HOWTO: Keep Your Desktop Clean yet Maintain Quick Access to Programs
[ 21 May 2007 ]
Marked under time savers, windows.

More often than not, I see Desktops litered with shortcuts to programs, folders, documents and files. Honestly, do you really use each of those programs on your Desktop every time you’re on your computer? You can actually clean up your Desktop yet still have really quick access to your programs and files. I’m taking about the Toolbar feature of Windows Taskbar.

1. Create a holding folder

I created my folder called Utilities in My Documents. Then, I placed my Desktop shortcuts in this folder. Feel free to create sub-folders of categories, like, Multimedia, Networking, etc.

2. Create a toolbar

Right-click on the Taskbar, go to Toolbars > New Toolbar …

Browse to your newly created holding folder and click OK at the end. Now, just click the arrows next to the folder name on the right side of the Taskbar and your folder will expand to its contents of billions of programs you have shortcuts to but never seem to use (at least often enough).

“Yesterday it worked, today it is not working. Windows is like that.”
          - Margaret Segall