How to Make Chrome Shortcuts on Your Windows Desktop

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by Scott Orgera
Scott Orgera has been a tech journalist since 2007. He has 25+ years' experience as a programmer and QA leader and several Microsoft certifications.
Updated October 02, 2018

Google Chrome makes it easy to open shortcuts to websites right there on the bookmarks bar, but did you know that you can also create shortcuts to your favorite websites by adding them to your desktop or any other folder?

These shortcuts are unique in the fact that they can be configured to open websites in standalone windows without any menus, tabs, or other standard browser components, similar to that of a Chrome Web Store app.

However, a Chrome shortcut can also be configured to open as a standard web page in a new browser tab since the standalone window option isn't available in all versions of Windows.

How to Create Chrome Shortcuts on Your Desktop

  1. Open the Chrome web browser.

  2. Open Chrome's main menu button, located in the upper right-hand corner of the browser and represented by three vertically-aligned dots.

  3. Go to More tools and then select either Add to desktop... or Create application shortcuts (the option you see depends on your operating system).

  4. Type a name for the shortcut or leave it as the default name, which is the title of the web page you're on.

  5. Choose the Open as window option if you want the window to exist without all the other buttons and the bookmarks bar you normally see in Chrome. Otherwise, uncheck that option so that the shortcut opens in a regular browser window.

    There might be some additional buttons or options in some versions of Windows, like one to specify where to save the shortcut. Otherwise, it will go straight to your desktop.

  6. You should now have a chrome desktop shortcut.

More Information on Creating Chrome Shortcuts

The above method isn't the only way to make shortcuts that open in Chrome. Another way is to simply drag and drop a link straight to the folder of your choice. For example, while on this page, just put your mouse up to the URL area and highlight the whole link, and then click+hold+drag the link to a folder on your computer.

Another way to create website shortcuts on your desktop in Windows is to right-click the desktop and choose New > Shortcut. Enter the URL you want to open when you double-click or double-tap the shortcut, and then name it appropriately.

You can also drag a shortcut from the desktop and drop it right onto the Windows taskbar so that you can have even quicker access to it.

If none of the methods on this page are working to open the link in Chrome, you might need to change what Windows sees as the default browser. See How to Change the Default Browser in Windows if you need help.