How to Pin Documents or File to Taskbar (Windows 7)

Sometimes you might think it is easier to pin a document or file that you always work on, for example, your to-do list, to your Windows 7 taskbar for quick access. If you ever tried that the usual way, you probably ended up pinning the program that associated with the document file.

Here’s how to Pin Documents or File to Taskbar (Windows 7)

1. Find the full path for your document/file. In this test, I will use “C:\Users\User\Desktop\todo.txt” as the example.

Note: You can find the path for your document/file by right clicking the file > “Properties”. “C:\Users\User\Desktop” (1) will be the location where the file is, and “todo.txt” (2) is the filename. So, the full path for the file will be (1) + (2), “C:\Users\User\Desktop\todo.txt”.

2. Next, find the full path for the program that associated with the file (the program that you use to open the document/file). In this example, I will use Notepad++, and the full path for Notepad++ on my system is “C:\Program Files (x86)\Notepad++\notepad++.exe”.

Note 1: Here’s how you can easily find the full path for the program. Go to Start Menu > All Programs and find the program that you use to open the document/file. Right click it, and choose “Properties” (3). Click the “Shortcut”(4) tab. The “Target” (5) will be the full path for the program.

Note 2: Sometimes, the “Target” will not display the full path for the program, for example, Microsoft Word. In this case, you will need to manually find the path for the program’s .exe file. Usually it is in the “C:\Program Files” folder. Look for the folder with name of the program or the manufacturer of the program. You should be able to find the .exe file for your program.

3. Right click on your desktop and choose New > Shortcut. The location of the item that you will need to enter is “full path of the program in step 2” + “full path of the file in step 1”. So, my path will be:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Notepad++\notepad++.exe” “C:\Users\User\Desktop\todo.txt”

Note: You will need to enclose both the full path of the program and the full path of the document/file in quotes ” “.
Press “Next” (6).

4. Give a name for the shortcut (7). This name will be appearing when you hover over your pinned taskbar icon. Press “Finish” (8).

5. Next, right click the newly created shortcut on your desktop and press “Pin to Taskbar” (9). DONE! The shortcut directly to your document/file is pinned on your taskbar.

Extra: You can change the icon for the shortcut by right click the shortcut icon on the taskbar (10), right click on the name of the shortcut (11) and choose properties (12). In “Shortcut” (13) tab, click “Change Icon” (14).

We hope that this article is helped you. How to Pin Documents or File to Taskbar Windows 7