If your start menu is unworkable large, and your desktop is cluttered with shortcuts and folders, this tip might provide a nice solution: your own start menu besides the original.
Read the rest of A better start menu with Quick Launch.
Another useful "included with Windows" tip is the Links folder inside the Favorites folder. I copy all my Quick Launch shortcuts into Links. Then, in IE, unlock toolbars and move Links up beside Help on the top line of IE. Now you have Quick Launch shortcuts also available in both Windows Explorer and Internet Explorer!
Finally, I know where is the folder for the quick luanch toolbar. (i.e. %APPDATA%\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch)
Very useful for me. Because I need to copy this quite frequently. Thanks. God bless you!
Okay, I actually found your web page because I was searching for solutions to my quicklaunch bar becoming too full. I was all excited about your tip, but then when I tried it, it did not quite work for me. When I click on the new folder that I have created in Quick Launch, nothing happens until I release the mouse button. And then what happens is that the entire folder opens up in an explorer window. Am I doing something wrong? Would love to hear your solution to this. Thanks.
Thanks for this quick launch. I was a programmer for 18 years, and there are still useful things I am learning from people like you, who help to make the web, and the world a better and easier place.
Thank you!
Pete Hainesport, NJ
Excellent article. it was very helpfull what's more, it works, unlike some others.
I know it's a little late to answer the question by tactile jones, but this is what I found...
If your Quick Links bar is wide/high enough to show the folders, they don't open like in the example, instead they are shortcuts to the folders themselves.
Because I have my task-bar 2 rows high, I've had to put "padding" items into the Quick Links to allow the >> to open the folders like the examples - not a perfect solution, but it certainly works.
Well, I don't think what you proposed with QuickLaunch here is actually
beneficial. Ok, I'm a Vista user so I got used to typing the name of
the program in the start menu and hitting Win+
However, that tiny little overflow button on the QL bar is exactly that: tiny. It's very hard to target and hit with the mouse (cf. Fitts's law) and there is no keyboard equivalent. I always preferred having a QuickRun menu in my start menu, and I mean right in the start menu, not underneath the Programs folder there. That way it shows well, right in the Start menu and is instantly accessible when hitting the start button, the Windows key or Ctrl+Esc and a simple hit on the Q key brings it up. I had a selection of programs I use every day in there, each with a distinct mnemonic so I wouldn't have to resolve conflicts there. If two shortcut begin with the same letter, don't worry. Just put a & in front of the letter you want as mnemonic. Looks ugly on the menu but helps you in resolving those conflicts easier (although renaming Explorer to Xplorer doesn't hurt much).
To be fair, it's a partial solution to the full desktop and full start menu problem and only helps you when starting frequently used programs (or documents). However, that use case should cover more than 90 percent of invocations of the start menu so it is imho still superior to having a tiny little button that you can't hit correctly with your mouse pointer.
Hi Johannes,
I agree with you that Quick Launch is not the best solution, and that the overflow button is quite small, even though it's not much smaller compared to the icons in front of it.
I use currently Launchy to start programs I use often, by typing the first letters of their name (still on Windows XP): Launchy.
Like your explaination, But can the quick-launch toolbar be expanded into the all user realm? In other words can I create a quick launch folder under all users and shortcuts in that folder. Then would these shortcuts show up on anyones quicklaunch bar along with they're own shortcuts? Or would Windows get screwed up and not know what to do?
Another tip to those who might find it useful.
My taskbar is usually 2 rows high.
The 1st row (beside the START button) is filled with all the open programs.
The 2nd row is filled with all the shortcuts, unlike John's quick launch (ref: http://johnbokma.com/windows/quick-launch-tool-bar.png) (which is the default size)
In order to have 2nd row dedicated to quick launch icons, you need to drag the division line between the Quick Launch area & the Program area down.
I hope this is clear enough, if not then I will do some screenshot.
I have one machine with XP Pro and when I click on the Quick Launch >> button, ALL the programs appear. On the other machine, with XP Home, only some of the programs appear with a carat at the bottom that has to be clicked to see them all.
Is there any way to tweak XP Home to make it the default to show all the programs (without that carat at the bottom)?
Two years since the last posted comment but this article is still of help. I had a folder of shortcuts and sub-folders on the desktop for the purpose of getting rid of desktop clutter. After reading this article, I dropped it into the quick launch folder and suddenly all my sub-folders were available as fly-outs. It's great! Thankyou for a most useful tutorial.
Tanks Br, makes life a little easier.
If your quicklaunch area is expanded enough that there is no overflow >> button, control-clicking on a folder brings up the contents of the folder in a popup menu rather than opening a new explorer window, which may be preferable to using the >> button (less mouse travel). I wonder if there's a registry hack to enable that popup menu without having to hold the control key.
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This topic is really helpful to me, to know more about the quick launch.
Thanks,
Regards,
Uday Patil