How to pin documents directly to the Windows 7 taskbar

You may have tried to pin a document or file you work on frequently to your Windows 7 taskbar, only to learn that it's too smart for that. Instead, you wind up with a pinned item for the program associated with the file's type, with your file pinned to the jump list. After reading a writeup at Lifehacker earlier today, I couldn't help thinking there was an easier solution than what they proposed -- which requires setting up a task using the Windows Scheduler. As it turns out, there is a much simpler way.

First, locate your file -- mine is C:\Users\Server\Desktop\foo.txt. Next, right click on your desktop and New > Shortcut. In the target, specify the program you want to execute and its path in quotes -- "C:\Windows\System32\notepad.exe". Add a space, and input the location of your file (again enclosed in quotes). The full target looks like this:

"C:\Windows\System32\notepad.exe" "C:\Users\Server\Desktop\foo.txt"

Now, give your shortcut a name -- this text will appear when you hover over your pinned taskbar icon. Before pinning, you can also right-click and choose properties if you'd like to choose a different icon for your shortcut. Once you're all done, left-click and drag the shortcut to the taskbar. That's it!

I've used notepad for this example and tested with Paint and Paint.NET, but this will work for other files and programs as well. As long as you know the path to your file and the program you want it to open in, you should have no problem pinning items to your taskbar.

How to pin documents directly to the Windows 7 taskbar originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 20 Jan 2011 18:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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