What is creating a shortcut? File Associations and Basic Options

is an icon that is designed to launch a file, folder or page from the Internet.

Let's say you have a "Music" folder on Local Drive D. It contains many folders with the names of musical groups and performers, including your favorite group. This means that every time you want to listen to your favorite band, you will have to open "Computer", then " Local disk D", then the "Music" folder, then look for the folder with the name of your favorite group.

In order to open the necessary files and folders faster, shortcuts were invented. We can put a special icon on the folder with our favorite music on the Desktop (computer screen). And when we double-click on it with the left mouse button, the computer will receive a command that it needs to go to the place where this folder is located and open it. That is, when you open the shortcut, the computer will execute a number of commands: open “Computer”, open “Local Disk D” in it, open the “Music” folder, open the folder with your favorite group.

A shortcut is not the file or folder itself, or the Internet page! It's just a command for the computer. And if we delete the shortcut from the computer, the file or folder it refers to will remain.

What does the shortcut look like?

There is an arrow on the label below:

On regular file or the folder does not have this arrow:

If you see an arrow on a file icon or folder, you know it is a shortcut. This means that if you delete it, the file or folder it opens will remain on your computer. And this also means that if you write this icon to a flash drive or disk, it will not open on another computer. 'Cause a label is nothing empty place. It’s just convenient to use such icons on a computer.

By the way, they also come without an arrow. Very rarely. How then to determine that it is a shortcut? Click on it right click mouse and select "Properties". If there is a “Shortcut” tab, this means that you have a real shortcut in front of you.

How to find out where the file or folder that a shortcut opens is located

Hover and hold the left mouse button on the shortcut. A small window should appear that shows where the file or folder that this icon opens is located.

IN in this case the computer shows that this folder is located on Local Drive D, in the “Money” folder. That is, to open this folder without a shortcut, you need to open “Computer”, open “Local Disk D”, then open the “Money” folder, and open the “Work” folder in it.

If suddenly, when you hover the cursor over an icon, nothing appears, right-click on it and select “Properties”. The "Shortcut" tab says where on the computer the file or folder it opens is located.

How to create a shortcut and place it on the Desktop

In order to send required file(folder) as a shortcut to the "Desktop", right-click on it. A list will open from which you need to select “Send” and then “Desktop (create shortcut)”.

On the Desktop, that is, on the screen, will appear new icon, which will open this file (folder).

Shortcuts on the computer desktop. What it is? How are they different from folders and files? How to create a shortcut on the desktop, and what happens if you delete it? Is it possible to change the shortcut icon? You will find answers to all these questions in this lesson.

While working on the Windows 10 operating system, you've probably noticed that you spend too much time opening the Start menu, finding the desired folder or program, opening that folder or launching the program, and returning back to the desktop. But all this can be done much faster and easier. All you need to do is create a shortcut and place it on your desktop.

What is a shortcut

Label is just an icon that links to a program or file, so it doesn't take up system resources or affect your computer's performance. A shortcut, unlike a folder or file, has very few " ". Therefore, it is much safer and more convenient to keep shortcuts on the desktop rather than folders.

How does a shortcut differ from a file and a folder?

The shortcut has a small arrow in the lower left corner. If this arrow is not there, then you are working with the source.

If you copy a shortcut to a flash drive, it will not open on another computer, because... This is not a file, but just a shortcut. Many novice computer users do not know the difference between a shortcut and a file, and do not understand why this happens.

In order not to endlessly open the menu and search for the required folder or program in it, you can create shortcuts on the desktop. To do this you need to do the following:

• Folders and documents. Open, right-click on the folder or document to which you need access, and select in context menu team Send and then the option Desktop (create shortcut). And a shortcut to this folder or file will appear on your Desktop.

You can simply select any folder or disk icon with the left mouse button, and without releasing the mouse button, drag it to the Desktop.

• Web sites. Open the browser from which you access the Internet. Roll it up so that the desktop is visible. Highlight the link in address bar, left-click on it, and without releasing the mouse button, drag this link to the desktop and release. You now have a shortcut to this site. Just double-click on it with the mouse and the browser will start and the page of this site will open.

Can a shortcut be moved and deleted?

• The shortcut can be moved to another location. It will still work. But if you move the object to which it refers to another location, you will need to create a new shortcut and delete the old one.
• If you delete the shortcut, nothing bad will happen. Only the shortcut itself will be deleted, and all the files it refers to will remain intact and unharmed.

How to find out the name of the program that a shortcut refers to and where it is located

• In order to find out what program this shortcut launches and where it is located, you need to right-click on this shortcut and select the command in the context menu Properties. A window will open in which in the field An object the path to it and its name will be indicated.

You can create a shortcut for programs, folders, and documents that you access regularly. Label- this is a reference to an object, a means quick access to an object located in a folder on the computer’s disk or on the network to which the computer is connected. Usually the shortcut is placed on the desktop, but it can also be placed in a folder. Double-clicking a shortcut icon allows you to open a document or run a program regardless of where they are located - on the user's computer's hard drive, on network drive or on the website.

By default, a shortcut has the same name as the object it points to. The shortcut icon, as a rule, differs from the icon of the object for which it was created only by the transition arrow located in the lower left corner of the picture (Fig. 4.31). The shortcut file has the extension .lnk and takes up little disk space (about 1 KB). He is special file communications. When executed double click on a shortcut, Windows uses the information stored in the link file to find and open the object associated with that shortcut (Figure 4.32).

Rice. 4.31. Shortcut to open Word document

Rice. 4.32. General Shortcut Properties

To make it easier to access any object: a program or document, you can create one or more shortcuts and place them in different places: on the desktop and in frequently used folders. For example, if a Word document contains background information, which the user constantly views, then by placing its shortcut on the desktop, he will be able to open the file without accessing the menu.

The shortcut can be placed inside a document or message Email. By dragging the file icon onto the shortcut to floppy disk, you can copy the file to a floppy disk. Placing a printer shortcut on your desktop allows you to speed up the printing process and make it easier to control. When you delete a shortcut, the file it is associated with is not deleted. If you rename a folder/file, the name of the shortcut will not change, but the connection between them will remain.

You can create a shortcut to a disk, program, folder or document using one of the methods below.

1. Select the object for which a shortcut is being created in the window My computer or explorer and select from the menu File team Create a shortcut.The new shortcut will appear in the lower corner of the window of the folder in which the item is located. Then you need to drag the shortcut with the mouse to the desired location, for example on the desktop.

2. Select the object for which a shortcut is created in the window My computer or Explorer, then activate the command Copy on the menu Edit. After going to the window of the folder in which the shortcut is supposed to be placed, select the command Insert shortcut on the menu Edit.

To remove a shortcut, select it, press Delete key or right-click the shortcut and select the command from the context menu Delete. In both cases, to avoid accidentally deleting an object, Windows will require confirmation of the specified action.

As you know, in a store, labels are attached to clothes so that you can quickly determine the size, price, manufacturer, recommendations for washing and ironing, etc. for any model of clothing. If such a label is removed, the clothing does not lose its properties and can be worn.

You can handle shortcuts in Windows 7 in the same way: use them to quickly access files, folders, and programs on your computer.

What is a shortcut

You shouldn’t worry or get upset if there is some problem with the shortcuts, for example, they disappeared or when you click on them you can’t open a file or program. If there are problems with shortcuts, files, folders and programs for which Win 7 shortcuts were created, as a rule, remain safe and sound.

How to distinguish a shortcut from a regular icon?

A shortcut has the same name as the object it points to. The object can be a program, folder, or file. It turns out that by name it is usually impossible to distinguish a program shortcut from the program itself.

How can we understand when we have a label in front of us and when the object itself? Moreover, the shortcut can be safely deleted. But you should delete the object itself only after thinking carefully.

Rice. 1 The shortcut icon differs from the object icon by the presence of a navigation arrow.

You can distinguish a shortcut from an object by its icons.

The shortcut icon typically has a navigation arrow in the lower left corner (Figure 1). But the object icon does not have such an arrow. In Fig. 1 shows examples of three icons:

• A shortcut icon for the Yandex.Disk program (there is a navigation arrow, which means this is a shortcut for the Yandex.Disk program),
• Shortcut icon for Skype programs(there is a navigation arrow, so it is a shortcut for Skype),
• Trash icon (no navigation arrow, this is not a shortcut).

Windows 7 shortcut properties: shortcut type, size and location

If you right-click on any shortcut (right-click), the “Properties” window will open. Click on the “General” tab (number 01 in Fig. 2) and look at the general properties of the shortcut.

Rice. 2 File type, location and file size of the Skype shortcut

The shortcut file has (or type, format) .lnk (number 1 in Fig. 2).

Labels take up little space. In Fig. 2 shows that the shortcut file size is 2-4 KB.

Also in Fig. 2 you can see the location of the shortcut. It can be seen that the shortcut for the Skype program is located on the Desktop, or rather, here - C:\Users\Public\Desktop (number 2 in Fig. 2).

How to create a shortcut: the first method

Shortcuts are useful because they can be placed in a convenient place, for example, on the Desktop. By clicking on the shortcut on the desktop, you can quickly open the desired program, file or folder. Below we will look at two ways to create a shortcut for a program, file or folder.

1) You need to find an object (program, file or folder) on your computer for which you need to create a shortcut - number 1 in Fig. 3.

Rice. 3 How to create a shortcut in a folder and drag it to the Desktop

2) Now you need to right-click (Right Mouse Button) on the object (program, file or folder) that needs a shortcut.

3) A menu will appear in which you should select the “Create shortcut” command - number 2 in Fig. 3. That's all, the new shortcut will appear in the same place, in the same folder where our object is located.

4) There is no point in storing the shortcut along with the object in the same folder. Therefore, you should drag the shortcut to the desired location, for example, on the Desktop.

To do this, use one of the three buttons on the right top corner window (number 3 in Fig. 3), the window should be reduced so that the Desktop is visible.

Then you need to move the mouse cursor to the shortcut, click on LMB ( Left Button Mouse) and, without releasing it, drag the shortcut to the Desktop (number 4 in Fig. 3). After dragging the shortcut to the desired location, you can release the mouse button.

How to create a shortcut: second method

We create Windows shortcut 7 directly from your desktop. For some it will be easier than the first method, but for others it will be more difficult.

1) Click on an empty space on the Desktop with RMB (right mouse button) (number 1 in Fig. 4).

Rice. 4 Create a shortcut on the desktop

2) Select the “Create” command in the menu that appears (number 2 in Fig. 4), and then “Shortcut” (number 3 in Fig. 4).

The “Create Shortcut” window will appear (Fig. 5):

Rice. 5 We look for the folder where the object for which the shortcut is created is located

3) You need to fill in the “Specify the location of the object” field. To do this, you need to find the object (program or file, folder) for which the shortcut is created. To do this, you can click on the “Browse” button (Fig. 5). The “Browse files and folders” window will appear, where you need to find the necessary program or document and click on it. The “Specify the location of the object” field will be filled in, then click “OK”.

4) A new window will appear where you can enter a name for the shortcut or agree with the proposed name, after which you should click on the “Done” button.

5) Now you can look for a new shortcut with an arrow in the left corner on the Desktop of your computer.

How to create a Mail.ru shortcut on your desktop?

Shortcuts can be created not only for files or programs that are located on your computer's hard drive. A shortcut can also be created for a website located on the Internet.

Consider again the above creation of a shortcut on the Desktop on specific example– Mail.ru shortcut (icon) on the desktop.

1) Right-click (right mouse button) on free space on the desktop.

2) In the context menu that appears, select “Shortcut” – “Create” (Fig. 4).

3) The “Create shortcut” window pops up (Fig. 5).

4) In this window, enter http://mail.ru/ (Fig. 5.1).

Rice. 5.1. How to create a MailRu shortcut?

6) The “Create Shortcut” window will appear, in which you need to enter the name of the shortcut. In Fig. 5.2 I entered the name “Mail.ru”, but you can enter any other name, including in Russian, in Cyrillic.

Rice. 5.2. Enter a name for the shortcut on the Desktop

7) Click on “Done”, go to the Desktop to look at the new shortcut with the name that we just set.

How to give a shortcut a different name (rename)?

You can rename a shortcut an unlimited number of times. To rename a shortcut, you need to right-click on it (Right Mouse Button). A menu will appear in which we click on the “Rename” command (number 1 in Fig. 6).

Rice. 6 How to rename or delete a shortcut

After this, the field containing the shortcut name will become available for editing. Using the keyboard, enter a new shortcut name or edit the old name.

How to remove a shortcut?

1st method. Select the shortcut and press the Delete key.

2nd method. Click on the shortcut RMB (Right Mouse Button). A menu will appear in which you click on the “Delete” command (number 2 in Fig. 6).

In the 1st and 2nd methods, in order to avoid misunderstandings when removing the label, the operating Windows system will ask you to confirm your decision to delete the shortcut: “Do you want to move this shortcut to the trash?” (Fig. 7)

Rice. 7 Confirm deleting the shortcut to the Trash

If you click on the “Yes” button, the shortcut will be deleted to the Trash.

If the Trash has not been emptied by the user, then the shortcut can be returned from the Trash back to its old place. To do this, you will need to go to the cart, click on previously remote shortcut right mouse button. A menu will appear in which you need to click on the “Restore” command. The shortcut will be restored in the folder and location from which it was deleted.

Windows 7 shortcut icons

Shortcut icons can be changed to others. How to do it?

Rice. 8 How to change the shortcut icon

• To change the shortcut icon, right-click on it.
• In the menu that appears, click the Properties command,
• open the Shortcut tab (number 1 in Fig. 8),
• Click the “Change icon” button (number 2 in Fig. 8).

The Change Icon window appears, allowing you to select an icon from the provided set of icons. Select an icon, select it with a mouse click and click OK. The icon will be changed to the selected, new icon.

Windows 7 shortcuts won't open

The appearance of the shortcut (color, size, presence or absence of an arrow in the left corner of the shortcut icon) does not affect its operation in any way. Moreover, appearance shortcuts can be customized to your liking.

What affects the performance of shortcuts? Viruses, unsuccessful Windows updates, careless user actions.

Rash user actions include, for example, moving a program to another folder. As an option: the user was putting things in order on the computer, moved the program and forgot. Then the shortcut to the program transferred to another folder will immediately stop working. The reason is simple - the old file location does not work, it is worth replacing it with a new one.

What can you do if the shortcut stops working?

• Scan your computer for viruses.

• You can roll back the operating system to working version, if points were made .

• Without thinking twice, you can try to remove the shortcut. First, you should make sure that it is really the shortcut that is being deleted, and not the program itself for which the shortcut was created. Then create a new shortcut. This is easier than checking the properties of the shortcut, looking for the cause there and eliminating it.

• Check the shortcut properties. Let's look at this reason in more detail.

If the Shortcut Properties indicates the location of the program is different from its actual location on the computer, then, of course, the shortcut will not work.

Where can I find it? RMB on the shortcut – Properties – “Shortcut” tab – “File location” button (number 5 in Fig. 8). If, after clicking on this button, the file is not found, then you should look at it in the “Object” window (number 6 in Fig. 8). Compare this path with the actual location of the file on the computer and, if necessary, correct it, especially since the field marked 6 in Fig. 8, available for editing.

Exercises for computer literacy:

1. Find a photo (or program) on your computer and create a shortcut for the photo on your desktop. Click on the shortcut on the Desktop and make sure it works.

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Any user of the operating system, regardless of its origin, knows that in the workspace or panels quick launch There may be icons (icons) corresponding to some programs or objects. Each such icon is called a “Shortcut”. This, by the way, is not just an icon, but a means of quick access to performing certain actions in the form of launching programs, opening files or Internet pages. Next, let's look at the concept of shortcuts in a little more detail.

Shortcut in Windows: what is it?

Let's start with the simplest. In general, it is a mistake to consider the Windows or any other operating system shortcut to be only a picture with a logo. specific program or the object being opened. In the Russian version, all such icons are usually called shortcuts, but the English terms may vary.

So, for example, for Windows in English translation a shortcut is a shortcut, on Linux it is freedesktop, on Mac it is either a shortcut or an alias. Despite different variants names, the purpose of all shortcuts is the same - to communicate with objects that need to be opened or launched without searching for the file to which it is linked in various menus, file managers or browsers.

In addition, like any other system object, a shortcut is a file ranging in size from 10 to 100 bytes, which does not take up much space, but contains information about the path of the file, folder or resource to which it refers.

Types of shortcuts

If we consider the main types of Windows system shortcuts, we can distinguish three main groups:

• shortcuts that link to files (including executable ones) and folders have the extension .lnk;
• MS-DOS environment shortcuts are defined by the .pif extension;
• Shortcuts associated with Internet resources use the .url extension.

It may be impossible to determine the type of shortcut visually, since by default in Windows extension is hidden. To display it, you will have to disable hiding extensions for registered file types.

Launching shortcuts

In settings Windows opening or launching any object by using a shortcut is done through a double click, in fact, as for any other file or directory.

Depending on which object the shortcut refers to, one or more consistent actions. So, for example, if the label matches executable file program, the application will start. In the case of links to directories, separate files or web page, the main program (office or other editor, Explorer, web browser) will be launched first, after which the application itself will open required file or link.

Object references

As is already clear, a shortcut is a means of quick access to a specific object, wherever it is located on your hard drive or on the Internet.

As already mentioned, communication is carried out through a link to the location of the object being opened. You can check it through the RMB menu on the shortcut and selecting the properties line. In the window on the tab that appears, you can see what type of object the shortcut is associated with, the full path to the file or Internet resource, using special button, find out the location of the file on your hard drive, if necessary, install quick launch immediately as administrator, etc.

As a rule, in Windows creation shortcuts are carried out through the RMB menu on the file and sent to the “Desktop”. After this, the shortcut can be dragged, for example, into the panel for quick launch. But here's what's interesting. allows you to add user programs to system startup. To do this, the shortcut from the “Desktop” is simply copied to the corresponding system folder. Sometimes such actions are the simplest solution when using conventional means automatic start desired application together with the operating system it turns out to be impossible.

For Internet pages, you don't have to copy the address. Simply select it and, with the left mouse button pressed, drag it to the desired location. But the browser window will have to be smaller.

Unfortunately, many inexperienced users quite often commit gross mistakes. It is not uncommon for them to copy removable media only shortcuts without main objects. For example, the Desktop has a shortcut to a movie that is stored in user documents. The user copies, as it seems to him, the entire movie directly from the “Desktop” and is glad that it takes up so little space, forgetting that it is just a link to the main file. Naturally, then nothing opens on another computer, since the linked file is missing.

The same can be said about deleting objects. If the same program file is not on the hard drive, the shortcut will not work. Usually its icon even changes to a regular white square.

Shortcuts in other OS

Now briefly about shortcuts in others operating systems. On Linux they are created in an environment using text file and have the extension .desktop.

The functionality here is much higher, since you can not only change the name arbitrarily, but also add special comments (for example, about what the application being launched is intended for, when it is used, etc.).

On Mac, shortcuts are complete analogues of Windows objects, but if the user wishes, they can be created in any location, not just on the Desktop. By the way, exactly Apple company is the founder of the use of shortcuts for quick access to necessary objects.

Android also has shortcuts in the workspace, but changing them or deleting them without uninstalling the main application without special means impossible.