneDrive keep working in Jump Lists as long as they stay in the same OneDrive folder.

Jump Lists in depth

Every pinned or running app has a Jump List, opened by right-clicking its taskbar icon or swiping up on it with a touch screen. It shows Pinned items you chose, Recent or Frequent items Windows tracks, and Tasks the app offers, such as New window, New InPrivate window or New message. Browsers list frequently visited sites; Office apps list recent documents; File Explorer lists Quick access folders. Using Jump Lists well means fewer pins: one Excel pin with five pinned spreadsheets beats six separate icons.

Jump Lists hold about ten recent items by default. Pinned items stay at the top regardless, so pin the handful of files and sites you use most and let the recent list handle the rest.

Hide recent items from Jump Lists

Recent items in Jump Lists can reveal what you worked on to anyone using your PC. To turn them off, open Settings > Personalization > Start and switch off Show recommended files in Start, recent files in File Explorer, and items in Jump Lists. Pinned items you chose stay; only the automatic recent lists disappear. To remove a single entry instead, right-click it in the Jump List and choose Remove from this list.

For apps that keep their own recent lists, such as Office, also check the app's privacy options; turning off the Windows setting hides them from Jump Lists but the app may still show recent files inside itself.

Pin a website to the taskbar

• Microsoft Edge: open the site, click Settings and more (three dots) > More tools > Pin to taskbar. Edge can also install the site as an app from the Apps menu, which opens it in its own window without browser tabs.
• Google Chrome: open the site, click the three dots > Cast, save, and share > Install page as app (or Create shortcut on some versions), then right-click its new taskbar icon while open and choose Pin to taskbar.
• Any browser: create a desktop shortcut with your browser's path followed by the web address, such as "C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" https://example.com, and pin it.

Our guide to pinning websites covers each browser in more detail, including web apps with their own icons.

A pinned site opens in the browser profile it was created from. If you pinned it while signed in to a work profile, it opens there; create the pin again from your personal profile if that is where the site belongs. Pinned sites also keep their own icon, which is usually the site's logo, making them easy to tell apart from the browser's own pin.

Store apps and web apps

Microsoft Store apps pin like any other app from Start. Web apps, also called progressive web apps, installed from Edge or Chrome behave like Store apps: they appear in Start, open in their own window, and pin to the taskbar with their own icon. Many services, including email, chat and music sites, offer an Install option in the address bar when you visit them. Installed web apps are the cleanest way to pin a website, because they do not get mixed into your browser's tab groups and windows.

To remove a web app, right-click it in Start and choose Uninstall, or manage it from the browser's apps page, edge://apps or chrome://apps. Its taskbar pin disappears with it.

Pin a Settings page or Control Panel tool

Settings pages have direct addresses, such as ms-settings:display, ms-settings:windowsupdate or ms-settings:bluetooth. Create a shortcut with the location explorer ms-settings:windowsupdate, name it, and pin it. For Control Panel and classic tools, open the tool and pin its running icon, or create shortcuts such as control printers, devmgmt.msc (Device Manager) or control /name Microsoft.PowerOptions, then pin. Our guide to opening Settings fast lists many more page addresses.

Useful pages to pin: ms-settings:windowsupdate for updates, ms-settings:sound for audio devices, ms-settings:bluetooth for pairing, ms-settings:display for screens, and ms-settings:network-status for connection problems. Give each a distinct icon so they are easy to tell apart.

Pin a batch file, script or command

Windows will not pin a .bat or .ps1 file directly. Wrap it in a shortcut: for a batch file, set the location to cmd /c "C:\Scripts\backup.bat"; for PowerShell, powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File "C:\Scripts\cleanup.ps1". Name it, give it an icon, and pin it. In the shortcut's Properties, set Run to Minimized for scripts that should not show a window, and use Advanced > Run as administrator for scripts that need it.

Keep scripts in a dedicated folder before pinning, and test them from the shortcut once before relying on the pin. A pinned script that runs a backup or clears a temporary folder can save a lot of repeated typing.

"Pin to taskbar" missing or not working

1. Windows 11 context menu: some items only show Pin to taskbar under Show more options (or Shift + F10).
2. It is a folder, file or script: use the shortcut method above; Windows will not pin those directly.
3. A policy blocks pinning: on Pro, check gpedit.msc > User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Start Menu and Taskbar > Do not allow pinning programs to the Taskbar, and set it to Not configured. On Home, look for NoPinningToTaskbar under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer and delete it.
4. Work PC: your organization may deploy a fixed taskbar layout. Ask IT.
5. Taskbar glitch: restart Windows Explorer from Task Manager, which reloads the taskbar.
6. Start search broken: if apps cannot be found to pin, fix Start first; our guide to Start not showing apps helps.

Pinned icons disappeared or show blank

• After a big update: Windows occasionally resets taskbar pins, especially when upgrading versions. Pin them again; a backup, described below, makes this quick.
• Blank or white icons: the icon cache is stale. Restart Windows Explorer; if icons stay blank, sign out and in, or rebuild the icon cache by deleting the iconcache files under %LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer with Explorer stopped.
• App uninstalled or moved: the pin points nowhere. Unpin it and pin the reinstalled app.
• Different user account: pins are per user; another account has its own taskbar.
• Organization layout: a work policy can reapply its pins at sign-in, removing yours.

Can you pin with a command or script?

Windows does not provide a supported command for a user to pin apps to their own taskbar; Microsoft removed the old scripting methods to stop programs pinning themselves without permission. That is why installers ask, or simply put a shortcut on the desktop. For many PCs, administrators use the taskbar layout policy described in the IT section. For your own PC, right-click and drag are the reliable tools, and the backup method above restores a set of pins quickly.

Be wary of tools or scripts that claim to pin apps silently; they rely on unsupported tricks that break with updates and occasionally come bundled with unwanted software.

Two icons for one app, or the wrong icon

Sometimes clicking a pin opens the app as a second icon beside the pin instead of lighting up the pin itself. That happens when the pin and the running window are identified differently, usually because the pin is an old shortcut, points to a launcher rather than the app, or the app updated and changed its identity. Fix it by unpinning the old pin, opening the app, and pinning the running icon with right-click > Pin to taskbar. If a pin shows the wrong icon, open its shortcut Properties from the Jump List (right-click the pin, then right-click the app name, Properties) and use Change Icon.

Back up and restore your taskbar pins

Taskbar pins are stored as shortcuts in %AppData%\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\User Pinned\TaskBar, with their order in the registry under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Taskband. To back up, copy that folder and export the Taskband key. To restore on the same PC, close Explorer, copy the shortcuts back, import the .reg file, and restart Explorer. This is not an official feature and may not carry across major Windows versions, so also take a screenshot of your taskbar; re-pinning ten apps from a picture takes two minutes.

For a new PC, the easiest "backup" is a list: write down your pins in order, then pin them on the new machine in ten minutes. It is also a good moment to drop the ones you no longer use.

Reset the taskbar to default pins

To clear all pins at once, unpin each icon, or, more quickly, delete the shortcuts in the TaskBar folder above and the Taskband registry key, then restart Explorer. Windows shows its default pins after the next sign-in on many PCs. Take the backup first in case you want something back.

After a reset, pin your daily apps first, in the order you want for the Windows + number shortcuts, then add folders and websites. Building the taskbar deliberately, rather than letting icons accumulate, keeps it useful.

On a work PC, a reset may simply bring back your organization's standard pins at the next sign-in, which is expected; add your own pins after it.

Taskbar settings that affect pins

• Taskbar alignment (Center or Left) under Settings > Personalization > Taskbar > Taskbar behaviors.
• Combine taskbar buttons and hide labels: Always, When taskbar is full, or Never, which shows app names next to icons on current Windows 11 versions.
• Show smaller taskbar buttons: fits more pins on small screens.
• Taskbar items: hide Search, Task view and Widgets to free space for your own pins.
• Automatically hide the taskbar: keeps pins out of sight until you point at the bottom edge; our guide to an auto-hide taskbar that will not hide helps when it misbehaves.
• Taskbar position: on current Windows 11 versions the taskbar can move to the top or sides again; see our guide to moving the taskbar.

Too many pins: the overflow menu

When pinned and open apps do not fit, Windows 11 shows an overflow button with three dots at the end of the taskbar. Click it to reach the hidden icons. Pins that land in the overflow lose their convenient spot and their Windows + number shortcut may be harder to remember. Keep pins to the apps you open daily, around eight to twelve on a laptop, and use Start or search for the rest.

Hiding Search, Task view and Widgets from the taskbar, and setting Combine taskbar buttons to Always, frees the most room. Smaller taskbar buttons help on laptops with 13-inch screens.

If you regularly need more than a dozen apps one click away, consider a Start folder for the extras instead of more pins; it costs one extra click but keeps the taskbar readable.

Pins on multiple monitors

With more than one display, choose Show my taskbar on all displays under Taskbar behaviors, and decide When using multiple displays, show my taskbar apps on: all taskbars, the main taskbar and the taskbar where the window is open, or only the taskbar where the window is open. Pinned icons appear on the main taskbar in all modes and on the others depending on the choice. Many people prefer pins on the main display only and open windows shown where they are, which keeps secondary screens clean.

If pinned icons are missing on a second monitor's taskbar, check these settings first; the second taskbar shows pins only in the all-taskbars mode.

Badges and flashing icons on pinned apps

Pinned and running apps can show small badges, such as an unread count on Mail or Teams, and flash orange when they want attention. Turn badges on or off under Settings > Personalization > Taskbar > Taskbar behaviors > Show badges on taskbar apps, and flashing with Show flashing on taskbar apps. Badges help you see new messages without opening the app; flashing can be distracting in screen sharing or presentations, which is a good reason to turn it off on a work PC.

Some apps also show progress on their taskbar icon, such as a green bar filling during a download or copy, which is a handy way to keep an eye on long tasks while you work elsewhere.

Making pins easier to see

For anyone who finds taskbar icons small or similar, three changes help. Set Combine taskbar buttons and hide labels to Never so app names appear beside icons on current Windows 11 versions. Raise the display Scale under Settings > System > Display, which enlarges the taskbar and its icons. And choose distinctive icons for shortcut pins, such as a red folder for the client folder and a green one for personal files. These small adjustments matter most for older relatives and for anyone working on a high-resolution laptop screen.

High contrast themes, under Settings > Accessibility > Contrast themes, also make taskbar icons and their labels stand out more clearly.

Pin to Start or pin to taskbar?

Both are shortcuts, but they serve different jobs. The taskbar is always visible and one click away, ideal for the handful of apps you use constantly. Start holds a larger set of apps you use often but not all day, organized in folders. A good split: five to ten apps on the taskbar, twenty or so on Start, and search for the rest. Our guide to customizing Start and the taskbar covers Start pins and folders.

Apps you pin to both are fine; the two pins are independent, so unpinning from one leaves the other in place.

Desktop shortcuts vs taskbar pins

Desktop shortcuts are covered by every open window, so they are only reachable after minimizing everything. Taskbar pins are always visible. For anything you open daily, a pin is faster; desktop shortcuts suit occasional items, or people who keep a tidy desktop as a launch pad. The two work together: a desktop shortcut is often the stepping stone to a pin, as in the folder and script methods above, and can be deleted once the pin exists.

A tidy desktop also loads faster at sign-in, especially when it is synced with OneDrive, so moving daily shortcuts to the taskbar has a small performance benefit as well.

What happened to toolbars and Quick Launch?

Windows 10 still supports taskbar toolbars: right-click the taskbar, choose Toolbars > New toolbar, and pick a folder, which shows its contents as a menu on the taskbar. The old Quick Launch bar can be recreated this way using %AppData%\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch. Windows 11 removed taskbar toolbars entirely. On Windows 11, the folder-shortcut pin and Jump Lists are the closest replacements, and Start folders cover the "menu of many apps" use.

Some third-party taskbar tools bring toolbars back to Windows 11. They patch the taskbar and can break after updates, so weigh the convenience against the occasional repair, and prefer the built-in methods where they are enough.

Taskbar setups that work

• Office worker: browser, email, Teams, File Explorer, the main work app, a pinned client or project folder.
• Student: browser, OneNote or notes app, Word, the class folder, a pinned learning platform site.
• Home user: browser, photos, email, WhatsApp or a video-call app, File Explorer.
• Older relative: just three or four large, labeled icons, with Combine buttons set to Never so names show beside them.

Whichever setup you choose, review it every few months. Apps you stopped using should leave the taskbar so the ones you use most keep the first, easiest-to-reach positions.

Taskbar pins on family and shared PCs

Pins belong to each Windows account, so on a shared PC everyone can arrange their own taskbar without disturbing anyone else. Set up a child's account with a few clear pins, such as the browser, a school site installed as an app and a drawing app, and an older relative's with large, labeled icons. If several people share one account, agree on a common set of pins; constant rearranging is a sign that separate accounts would make everyone happier.

For children, a short, stable taskbar is also a gentle guide to which apps they are expected to use on the family PC.

Pins on touch screens and tablets

On 2-in-1s and tablets, Windows 11 can use a touch-optimized taskbar that collapses to a thin bar and expands with a swipe up from the bottom edge, giving more room for apps. Turn it on or off under Settings > Personalization > Taskbar > Taskbar behaviors > Optimize taskbar for touch interactions when this device is used as a tablet. Pinned icons work the same with a tap; press and hold, or swipe up on an icon, to open its Jump List. Fewer, larger pins work best on touch.

Touch users can also turn on Combine taskbar buttons to Never so app names are visible, which reduces mis-taps between similar icons.

Windows 10 differences

Windows 10 is more generous with pinning: right-clicking many items shows Pin to taskbar directly, and dragging a folder or file onto the File Explorer or app icon pins it to that Jump List. Toolbars are available, as described above. Windows + number shortcuts, Jump Lists and the shortcut methods all work the same. Windows 10 reached end of support in October 2025, but its taskbar works as described on PCs that still run it, and pins usually carry over when upgrading to Windows 11.

On Windows 10, the taskbar can also show people pinned from the People app on older builds; that feature was removed in later versions and has no Windows 11 equivalent.

For IT admins: managing taskbar pins

Layouts. Windows 11 taskbar pins are deployed with a taskbar layout XML file through the Start Layout or ConfigureStartPins-related policies and the Taskbar layout setting in Intune or Group Policy. The XML can set pins with PinListPlacement to replace or append to the default, and can remove default pins.

Restrictions. Do not allow pinning programs to the Taskbar blocks user changes; Remove pinned programs from the Taskbar clears them. Use sparingly; users are faster with their own pins.

Testing. Validate layout XML on a pilot device; a malformed file can leave the taskbar empty, and some layouts apply only at first sign-in for new profiles.

Pinning to the taskbar: frequently asked questions

Ethan's cousin still grins when he presses Windows + 2 and his client folder opens before his coffee is cool. Nothing on his taskbar is fancy: an app, a folder shortcut, a pinned spreadsheet, a pinned site, a calculator. What changed is that every one of his daily destinations is now one click or one key away. Windows 11 makes some of it harder than it should be, but the shortcut trick covers every gap. Spend ten minutes building your own, and you will not want to go back.

Revision note. Written October 2, 2026, rewriting our 2016 guide for Windows 11, including the folder and file workarounds. May everything you need be one click away.