Taskbar Shortcuts Missing

ColMac · May 27, 2025

24H2 (OS Build 26100.4061)

Minor query which is puzzling me - not a problem, but solely a matter of interest.

I have a number of icons on my TaskBar. When I looked at

C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\User Pinned\TaskBar

Most of them are listed, but quite a few including (amongst others)

Notepad
Revo Uninstaller
Google Maps

do not appear at that location even though they do appear on the taskbar

I have checked under other user names and "Default" user. I also searched for the file name using everything but cannot find any entry for these shortcuts.

Any thoughts how they appear on the taskbar?

Thanks

Colin

antspants · May 27, 2025

This is what I just learned: Windows 11's taskbar pinning system doesn't store all pinned shortcuts in that folder. Some applications handle their pinned state differently, often due to how they are registered within Windows or their installation method.

Modern Apps & UWP Apps – Apps like Google Maps (if installed as a Progressive Web App) use a different pinning mechanism tied to the Windows Shell. Their shortcuts are managed elsewhere.
System Apps & Built-in Tools – Notepad is a built-in Windows app, and its pinning data is likely embedded within the registry or internal configurations rather than a simple “.lnk” shortcut.
Certain Installed Programs – Some applications, like Revo Uninstaller, may register themselves differently—often interacting with Windows in a way that bypasses traditional shortcut storage. This can depend on the installer type (EXE vs. MSI) or even whether the app requests elevated privileges.

Some other places of interest:

Code:

Registry:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Taskband

Code:

AppData Local:

C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Shell

antspants · May 27, 2025

If you were looking to locate all pinned taskbar app locations for future advantage, you could try the following. Maybe use it to compare if all pinned apps are accounted for?

It should (hopefully) write to a text file log and save on your Desktop named “PinnedTaskbarApps.txt”

To save the log file to a different location, please update the second line or use the edited script in Post Number 7:

Powershell:

# Define output path
$logFile = "$env:USERPROFILE\Desktop\PinnedTaskbarApps.txt"

# Collect data
$taskbarFolder = "$env:APPDATA\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\User Pinned\TaskBar"
$shellFolder = "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Microsoft\Windows\Shell"
$registryKey = "HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Taskband"

$shortcutFiles = Get-ChildItem -Path $taskbarFolder -Filter "*.lnk" | Select-Object -ExpandProperty FullName
$registryData = Get-ItemProperty -Path $registryKey
$shellContents = Get-ChildItem -Path $shellFolder | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Name

# Format output
$output = @()
$output += "`nPinned Taskbar Shortcuts:"
$output += $shortcutFiles
$output += "`nRegistry Taskband Data:"
$output += $registryData
$output += "`nShell Folder Contents:"
$output += $shellContents

# Write to file
$output | Out-File -FilePath $logFile -Encoding UTF8

Write-Output "Data saved to $logFile"

antspants · May 27, 2025

Sorry, edited. If it works, this Powershell script should open the text log file in Notepad on completion:

To save the log file to a different location, please update the second line or use the edited script in Post Number 7:

Powershell:

# Define output path
$logFile = "$env:USERPROFILE\Desktop\PinnedTaskbarApps.txt"

# Collect data
$taskbarFolder = "$env:APPDATA\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\User Pinned\TaskBar"
$shellFolder = "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Microsoft\Windows\Shell"
$registryKey = "HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Taskband"

$shortcutFiles = Get-ChildItem -Path $taskbarFolder -Filter "*.lnk" | Select-Object -ExpandProperty FullName
$registryData = Get-ItemProperty -Path $registryKey
$shellContents = Get-ChildItem -Path $shellFolder | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Name

# Format output
$output = @()
$output += "`nPinned Taskbar Shortcuts:"
$output += $shortcutFiles
$output += "`nRegistry Taskband Data:"
$output += $registryData
$output += "`nShell Folder Contents:"
$output += $shellContents

# Write to file
$output | Out-File -FilePath $logFile -Encoding UTF8

# Open file upon completion
Start-Process -FilePath $logFile

Write-Output "Data saved to $logFile"

ColMac · May 27, 2025

Thanks very much for that info. I appreciate the amount of effort you've put into it.

It was looking at

Code:

C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Shell

that led me into looking at the taskbar, so thanks for that extra info.

I then had a look at the code, and as you say it creates a text file on the desktop for me which is useful to check all those pinned ones that are pinned in the traditional way.

Just a note in case others try this, I got an error when I ran it. My Desktop has been relocated to "D:\Desktop" and I had to change the first line of code to input that location specifically even though it is properly defined as the correct shell location for the Desktop folder on my PC.

Very helpful. Thanks

Colin

antspants · May 27, 2025

ColMac said:
My Desktop has been relocated to "D:\Desktop"

Ah sorry about that.
I added a note to the posts:

antspants · May 27, 2025

This edit should hopefully check the location of the Desktop folder.

I say things like “Should” and “Hopefully” because I am currently working on my iPad outdoors under the night sky.

Powershell:

# Retrieve user's desktop folder location
$desktopPath = (New-Object -ComObject Shell.Application).Namespace(0x10).Self.Path
$logFile = "$desktopPath\PinnedTaskbarApps.txt"

# Define paths
$taskbarFolder = "$env:APPDATA\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\User Pinned\TaskBar"
$shellFolder = "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Microsoft\Windows\Shell"
$registryKey = "HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Taskband"

# Gather shortcut files
$shortcutFiles = Get-ChildItem -Path $taskbarFolder -Filter "*.lnk" | Select-Object -ExpandProperty FullName

# Retrieve registry data
$registryData = Get-ItemProperty -Path $registryKey

# Check shell folder contents
$shellContents = Get-ChildItem -Path $shellFolder | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Name

# Format output
$output = @()
$output += "`nPinned Taskbar Shortcuts:"
$output += $shortcutFiles
$output += "`nRegistry Taskband Data:"
$output += $registryData
$output += "`nShell Folder Contents:"
$output += $shellContents

# Write to file
$output | Out-File -FilePath $logFile -Encoding UTF8

# Open file upon completion
Start-Process -FilePath $logFile

Write-Output "Data saved to $logFile"

ColMac · May 27, 2025

antspants said:
Ah sorry about that.
I added a note to the posts:

Absolutely no need to apologise. Your help is very much welcome.

ColMac · May 27, 2025

And the new code did work perfectly, (As I expected it would)!

antspants · May 27, 2025

Nice !

Taskbar Shortcuts Missing

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