Pin an Excel File to Excel App Icon on Taskbar

Hi Guys,

Struggling to find solution for this, everyone keep saying right-click on the file and choose pin to taskbar but almost half of the files and apps don't have this option even under show more.

I upgraded to Windows 11 thinking my life would be easier but I work with a lot of Excel files and most of the files I add to the Excel App Icon on the task bar (I pin them there) so when I need them I could just right-click on the Excel app icon on taskbar and click the file I need. Now after windows 11 the option is gone, so I have to keep browsing using windows explorer to get to each files I need.

There must be a way to do this? Other new forums keep saying just right-click on the file and the pin to taskbar option should be there but it isn't. Some app and files have it some don't and most importantly Excel files I have don't have this.

I could probably create an Auto-It exe to act as a launcher from the task bar but do I really need to go through that?

Natively, you can't! (Isn't that ridiculous!?!?!?)
You'll have to invest in an alternative Start Menu utility...

Edwin said:

Natively, you can't!

Click to expand...

He's right. With Windows 11 we're not in Kansas anymore. Some things MS giveth and some they taketh away. Direct file and folder pinning is one of the biggest takeths in 11. There is a workaround to pinning folders but once you pin them you can only open them from the taskbar, not drag and drop onto the icon. For doing things the "old" way you have to do as Edwin stated.
https://www.makeuseof.com/windows-11-taskbar-pin-almost-anything/

You still can't pin a file to an app's jump list via the Taskbar icon unless you install something like StartAllBack.

saxah999 said:

Hi Guys,

Struggling to find solution for this, everyone keep saying right-click on the file and choose pin to taskbar but almost half of the files and apps don't have this option even under show more.

I upgraded to Windows 11 thinking my life would be easier but I work with a lot of Excel files and most of the files I add to the Excel App Icon on the task bar (I pin them there) so when I need them I could just right-click on the Excel app icon on taskbar and click the file I need. Now after windows 11 the option is gone, so I have to keep browsing using windows explorer to get to each files I need.

There must be a way to do this? Other new forums keep saying just right-click on the file and the pin to taskbar option should be there but it isn't. Some app and files have it some don't and most importantly Excel files I have don't have this.

I could probably create an Auto-It exe to act as a launcher from the task bar but do I really need to go through that?

Click to expand...

Hi there

I'm running this within a VM it's actually the latest W11 preview (although title still says W10 as I upgraded this VM from W10) but it should be 100% the same on Native Windows machine.

@Edwin -- you are normally right but WRONG on this one -- I've messed around with Linux long enough to know virtually anything can be done -- I'm not nearly so experienced with Windows but again I'm sure most things can also be done and with a bit of "poodlefakery" you can pin a file to the taskbar and it will execute in excel / word or whatever.

Pinning Folders though is another issue - probably again easier to pin a FILE which acts as a wrapper to folder(s).

@saxah999

It can be done although it's not a 1 step process

1) rename the file to .exe (hat this does is "poodlefake" windows into thinking this is an application -- dont worry about it as we will change it back later).

2) Now we can pin that to the taskbar

3) in the taskbar ->properties and rename bacl to .xlsx or whatever your excel extension is

4) in properties chang icon to whatever you want.

It's of course a bit of a pain but in general it's not usual to pin files to the taskbar -- to the menu or desktop is more common

The trick is of course once it's on the taskbar as .exe is then to right mouse click TWICE to get to properties -- now in the target change the name back to .xlsx and change the file name in the documents folder.

You can also change the icon -- I've got a "Green Tree one"



Clicking on the icon opens my excel spreadsheet : Dummy.xlsx








However I suggest possibly a better way to work might be to create ONE file like this which then opens an EXCEL sheet containing a list of your files you want to go straight into -- then just link to the file you want to execute. If you have a new file just add it to the link in the spreadsheet. So you only need to go through the hassle once and just open the file to get to your required EXCEL Advantage of this is also you don't need to replicate creating a whole slew of short cuts if you switch computers etc.


Cheers
jimbo

jimbo45 said:

@Edwin -- you are normally right but WRONG on this one

Click to expand...

Sorry @jimbo45 we're going to have to wait another day to finally catch him being wrong because he's right again. He did not say you couldn't pin a file to the taskbar. He said "You still can't pin a file to an app's jump list via the Taskbar icon". While I said, "You can not drag and drop onto any folder pinned to the taskbar icon", I should have also added you cannot drop onto any app pinned to the taskbar which is the same as @Edwin's PROPER way of putting it.

As far as pinning a file to the taskbar, not much poodlefakery to it. You do it the same way as you do a folder. Make a shortcut to it, putting the word 'explorer' in front of the target path. Then it can be right clicked and pinned and the original shortcut deleted.

glasskuter said:

Sorry @jimbo45 we're going to have to wait another day to finally catch him being wrong because he's right again. He did not say you couldn't pin a file to the taskbar. He said "You still can't pin a file to an app's jump list via the Taskbar icon". While I said, "You can not drag and drop onto any folder pinned to the taskbar icon", I should have also added you cannot drop onto any app pinned to the taskbar which is the same as @Edwin's PROPER way of putting it.

As far as pinning a file to the taskbar, your do it the same way as you do a folder. Make a shortcut to it, putting the word 'explorer' in front of the target path. Then it can be right clicked and pinned.

Click to expand...

Hi there
OK !!! perhaps a crate of BEER to whoever can "prove Edwin Wrong " !!!!!! Now there's a challenge !!

@saxah999

However for the OP -- using the SINGLE FILE as a wrapper in the spreadsheet he can then simply insert the hyperlinks to branch to the excel sheet / workbook(s) required which should almost replicate what he wants to do with minimal mouse actions.


If I needed that type of thing I'd launch my EXCEL app (or any other app ) which would then show a menu list of files etc which I could select on and execute. It really depends on exactly how the OP works and what he wants to do.

I prefer in any case a "Custom menu" rather than the "Official one" and launching it from the taskbar IMO is a "No brainer") !!. I ahven't got round to it in W11 (too many releases coming in thick and fast so I might mess arouynd with it on W10 -- should in theory work the same).

Cheers
jimbo

jimbo45 said:

perhaps a crate of BEER to whoever can "prove Edwin Wrong

Click to expand...

Now that's a challenge with an incentive. Look out @Edwin, you have a target on your back now.

glasskuter said:

Now that's a challenge with an incentive. Look out @Edwin, you have a target on your back now.

Click to expand...

You wouldn't shoot a man in the back, now would ya!?!?!?

I don't have a single app that'll show jump lists in vanilla mode, except Explorer and that's only cuz the items are pinned to Quick Access.

saxah999 said:

Hi Guys,

I upgraded to Windows 11 thinking my life would be easier but I work with a lot of Excel files and most of the files I add to the Excel App Icon on the task bar (I pin them there) so when I need them I could just right-click on the Excel app icon on taskbar and click the file I need. Now after windows 11 the option is gone, so I have to keep browsing using windows explorer to get to each files I need.

Click to expand...

Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't know why you can't use the jump lists? Simply pin Excel to the taskbar, open your Excel files and they'll be added to the jump list. Right click Excel and pick the file you want. You can also pin items in the jump lists by simply clicking the pin icon. After that, there no need to browse Explorer for the files as they'll be in the jump list.



Jump lists are extremely useful and works for all Office apps, including Outlook.

I don't get recent items in jump lists.

Edwin said:

I don't get recent items in jump lists.

Click to expand...

I don't know why. This isn't a new feature and certainly worked the same in Windows 10. Don't know why you don't have it.

Anyway, if they don't appear at first repeatedly opening them will make them appear. It's really no different than when the "Recent Files" under Quick Access in Explorer

Dru2 said:

certainly worked the same in Windows 10

Click to expand...

I know!

Dru2 said:

Don't know why you don't have it.

Click to expand...

Me neither!

Dru2 said:

repeatedly opening them will make them appear.

Click to expand...

Nope! They show up in the Start Menu but not in jump lists!

saxah999 said:

I work with a lot of Excel files and most of the files I add to the Excel App Icon on the task bar (I pin them there) so when I need them I could just right-click on the Excel app icon on taskbar and click the file I need. Now after windows 11 the option is gone...

Click to expand...

Yes, you cannot drag a file to the Excel icon on the Taskbar to pin it there, as you could in Windows 10. But there is another way you can pin the files you use. First make sure you have turned on 'Show recently opened items in Start, Jump Lists and File Explorer'.



Then every file you open in Excel will subsequently appear in its Jump List (aka 'Recent') . If you now right-click on the Excel icon you can pin anything from its jump List.

saxah999 said:

...so I have to keep browsing using windows explorer to get to each files I need.

Click to expand...

You will only have to do that once for each new file, after that it will be in the list of recent files and you can pin it from there.

Edwin said:

They show up in the Start Menu but not in jump lists!

Click to expand...

Jump list can get corrupted and stop working, whether in W10 or W11. Try resetting yours. NB: this also clears all pinned items.

Edwin said:

I know!

Me neither!

Nope! They show up in the Start Menu but not in jump lists!

Click to expand...

Well, all I know is it works on all four of my machines (10 & 11) as well as other machines I've used from other people.

Good luck.

If there's an icon in the Start Menu you can right click and pin to the taskbar. It's how I pinned all my Office and Adobe apps

My "Show the most used apps" is greyed out,
my Recent and Frequent in Folder Options is disabled.

Edwin said:

My "Show the most used apps" is greyed out,
my Recent and Frequent in Folder Options is disabled.

Click to expand...

Ah, would that be down to another one of your tweaks?

Bree said:

Ah, would that be down to another one of your tweaks?

Click to expand...

Naw, I don't think so, I think it has to do with my account and diagnostic data stuff, cuz it's the same on my W10 PC.