How to get pinned taskbar folders to stop opening File Explorer

Hello, I've scoured the interwebs as well as this forum and can't quite get things to resolve, and I feel I've tried it all!

I made a shortcut to a folder, changed the icon (lightning bolt), pinned it to the taskbar, and when I open it, it opens a new instance of File Explorer, when I just want it to open underneath the lightning bolt icon instead. Image attached showing the folder next the icon, which I don't want! I just want the lightning bolt icon to show, which should open File Explorer on its own. Windows 10 did this, Windows 11 seems to not want to do this for me. Any help would be appreciated, thanks much!

Try this method to pin your folder shortcut with changed icon to the Taskbar, then on clicking, have the folder open to reveal the contents.

Firstly, use an .ICO file for your chosen icon. My example is using a custom made ICO file. It was a downloaded transparent PNG file and converted to an ICO file. Put that file in a folder in a place where it won’t get moved accidentally or deleted. If the ICO file is later moved/deleted, the link to that icon will be broken and the Taskbar icon will still work, but be blank visually.
Should you opt to use an existing stock Windows ICO file, they are already in a relatively safe place so no need to put them anywhere else when using them.

R/click the folder in question and opt to ‘Send to Desktop (create shortcut)’.
R/click that newly created shortcut and click ‘Properties’, then ‘Change Icon’.
Use the ‘Browse’ tab to navigate to where your ICO file is located. If it isn’t an ICO file, it won’t be seen.
Select the ICO file required, then click the ’Open’ tab, then OK.
In the same dialog box, look to the ‘Target’ path and add, explorer to the front of the path. You must add a ‘space’ after the last ‘r’.
Click OK.

Refresh the Desktop to see the change.
Now drag the shortcut to the ‘Taskbar’.
Clicking this new entry will open the folder it is associated with to view the contents.
The shortcut on the Desktop can be deleted if you don’t need it.
See the video below. Apologies if I have misunderstood what you actually need.

Thank you Steve for your detail in text and in video. I did exactly that, the only difference is when I did the final step (1:22) in your video, instead of opening up File Explorer with that icon, it opens a generic folder icon next to the icon still, just like the first screenshot I posted. It opens the folder icon next to the icon I want. I followed all of your steps. Not sure what's missing!

What you want cannot be done.
[Except for shortcuts to apps that have been specially-written to behave that way - and their shortcuts need no special treatment to do it.]
Windows 10 behaves in the same way.


Denis

Timmodonut

After re-reading your issue due to Try3s input, I seem to have totally misunderstood what you are wanting, my apologies. You want the ‘bar’ that shows under the ‘Explorer’ Taskbar icon, to be under your lightning bolt icon instead.

As Try3 has pointed out this doesn’t appear to be possible for that type of ’shortcut’ as when you click your custom Taskbar folder icon, Explorer opens and the existing Explorer icon bar is just indicating this to you.

Thank you both. I swear I had the custom icon open and close File Explorer on its own in Windows 10, but maybe I'm remember it wrong. I appreciate your attempts. If you ever come across anything that lets the icon open a folder directly instead of opening a new instance of File Explorer, think of me and let me know! Thanks

timmodonuts said:

that lets the icon open a folder directly instead of opening a new instance of File Explorer

Click to expand...

I think that we might have been talking at cross-purposes.
I thought this thread was all about where, in the Taskbar, the application icon/bar was placed.

What exactly do you mean by "open a folder directly"?
When I say that I mean run File explorer and select the chosen folder.


Denis

Hi Try3. I mean, when I click the icon, I would File Explorer to be opened underneath that icon, not open a separate generic folder icon right next to my custom icon.

timmodonuts said:

I mean, when I click the icon, I would File Explorer to be opened underneath that icon, not open a separate generic folder icon

Click to expand...

OK, that's what I replied to in my post #4.
[Your post #6 made me think you meant something else.]


All the best,
Denis

timmodonuts

Out if interest, do you have the original Explorer icon in the Taskbar? If you have unpinned it at some point, when you click the custom icon, an Explorer 'generic' folder icon appears in the Taskbar. If the custom icon is at the right hand end of the Taskbar, then that is where the appearing icon shows next to your custom icon..

timmodonuts said:

Hello, I've scoured the interwebs as well as this forum and can't quite get things to resolve, and I feel I've tried it all!

I made a shortcut to a folder, changed the icon (lightning bolt), pinned it to the taskbar, and when I open it, it opens a new instance of File Explorer, when I just want it to open underneath the lightning bolt icon instead. Image attached showing the folder next the icon, which I don't want! I just want the lightning bolt icon to show, which should open File Explorer on its own. Windows 10 did this, Windows 11 seems to not want to do this for me. Any help would be appreciated, thanks much!

Click to expand...

you would have to change the ico inside explorer.exe. doable, but will be undone after updates at some point and need to be redone.

dacrone said:

you would have to change the ico

Click to expand...

The OP's primary concern is the location of the Taskbar icon [as you have usefully highlighted in red].


All the best,
Denis

Try3 said:

The OP's primary concern is the location of the Taskbar icon [as you have usefully highlighted in red].


All the best,
Denis

Click to expand...

? op clearly stated there is a shortcut to a file explorer location and wants it to open under that instance. even if you compile a script into an exe, it will open into a new explorer instance, thus show the default explorer.exe icon on the taskbar. to get it configured the way op described is to alter the explorer.exe icon.

dacrone said:

? op

Click to expand...

The OP clarified matters in post #8.

timmodonuts said:

I mean, when I click the icon, I would File Explorer to be opened underneath that icon, not open a separate generic folder icon

Click to expand...

All the best,
Denis

only way to do it, aside from what i already stated (which can be done by altering the pinned icon instead of messing with the actual explorer.exe), is to set that shortcut to use a 3rd party explorer such as XYplorer portable and change XYpolorer's icon via ResourceHacker (tested both and they work - the first method will make all FE windows use your custom icon and still be combined though)