How to Pin File Explorer to Desktop Windows 10?

You can create a File Explorer shortcut directly on your Windows 10 desktop by following a simple shortcut creation process. While "pinning" often refers to the taskbar or Start Menu, this method places a clickable icon for File Explorer right on your desktop.

Creating a File Explorer Shortcut on the Desktop

To put File Explorer onto your desktop, you'll create a shortcut pointing to the explorer.exe program. The provided reference outlines a specific way to do this, incorporating a potential starting location.

Follow these steps to create the shortcut:

1. Right-click anywhere on your desktop background where there are no icons.
2. From the context menu that appears, hover over New and then select Shortcut.
3. In the "Type the location of the item" field, you will enter the path to the program. Based on the reference, you can enter explorer \[location\].
   • To simply open File Explorer to its default view (often Quick Access or This PC), you can just type explorer.exe or even just explorer.
   • If you want the shortcut to open File Explorer to a specific folder (like your Documents folder or a custom drive), you would replace \[location\] with the path to that folder, e.g., explorer C:\Users\YourUsername\Documents or explorer D:\Projects.
4. Click Next.
5. In the "Type a name for this shortcut" field, enter a descriptive name like "File Explorer", "My Files", or "Documents".
6. Click Finish.

A new icon will appear on your desktop. You can now double-click this icon to quickly open File Explorer.

Customizing Your File Explorer Shortcut

Once the shortcut is created, you can further customize it:

• Change Icon: Right-click the shortcut, select Properties, go to the Shortcut tab, and click Change Icon... to choose a different icon.
• Assign a Shortcut Key: In the Properties window (Shortcut tab), click in the Shortcut key field and press the key combination you want to use (e.g., Ctrl + Alt + F) to open File Explorer.
• Run as Administrator: If needed, in the Properties window (Shortcut tab), click Advanced... and check Run as administrator.

Creating a desktop shortcut is an effective way to have File Explorer readily accessible without needing to search for it or use the taskbar icon.