Quick Launch toolbar (Windows)

The Quick Launch toolbar (yes, it's capitalized...don't ask me why) sits right next to the start button and stores shortcuts to programs that you use all the time. For example, my Quick Launch currently displays the Show Desktop button (very useful, it minimizes all open windows), a shortcut to My Computer, and a shortcut to Firefox, my web browser? .

You can change the number of shortcuts that the Quick Launch toolbar displays from a minimum of three to a maximum of however many shortcuts you have stored there. If you have more shortcuts than you're displaying (e.g. I'm displaying 3 but have about 15 total in the toolbar), the others are hidden, but can be easily accessed by pressing the double-arrow button on the right edge of the toolbar.

How do I turn on the Quick Launch toolbar?

Right-click on an empty part of the taskbar (the blue bar at the bottom of the screen) and select Toolbars > Quick Launch from the menu that appears. Now drag the shortcuts around until you have a configuration you like, or add any that you want but are missing (see below).

How do I add shortcuts the Quick Launch toolbar?

Find whatever it is you want to add a shortcut for (e.g. from your desktop, My Computer, or the Start menu), and drag it on top of the Quick Launch toolbar (this won't get rid of the old shortcut, just make a copy to the Quick Launch). For example, I created a shortcut to My Computer by opening the Start menu and dragging the My Computer shortcut from there to the QL toolbar.

How do I remove shortcuts from the Quick Launch?

Right-click on the icon you want to remove and select Delete from the menu that appears. Don't worry, you aren't actually deleting the program itself, just a shortcut to it.

How do I change how many shortcuts the Quick Launch displays?

Right-click on an empty part of the taskbar and uncheck the Lock the Taskbar option. You should see hashy lines appear near the Quick Launch toolbar (and probably a few other places). Drag the line to the right of the QL toolbar to decrease or increase its length (minimum 3 - if you want less than three, you have to delete all but one or two shortcuts). Dragging the line to the left will move the actual position of the toolbar on the taskbar (this works for anything else on the taskbar, by the way).