Quick Launch - Add to Taskbar in Windows 8

How to Add Quick Launch to the Taskbar in Windows 8 and 8.1

information   Information
This tutorial will show you how to add or remove Quick Launch as a toolbar on your taskbar in Windows 8, Windows RT, Windows 8.1, and Windows RT 8.1.

You can have Quick Launch display with small or large icons on either side of the taskbar.

Note   Note
Quick Launch is located in the hidden folder path below.

C:\Users\(user-name)\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch

Tip   Tip
You can add more shortcuts into Quick Launch by using either method below.
  • Drag any shortcut, file, folder, drive over Quick Launch on the taskbar until you see either Move to Quick Launch or Create link in Quick Launch, then drop the item to create a shortcut of it in Quick Launch.
  • Open the hidden Quick Launch folder above, and create a new shortcut for the item in it.
To Remove a shortcut from within Quick Launch, you can right click on the shortcut from either taskbar or hidden folder location above and click on Delete.


EXAMPLE: Quick Launch on taskbar in Windows 8

QL.jpg





OPTION ONE

To Add "Quick Launch" to Taskbar in Windows 8


1. Go to your desktop.​
NOTE: You could press the :winkey: + D keys to do so.​
2. Right click or press and hold on an empty space on the taskbar of your main display, click/tap on Toolbars, and click/tap on New toolbar. (see screenshot below)​
QL-2.jpg
3. In the Folder line, copy and paste the location below, and click/tap on Select Folder. (see screenshot below)​
%UserProfile%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch
QL-3.jpg
4. You now have Quick Launch on the taskbar. If you like, you can do steps 5, 6, and/or 7 below to customize Quick Launch to how you like. (see screenshot below)​
QL-4.jpg
5. To Remove Text and Title from Items in Quick Launch
B) Right click or press and hold on the dotted separator line just to the left of Quick Launch, then uncheck the Show Text and Show Title by clicking on them. (see screenshot below)​
QL-5.jpg
6. To Use Large or Small Icons for Items in Quick Launch
B) Right click or press and hold on the dotted separator line just to the left of Quick Launch, click/tap on View, and click/tap on Large Icons or Small Icons to check the one you want to use. (see screenshot below step 5B)​
7. To Move Quick Launch to the Left Side of the Taskbar
NOTE: If you had previously moved the taskbar to the left or right side of the screen, then you would be moving Quick Launch to the top of the taskbar instead.​
B) Left click and hold on the dotted separator line (ex: for pinned apps) on the far left side of the taskbar, then drag the pointer to the right of the dotted separator line for Quick Launch. (see screenshot below)​
NOTE: Be sure to keep the pointer within the taskbar while dragging.
QL-6A.jpg
C) Drag the dotted separator line (ex: for pinned apps) now on the right side back to the left until you get to the edge of Quick Launch without condensing Quick Launch, then release. (see screenshots below)​
NOTE: Be sure to keep the pointer within the taskbar while dragging.
QL-6B.jpg
QL-6C.jpg
8. When finished, lock the taskbar.​




OPTION TWO

To Remove "Quick Launch" from Taskbar in Windows 8


1. Go to your desktop.​
NOTE: You could press the :winkey: + D keys to do so.​
2. Right click or press and hold on an empty space on the taskbar of your main display, click/tap on Toolbars, and click/tap on Quick Launch to uncheck it. (see screenshot below)​
QL_Remove.jpg


That's it,
Shawn


 

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Last edited:
Hello Polas,

There's really not a way to do this by a simple registry setting that I know of since you are basically just adding the Quick Launch folder to the taskbar as a toolbar.

However, if you like, you could use the tutorial below to be able to easily backup and restore all toolbars and pinned programs on the taskbar to make restoring them easy.

Taskbar - Backup and Restore Pinned Items in Windows 7 - Windows 7 Forums
 

My Computer

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  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
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    PC/Desktop
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    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
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    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
Anyone know why I can't get the Quicklaunch icons to wrap into two or more lines?
In case you are wondering I'm using Start8 to give me the desktop Start.


Untitled.jpg


Edit: Ignore, doh, it would help if I unlocked the taskbar first & moved the toolbar....ooops. Fixed. LOL

Capture.JPG
 

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Hello Peter,

No worries mate. :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
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    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
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    Logitech wireless K800
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    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
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    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
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    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
LOL, just my senility showing.:confused:
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 7 Ult SP1 + Win 10 Pro - (x64)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Alienware® ALX X58
    CPU
    Intel® Core i7-975 Extreme 3.86 GHz 8MB Cache
    Motherboard
    ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 Socket 1366 Core i7, Dual Triple Channel DDR3 Mem
    Memory
    24GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 SDRAM at 1600MHz - 6 x 4096MB
    Graphics Card(s)
    1792 MB NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 295/Hauppauge HVR2250 TV Tuner
    Sound Card
    Onboard Soundmax® High definition Sound
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung XL2370 LED
    Screen Resolution
    1920 X 1080P
    Hard Drives
    2 X 500gb SATA
    1 X 1TB SATA
    1 X 3TB external eSATA
    (Non-RAID)
    PSU
    Alienware® 1200 Watt Multi-GPU
    Case
    Alienware® P2 ALX Chassis with AlienIce 3.0 Video Cooling
    Cooling
    Alienware® High-Perf. Liquid Cooling + Acoustic Dampening
    Keyboard
    Microsoft® Wireless Entertainment 8000 + Logitech® G15 Wired
    Mouse
    Microsoft® Wireless Laser 8000 + Logitech® G9 Wired
    Internet Speed
    1tbs
    Other Info
    Using non-RAID on purpose as I find it too fussy and temperamental.
I know how that is. :eek:
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
This worked for me in Windows 7. It works on Windows 8 too, BUT only temporarily. It goes away after a few days. Anyone know a fix? Thanks.
 

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Hello winlinx, and welcome to Eight Forums.

Does this happen to any other toolbars?

As a workaround, create a New Folder where you like, copy the shortcuts from the Quick Launch folder (see note box at top of tutorial) into the new folder, then do the tutorial again using the New Folder's path instead at step 3.

Hope this helps, :)
Shawn
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
I think I've finally (I think) got Quick Launch on my Taskbar, Thank you, but now how do I use it? When I click on it, it doesn't seem to bring me to a place where I can put a document on the desktop. Is there a Quick Launch tutorial? I searched for How do use Quick Launch, but a screen popped up saying I don't have Windows 7
 

My Computer

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  • OS
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Hello Marianne,

Quick Launch is folder that is toolbar on your taskbar on your taskbar that you can add shortcuts of anything to.

You could add shortcuts into it's folder location in the blue Note box at the top of the tutorial to also have it display in Quick Launch on the taskbar.

You could also drag and drop items directly into Quick Launch on the taskbar to add them.

If you like, you could use the tutorial below to add Send to -> Quick Launch to make adding items to Quick Launch easier.

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/5086-quick-launch-add-send-context-menu-windows-8-a.html

Hope this helps, :)
Shawn
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
can I remove the text "Quick Launch" from my task bar, and just have the icons? this text takes up a lot of space...
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8.1 pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
Hello shmu,

Yes, you sure can. Step 5 in the tutorial can help show you how to. :)
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
got it!

I should have noticed that step, thanks for your patience!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8.1 pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
No worries shmu. :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
Win8x1 update as of 12/16/13 broke Quicklaunch bar

The update this weekend made my quick launch bar dissappear. It had been working perfectly for many months. After following the instructions to put it back, it shows icons with text --- NOT the same. I can't see how to switch that back to show ONLY icons like it used to do. The bigger questions is WHY DID YOU MESS WITH IT, Microsoft? Do you really think you're going to decide and dictate how everyone must work?

Could someone PLEASE tell me how to get it back working normally, i.e. just icons at the left of the taskbar.
 

My Computer

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  • OS
    XP pro, Vista Business, Win 7 Pro, Win 8 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    None of your business
    CPU
    i7
I stumbled onto the right-click settings that let me turn off the text and the captions to get it back normally. I swear that option was not there an hour ago or I kept missing it. Oh well, it's back like I want it. Still am upset that m$ decided to screw it up with an update.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    XP pro, Vista Business, Win 7 Pro, Win 8 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    None of your business
    CPU
    i7
Last edited by a moderator:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 580
    Memory
    8Gb
    Hard Drives
    120 Gb SSD for OS and 1Tb data HD
    Internet Speed
    6000
    Browser
    Microsoft Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    AVG Free 2014
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