Windows 10: Create Shortcut to new app-style Windows Settings

So many things we do on our computers are now done through apps. Access to Windows Settings on Windows 10 is now done through what seems to be apps like this. I hate how dumbed down they are, but they are the future, and sometimes I only need to do a simple thing and the apps can be good for that.


So I have at times found myself wanting to put a shortcut to an app on my desktop. For example, I can create a shortcut to the old-fashioned "Sound" applet via the old-fashioned Control Panel (C:\Windows\System32\control.exe /name Microsoft.Sound) and put it on my desktop. But that's because I can find the actual .exe. But is it possible to create a shortcut to the new app version of "Sound" (Right-click on Start, click "Settings" then System, then Sound)?


As a bonus, what about the kinds that come from the Microsoft Store? Is there a way to create shortcuts to them (which I would think, then, would also be accessible using scripting, which would be useful)?

Thanks.

:)

 

How to pin app shortcut to desk top?

Hi,

Thank you for contacting Microsoft Community.

I suggest you to follow below steps to change pin the apps on the desktop screen and check if it helps.

Step 1: I suggest you to perform the below steps to add the apps on desktop.

• Click on the “Start button” and locate the App that you want to pin to Desktop.
• Right click on the “App” and click on “More options”.
• Then click on “Open File location” and right click on the app, click on “Send to” option.
• Then select “Desktop (Create shortcut)”.
• Go to “Desktop” and check whether the app is located or not.

Or Step 2: To add shortcuts to the desktop

• Press and hold or right-click the desktop, tap or click New, and then tap or click Shortcut.
• Enter the location of the item or tap or click Browse to find the item in File Explorer.

Hope this information is helpful and do let us know if you need further assistance. We will be glad to assist.

 

How to create a shortcut for a keyboard shortcut.

Hi Marcos,

Welcome to Microsoft Community.

I understand that you are willing to create Keyboard shortcut on Windows 10. I will certainly help you.

I suggest you to follow the steps in the below Microsoft article to create
a keyboard shortcut for an app.

Create keyboard shortcuts to open desktop apps

Note: The troubleshooting steps in the above link are meant for windows 8, however, you can use the same for windows 10 as well.

Refer below article for more information on Keyboard shortcuts.

Keyboard shortcuts

Please post back with above information and we will be glad to assist you further.

Thank you.

 

Creating Shortcuts with Batch File

I've created a Batch file which calls on the following VB Script to be able to create a shortcut to my desktop:

VB Script (named createLink.vbs):
Code: set objWSHShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell") set objFso = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject") ' command line arguments ' TODO: error checking sShortcut = objWSHShell.ExpandEnvironmentStrings(WScript.Arguments.Item(0)) sTargetPath = objWSHShell.ExpandEnvironmentStrings(WScript.Arguments.Item(1)) sWorkingDirectory = objFso.GetAbsolutePathName(sShortcut) set objSC = objWSHShell.CreateShortcut(sShortcut) objSC.TargetPath = sTargetPath objSC.WorkingDirectory = sWorkingDirectory objSC.Save[/quote] Batch File Example (for Windows Notepad):
Code: @echo off cscript createLink.vbs "C:\Users\Administrator\Desktop\Notepad.lnk" "C:\Windows\System32\notepad.exe"[/quote] But after creating the shortcut using this method, I'm not able to assign a custom icon for the shortcut. I get the following error message when trying to do so:





Any help and ideas on what I need to put into the VB Script and/or Batch File to be able to do this would be greatly appreciated! *Big Grin

Also, I know that I can simply do this by going to Start Menu\All Programs\Accessories\ right-clicking on Notepad and selecting Send to\Desktop (create shortcut). Easy enough for creating a single shortcut. But I need to create several multiple shortcuts and using this Batch/VBS method would really save me a lot of time in doing so.