Pinned taskbar icons are stored as individual files. As such you can back them up when needed. Follow these steps to backup taskbar icons.
In Windows, one of my favorite features is the Taskbar. It allows you to pin your most used applications. In fact, you can even pin specific folders to the Taskbar. Once pinned, you can access that specific application with just a single click. You no longer have to search for it in the start menu or scour through folders. In addition to that, the pinned items get access to a neat feature called Jump Lists that allow you to perform quick actions like accessing recently opened files or web pages.
Pinning applications to the taskbar is nothing hard. All you have to do is open the application, right-click on the taskbar icon and select “Pin to taskbar” option. However, when you reset or reinstall Windows, the taskbar items will be lost. In those cases, you can backup pinned taskbar icons so that you don’t have to go through the manual process of pinning your favorite applications.
Without further ado, let me show you can backup taskbar pinned items in Windows.
Note: The method shown below can be followed in Windows 7 and 8 too.
Steps to Backup Pinned Taskbar Items / Icons
To backup taskbar icons, there are two major things you have to do. First, backup all the shortcuts and then back up the registry settings that are responsible for linking those shortcuts with the taskbar. Though sounds complicated, it is pretty easy.
1. First, create a new folder on the desktop to store all the taskbar backup files. In my case, I named the folder “Taskbar Items Backup”.
2. Next, press “Win + R” keyboard shortcut to open the Run dialog box. In the blank field, copy and paste the below path and click on the “Ok” button.
%AppData%\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\User Pinned\TaskBar
3. The above action will open the hidden Taskbar folder containing all the pinned shortcuts for third-party applications.
4. Copy all the shortcuts from the Taskbar folder and paste them the folder you created earlier.
5. Now, you need to back up the registry setting that binds the shortcuts to the taskbar. To do that, open the Start Menu, search for “Registry Editor” and click on the result.
6. As soon as you click on the result, the Registry Editor will open. In the Registry Editor, go to the following location. If you are using Windows 10, copy the below path, paste it in the address bar and press Enter to go to the target folder.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Taskband
7. Now, right-click on the “Taskband” folder appearing on the left panel and select the “Export” option.
8. In this window, go to the folder you created earlier, name the save file anything you want and click on the “Save” button.
9. The above action will export the target registry folder to the backup folder as a .reg file.
That is it. You are done backing up the taskbar icons in Windows 10.
Restore Taskbar Icons
When you want to restore the icons, all you have to do is reverse the above procedure.
1. First, copy all the shortcuts from the backup folder to the main Taskbar folder located in the below location.
%AppData%\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\User Pinned\TaskBar
2. Next, we need to bind the shortcuts to the taskbar. To do that, double-click on the .reg file you backed up.
3. You will see a confirmation window. Click on the “Yes” button to merge the backup file with your registry editor.
4. Once that is done, you will see the success message window. Click on the Ok button to close the window.
That is all. You’ve restored the taskbar pinned items. Keep in mind that you need to have the programs installed in the same location as before for the shortcuts to work. Otherwise, you might have to edit the shortcut to reflect the change or pin the application manually.
Another thing is the above method cannot backup pinned Windows Store app and system icons. You have to manually pin them as needed.
Hope that helps. If you are stuck or need some help, comment below and I will try to help as much as possible.
