How to Pin a Program or Website to the Windows Taskbar

Keep your favorites close by

Pin programs, files and websites to the Windows Taskbar.
by Jody Emlyn Muelaner
Dr. Jody Muelander is a former freelance contributor to Lifewire who's writing has appeared in peer-reviewed journals and aerospace industry reports.
Updated October 20, 2019

The Windows Taskbar is a handy place to have shortcuts because it's always visible when you use Windows. You can also pin favorite websites and even files (though pinning files takes a bit more effort). Here we describe how to do each one.

This article applies to Windows 10.

Pin a Program to the Taskbar

Do you use Chrome every time you turn on your computer? What about Skype or Excel? You can pin whichever programs you use most frequently so you can easily start them any time. There are two ways to do the pinning, from the open program or from a desktop shortcut.

  1. The first method is to pin from a program that's running. First, launch the program as you normally would.

    MS Excel with file open

  2. At the bottom of your screen, the program icon appears on the taskbar. Right-click it and, from the menu, select Pin to taskbar.

    MS Excel icon on Windows taskbar

  3. The icon is pinned permanently to the taskbar.

    To change the order of the icons, select and drag them where you like.

  4. Alternatively, drag a program shortcut on your desktop to the taskbar. The shortcut is pinned permanently to the taskbar.

    Windows 10 desktop with shortcut icon being dragged to taskbar

Pin a File to the Taskbar

Just as there are certain programs you want easy access to, there may be certain files that you open frequently and want to have handy at all times. Here's how to pin a file to the taskbar.

When you pin a file to the taskbar, you're actually pinning it to the program it's associated with, so it will not appear as an icon on its own.

  1. Open File Explorer and navigate to the file you want to pin. Select and drag the file to the taskbar.

    Windows 10 with File Explorer open

  2. The icon shows a notice: "Pin to X," with X being the application the file is associated with.

    Windows 10 with File Explorer open

  3. To access the file from the taskbar, right-click the icon of the associated application and, from the menu, choose the name of the file.

    Windows 10 with taskbar list displayed

Pin a Website to Taskbar Using Google Chrome

You can also access a website directly from the Windows taskbar. Doing so will open Chrome and then the website, but you'll just have to execute a single click.

  1. Open Chrome and navigate to the website you want to pin.

  2. In the upper-right corner, select the Customize (three vertical dots) icon. Choose More tools > Create shortcut.

    Google Chrome browser with main menu displayed

  3. In the Create Shortcut dialog box, type a name for the shortcut. Select Create.

    Google Chrome with Create Shortcut dialog box displayed

  4. Go to your desktop, where you will find the newly created shortcut. Drag the shortcut to the taskbar.

    Windows 10 desktop with website shortcut pinning to taskbar

  5. The shortcut is pinned permanently to the taskbar.