Windows 7 Taskbar Shortcuts
It is amazing where you will find a really neat tip to make your computing life easier. One of my passions, other than machine embroidery, of course, is genealogy. On one of the genealogy mailing lists I found this tip that I just had to pass along.
In Windows 7, the long bar at the very bottom of your screen is called the taskbar. It is made up of three parts:
- the "Start" button which opens the Start menu
- the middle section, which shows you which programs and files you have open and allows you to quickly switch between them.
- the notification area, which includes a clock and other icons
The graphic belowshows the middle section of my taskbar. As you can see there are several icons for my most-used programs. If you click on an icon, it will launch the specific program. Beginning at the left I have Internet Explorer, Firefox and Outlook, continuing from there. Having shortcuts to the most-used programs easily accessible on the taskbar saves the hassle of either clicking on start/all programs and then selecting the program from a long list or alternatively filling up my desktop with icons, which is not a good idea. as with each icon you add to your desktop you are using up the computer’s virtual memory.
In Windows 7 it is extremely simple to add a new program to the taskbar. Each time you open a new program an icon for that program is temporarily placed in the taskbar. To pin the program to the taskbar, right click the button in the taskbar, select pin this program to taskbar. When the program is closed, the shortcut will remain in the taskbar.
In the graphic above you will see that I have fourteen different shortcuts (icons) in my taskbar. You have two choices to open the program from the taskbar:
- The obvious choice is to simply click on the shortcut with the mouse to open the program.
- But for those of us who are keyboard people there is a not-too-well-known keyboard shortcut. Instead of clicking on the icon, press the Windows key
plus the number of the program. As an example, Embird is #7 in the list of programs. Clicking on Windows and the number 7 simultaneously will open Embird. Now, to me, as I am a keyboard person, that is one of my favourite keyboard shortcuts.
Finally, you can adjust the size of the icons and even the location of the taskbar by right clicking in an open space on the taskbar, selecting “Properties”, editing any of the available options.
