Most of you know that you can pin applications to the taskbar. However, did you know that you can pin your favorite folders to the taskbar in Windows 10 and Windows 11? Pinning a folder to the taskbar allows quick, single-click access to your favorite or frequently used folders without needing to navigate through File Explorer. For example, I open my work folder multiple times a day, so to make my life easier, I pinned it to the taskbar. Once pinned, clicking it opens the folder instantly.
In this tutorial, I will show you the step-by-step process of pinning a folder to the taskbar in Windows 10 and Windows 11. Let’s get started.
Steps To Pin a Folder to the Taskbar
- Right-click on the desktop.
- Select New and then Shortcut.
- Paste the following path in the “location” field while replacing the dummy path with the actual path of the folder you want to pin.
explorer "C:\path\to\folder" - Click the Next button.
- Type a name of your choice in the blank field and click Finish.
- Drag and drop the shortcut on your taskbar to pin the folder.
Detailed Steps (With Screenshots)
First, right-click on your desktop and select New & then the Shortcut option.
In the “Create Shortcut” window, paste the following path in the location field while replacing the dummy folder path with the actual path of the folder you want to pin. For example, I changed the path to F:\Workspace. Click Next.
explorer "C:\path\to\folder\"
Important note: The folder path should be surrounded by quotation marks (“”) and you should add explorer in front of the path with a space in between them.
Type a name of your choice in the “Name” field and click the Finish button.
With that, you’ve created a custom shortcut for the folder you want to pin.
Now, drag and drop the shortcut onto the taskbar.
This action instantly pins the folder to the taskbar.
That’s it. It is that simple pin a folder to the taskbar in Windows.
Change the Pinned Folder Shortcut Icon (Optional Steps)
You might have noticed that the default icon is just the File Explorer icon. If you already have the File Explorer icon pinned to the taskbar or if you are pinning multiple folders to the taskbar, the default File Explorer icon can be confusing. The good thing is that you can change the shortcut icon to whatever you want. For that follow the below steps.
Important Note: The icon should be in the .ico format. If you don’t have a custom icon, you can download one from the internet and convert it to .ico format. Alternatively, you can use the built-in Windows icons too.
- Right-click on the shortcut.
- Select Properties.
- Click the Change Icon button under the “Shortcut” tab.
- Choose from the list of icons or click Browse to select a custom icon.
- Navigate to the icon file (.ico), select it, and click Open.
- Select the icon and click OK.
- Click the Apply and OK buttons to apply the new icon to the shortcut.
You’ve changed the folder shortcut icon. Now, drag and drop the modified shortcut onto your taskbar to pin the folder.
Wrapping Up — Pinning Folders to Taskbar
As you can see, while not as straightforward as pinning applications to the taskbar or pinning folders to the Start menu (on Windows 10), it still is possible to pin your favorite folder to the taskbar. In fact, following this same method, you can also pin a drive or partition to the taskbar. If you are pinning multiple folders, don’t forget to change the shortcut icon before pinning so that it is easier to identify and use.
If you have any questions or need help, comment below. I’ll be happy to help.
