Folder Shortcuts

Quick reference

• 00:04 In order to work efficiently in Windows 11, it's really important
• 00:08 that we're able to access our most frequently used folders quickly.
• 00:12 And one way that we can do that is by utilizing folder shortcuts.
• 00:17 And we've already taken a look at a couple of ways that we can do it.
• 00:20 So let's delve into all of the ways that we can create shortcuts to frequently used
• 00:25 folders.
• 00:26 So let's open up File Explorer.
• 00:27 Again, Windows Key + E to pull that up quickly.
• 00:31 Now in a previous lesson, I showed you one way you can do this is to add
• 00:35 the folder into your Quick Access area.
• 00:38 Let's remind ourselves of how we do that.
• 00:40 For example, if I expand OneDrive I can right-click on any folder and
• 00:45 I can choose Pin to Quick Access.
• 00:48 And it's going to put that in this quick access area.
• 00:51 So means I can simply click on the folder, see my files and
• 00:54 double-click to open them.
• 00:55 This one's just a picture.
• 00:56 So we're going to open it in the native Photos app,
• 00:59 which we're going to talk a lot more about a bit later on.
• 01:02 Let's click on OK.
• 01:05 And there is that image.
• 01:07 Now I'm going to right-click and I'm just going to unpin this from the Quick Access
• 01:11 because that's not really a folder I use that often.
• 01:14 Now, where else can I pin folders?
• 01:16 Well, let's right-click on that attachments folder again and
• 01:19 take a look at some of the other options.
• 01:21 Aside from Pin to Quick Access, we also have Pin to Start.
• 01:25 Now what does that exactly mean?
• 01:27 Well it means it's going to pin this folder to the start menu.
• 01:31 So if I click on Pin to Start, when I go into my start menu,
• 01:35 Windows Key, we have a pinned area at the top.
• 01:39 Now this pinned area is scrollable.
• 01:41 So if I use the scroll wheel on my mouse to scroll down,
• 01:44 I can see anything else that I've got pinned.
• 01:46 Notice the last folder here is that attachments folder.
• 01:50 Now, if I use this quite frequently,
• 01:51 I don't necessarily want to have to scroll down to find it.
• 01:54 I can click, and then I can drag it to the top of the list.
• 01:59 So, I might want to put that right at the top there so it's super easy for
• 02:03 me to access.
• 02:04 Now if I double-click on this, it's going to open up that folder.
• 02:07 We're already in it, and I can see all of my files, so we can pin to Quick Access,
• 02:11 and we can pin to the Start menu.
• 02:13 Now, you might be wondering if we can pin folders to the taskbar at the bottom.
• 02:18 Now, that was something that you could do in Windows 10.
• 02:21 Now so far, and somebody might be able to correct me if I'm wrong,
• 02:25 I haven't been able to find this option in Windows 11.
• 02:29 If we right-click, we don't actually have a pin to taskbar in here, and
• 02:33 even if we click on Show more options, I can't find it in the older menu either.
• 02:38 We only have Pin to Quick Access in here or Pin to Start or unpin to start for
• 02:43 this particular folder.
• 02:45 So it looks like we no longer have the ability to pin to the taskbar.
• 02:49 Now, you might think that is a bit of a step backwards.
• 02:52 But for me, that's actually absolutely fine because in general,
• 02:56 we want to keep our taskbar as clean as possible and just have applications down
• 03:00 there that we use all the time as opposed to all different types of folder.
• 03:05 Now another way that we can create a shortcut to a folder is we can create
• 03:08 a shortcut on our desktop.
• 03:10 And this is something which i found a lot of people really like to do.
• 03:14 To me this feels like something we used to do many years ago.
• 03:17 I always remember when I worked in support,
• 03:19 I was go to different peoples' PC.
• 03:21 And you take a look at their desktop background, and
• 03:24 it was just full of folders.
• 03:25 Some people would just have hundreds of folders on their desktop,
• 03:28 because that worked for them.
• 03:29 That's what they were used to.
• 03:31 Now, I don't necessarily like that.
• 03:34 I like to have a fairly clean looking desktop background, but occasionally I
• 03:39 might create shortcuts to folders if I'm using them really frequently.
• 03:43 And I don't necessarily want to have to open up File Explorer in order to be able
• 03:46 to see the files.
• 03:47 So what I could do, let's use the attachments folder as an example again,
• 03:51 is right-click and this time we want to go down to show more options.
• 03:55 Now notice when you go to more options, we get the old school right-click menu.
• 04:00 And if we hover our mouse over Send to, notice we can send this folder to
• 04:05 the desktop, in brackets create a shortcut, so let's choose that option.
• 04:10 Notice that I now have a shortcut to the folder and that's all it is,
• 04:15 it's just a way of redirecting us to the correct folder in File Explorer.
• 04:20 So, if I close down File Explorer, if I want to go to the attachments folder,
• 04:24 I can simply double-click on this Shortcut on the desktop, and
• 04:28 it's going to open up that folder in File Explorer.
• 04:31 Now something else that people always worry about when it comes to shortcuts is
• 04:34 if we delete the shortcut, does that delete the actual folder and
• 04:38 all of the files contained within it?
• 04:39 No, it doesn't.
• 04:41 This is literally just a link to the folder.
• 04:44 So if I select this and press the Delete key on my keyboard and
• 04:48 go back into File Explorer, that folder is still there.
• 04:53 It's just the shortcut that I've deleted.
• 04:55 So those are the different methods you can use to create folder shortcuts.
• 04:59 I highly recommend going through File Explorer now and creating shortcuts
• 05:04 using whichever method you prefer to your most frequently used folders.

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