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How To Enable Quick Launch In Windows 7

Martin Brinkmann — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 17:38:32 +0000

The Quick Launch feature has been disabled by default in Windows 7 by Microsoft. Some users like Quick Launch as a way to quickly start programs from the Windows taskbar. The reasoning behind disabling Quick Start is likely the new Windows 7 taskbar which can be used to pin programs to the taskbar so that they can be launched directly from there.

The main benefit of using the Quick Launch bar is that it takes up less space than the pinned taskbar items. Quick Launch is still available as a feature in the operating system, only that it needs to be enabled by the user before it becomes available.

Here is how the Quick Launch toolbar is enabled in Windows 7. Right-click on the Windows taskbar and select Toolbars > New Toolbar.

This opens a file browser window. Just enter the following folder path into the folder field of the browser and click the Select Folder button afterwards.

%userprofile%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch

The Quick Launch toolbar is placed next to the system clock and system tray area in the operating system. It displays Quick Launch and clickable arrows. The arrows open the Quick Launch program list, which means that programs can be started with two clicks, a disadvantage over pinned taskbar programs which can be started with one click.

The Quick Launch toolbar can be modified to display only the program icons so that programs can be launched with just one click.

To do that right-click the toolbar again, select Lock Toolbar to unlock the toolbar and remove the two options Show Title and Show Text from the context menu. The Quick Launch bar can be removed again by clicking on Toolbars > Quick Launch.

Some Windows Taskbar Tweaks

Martin Brinkmann — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 08:52:27 +0000

The Windows taskbar is not only useful for showing which programs and folders are currently active on your system but can also he customized to store permanent shortcuts to applications and folders as well as links to Internet websites. I would like to show you how to configure your taskbar to add your favorite websites as well as links to your most commonly used applications and folders to it.

Some users might already be using the so called Quick Launch toolbar in their taskbar. This is for example the case when you see some icons in your taskbar that open programs like the Internet Explorer or the Windows Media Player. If you do not see the Quick Launch toolbar you can enable it by right-clicking your taskbar and choosing Quick Launch from the Toolbars menu.

This Quick Launch toolbar can be customized. If you want to remove a shortcut you right-click it and select delete from the menu. New folders and applications are simply added by dragging and dropping them in the Quick Launch area.

It is possible to change the icon by right-clicking the shortcut, selecting Properties from the menu and choosing Change Icon there. I have added several of my most commonly used applications such as Firefox, Thunderbird, WinSCP3 and Putty.

The second taskbar enhancement are Links to websites that you can add there. To add it you right-click the taskbar, select Toolbars there and choose the Links entry.

Once that is done you can get rid of the Microsoft links in there if you do not use them and drag and drop your own favorite sites to this section. It is then possible to access those sites by left-clicking on them which is a very convenient way.

The last screenshot is showing both my Quick Launch toolbar and my Links toolbar.