File Explorer Taskbar Icon - Change Open To Target

How to Change Default Open To Target of File Explorer Pinned to Taskbar in Windows 8.1​

   Information

You will notice that what the File Explorer pinned on your taskbar opens to by default will depend on if you set to show Libraries on the navigation pane or not.

Show Libraries = File Explorer opens to Libraries by default

Don't show Libraries = File Explorer opens to This PC by default

You will also notice that when you open the properties of the default File Explorer pinned to the taskbar, the open to Target field is grayed out and cannot be changed. (Right click or swipe down on File Explorer on taskbar -> right click or swipe down on File Explorer in Jump List -> click/tap on Properties)

This tutorial will show you how to change the File Explorer pinned to your taskbar to always open to Libraries, This PC, or any location you like for only your account in Windows 8.1 and Windows RT 8.1.

   Note

Any File Explorer shortcut that you "Pin to Taskbar" other than the default (step 2) will open a new File Explorer window each time you click/tap on it, and will show another icon for it on the taskbar.

EXAMPLE: File Explorer on Taskbar Opening to "This PC" or "Libraries"

​

​

​

​

Here's How:

1. Do step 2, 3, 4, or 5 below for what open to target location you want for File Explorer on your taskbar.


2. File Explorer that Opens to Default File Explorer Location
NOTE: This is the default File Explorer pinned to the taskbar.

​

A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the .zip file below, and go to step 6 below.​

​

File_Explorer.zip​

​

​

3. File Explorer that Always Opens to Libraries

​

A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the .zip file below, and go to step 6 below.​

​

Libraries.zip​

​

​

4. File Explorer that Always Opens to This PC

​

A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the .zip file below, and go to step 6 below.​

​

This_PC.zip​

​

​

5. File Explorer that Opens to Any Folder Location of your Choice

​

A) Use OPTION ONE in the tutorial link below to create a shortcut of any folder you like, and go to step 9 below when finished.​

​

How to Pin or Unpin a Folder to the Taskbar in Windows 7 and Windows 8​

   Tip

In addition, here's a list of shortcuts that contains some shell folder locations that you could also use with this as your target location if you like.

CLSID Key (GUID) Shortcuts List for Windows 8 and 8.1

List of Shell Command for Windows 8 and 8.1

6. Save the .zip file to your desktop.

7. Open the .zip file and extract (drag and drop) the shortcut to your desktop.

8. Unblock the extracted shortcut.

9. Right click or swipe down on the current File Explorer icon pinned to your taskbar, right click or swipe down on File Explorer in the Jump List, and click/tap on Unpin this program from the taskbar. (see screenshot below)

​

​

10. Click/tap and hold on the new shortcut, drag the new shortcut on your taskbar until you see Pin to Taskbar appear, and release to drop the shortcut. (see screenshot below)

​

​

11. Drag and drop (left or right) the new pinned shortcut to where you like within the other pinned items on your taskbar.

12. When finished, you can delete any downloaded .zip and shortcut files left on your desktop if you like.




That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

---

• How to Add or Remove "Libraries" from Navigation Pane in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Create a Shortcut of a File, Folder, Drive, or Program in Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8
• How to Pin or Unpin a Folder to the Taskbar in Windows 7 and Windows 8
• CLSID Key (GUID) Shortcuts List for Windows 8 and 8.1
• List of Shell Command for Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Add or Remove Libraries in This PC in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Add or Remove Control Panel in This PC in Windows 8 and 8.1

 

[blazingpenguin]

A better method

Unpin the existing explorer icon from the taskbar.

Create a shortcut just to explorer.exe (no extra command line info to choose the default folder shown yet). Pin it to the taskbar and make sure it's showing the jump list recent items and such you want.


Then do this. Right-click the pinned Explorer icon to see the jump list, then right-click the Windows Explorer line inside the jump list (right above the "unpin this item" option) and go to Properties there. Edit this shortcut's properties to include the folder you want it to open, and save. Now the taskbar shortcut will open to the folder.

 

[Peter II]

Hey guys, thanks for all the great tips over the years. This works for me except that the taskbar treats the pinned folder as a separate program and does not group with other explorer folders (when grouping is enabled). Also, I do not see the jumplist for the shortcut. I'd appreciate any help.

 

[Brink]

Hello Peter, and welcome to Eight Forums.

That is one of the drawbacks for this. Jump lists will show in the far left explorer icon instead.

 

[Peter II]

Thanks for getting back to me. I just realized that I may have been looking in the wrong place for my solution; but after looking for a couple of hours, I'm not sure where to turn and am getting a bit frustrated (Let me say that MS has really made my life miserable post Windows XP!).

Whenever I press the "Windows" + "E" button (I've set up a script using AutoHotKey) it brings up my default folder in what appears to be something like a library rather than linking me to the actual folder structure. I can see the actual drive and folder structure beneath the one to which I've been directed. Do you have any ideas on how I might be able to get it to link directly to the actual folder?

 

[Brink]

Does it still show them if you turn off "Show all folders" in the navigation pane?

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/8551-navigation-pane-show-all-folders-turn-off.html

 

[Peter II]

I have the "Show all folders" unchecked. I should clarify a little further (as I'm not sure my original post made much sense). That "A:" drive folder is the exact same folder as the "·Primary" folder that appears beneath it. It seems to me that Windows is treating this like a library instead of opening the actual folder directly. Does that make sense?

 

[Brink]

Yeah, but I'm not sure why it's doing that though.

 

[Peter II]

Yeah, but I'm not sure why it's doing that though.

Hey Shawn, any further thoughts on why my computer might be opening a separate instance of that same HD? It might be worth clarifying that I've followed your other tips to remove libraries and other unwanted folders from the navigation pane (pain right now). Is there a chance that my computer is treating that HD (an extra partition and my "My Documents" folder) as a library? Thanks for any help. This is driving me nuts!

 

[Brink]

You might see if renaming it from "A:" to something else may help since that drive letter is usually reserved for a floppy drive.

 

[Peter II]

You might see if renaming it from "A:" to something else may help since that drive letter is usually reserved for a floppy drive.

Hey Shawn, thanks for taking the time to always be so helpful (I've read DOZENS of your posts for tweaking my computer and am so grateful for your tips -They've made Windows 8.1 bearable!).

I wanted to get back to you on my problem to let you know I found a solution that just might be helpful for others. Before using the "A" letter for my "My Documents" partition, I had read various posts stating that so much time had passed since MS had used the "A" and "B" drives that people had begun using them without any problems. That has been my experience as well and the problem I described above turned out to be no exception.

After reading your post, I decided to reassign my drive to the letter "D" to see if that might solve the problem, but it did not (To clarify, I'm using an AutoHotKey script of "Win + E" to open a folder but it would open that folder within a library on the navigation pane rather than the actual folder tree). After switching the drive back to the letter "A", I set out to discover the solution and found not only what I needed but something else as well.

Oddly enough, if a person creates a shortcut of a folder from the library (instead of the actual folder tree) and then places that shortcut on the taskbar, it will open the folder within the library and not the actual folder tree. In fact, I found that the "properties" of the shortcuts I made -and specifically the folder path, were identical between a shortcut I created from the library part of the navigation pane and the regular folder; however each shortcut pointed to its respective origin (One from the library of the folder and the other from the actual folder). Am I making any sense?

So back to my solution for using the "Win + E" AHK script. My original line read: "#e::Run, A:\Work" and would always open into the library folder; however by changing it to: "#e::Run, explorer.exe A:\Work" (adding "explorer.exe"), the navigation pane goes directly to the actual folder tree. Problem solved.

Have a great day!

 

[Brink]

Great news Peter.