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Windows 7 shortcut to desktop

Oliver SK.

A shortcut that is on our list of Windows 7 shorcuts, is the Windows 7 shortcut to desktop, but because a lot of people asked me how to do it, I’ll let you know the best ways to get to your desktop in less than a second

Microsoft introduced a “show desktop” bar in Windows 7 that allows you to go straight to your desktop, it’s the transparent bar on the right side of your taskbar right beside your clock:

The Simple Shortcut (Direct)

Shortcut:

The shortcut to your desktop that is a lot slower than the “show desktop bar” mentioned above is:

Old Windows Shortcut Icon

Do you remember the old “Show desktop” icon from Vista and XP? Yep? You want it back?

1. Step Pin a random icon to your taskbar (we will change it later)

2. Step Open the notepad and insert the following text:

[Shell]
Command=2
IconFile=explorer.exe,3
[Taskbar]
Command=ToggleDesktop

3. Step When you save the document, select “All files” from the dropdown field and insert the following path at the top:

C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\User Pinned\TaskBar

Save the document as “showdesktop.scf”.

4. Step Hold down Shift and right-click on the icon that you pinned to your taskbar in step 1.

Now, insert C:\Users\[yourusername]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\User Pinned\TaskBarshowdesktop.scf as the “Target”:

5. Step Click on “Change Icon .. ” and find an icon that you want to assign for your “Show desktop shortcut icon”.

I picked this nice desktop icon from SSX at DeviantArt: Show Desktop Icon

6. Step Restart or clear the icon cache

7. Step Done!