How-To

How to Create Desktop Shortcut to Favorites in Windows 7 and 8

By Hammad Saleem

Updated May 27, 2021

The Windows, the Favorites folder has shortcuts to the Desktop, Downloads, and other items you put in it. Here’s how to create a Desktop shortcut to it.

The Windows Favorites folder normally contains shortcut links to your Desktop, Downloads, and Recent places. Many people add other folders they often use to Favorites, so it’s easier to access. Here’s how to create a desktop shortcut to access Favorites from the desktop.

Create Shortcut to Favorites Folder on the Windows 7 Desktop

Right-click on your desktop and go to New > Shortcut.

Now paste the following in the location field and click Next.

%windir%\explorer.exe shell:::{323CA680-C24D-4099-B94D-446DD2D7249E}

No name the shortcut as Favorites and click Finish.

If you want to change the shortcut icon, right-click on it and select Properties.

Then click the Change Icon button under the Shortcut tab.

Select an icon you want to use or browse to the location of a custom icon and click OK.

You can also pin it to the Taskbar for easy access.

Or, in Windows 8, you can pin the icon to the Start screen.