Why Can't I Pin Desktop App Shortcuts to the Desktop in Windows 8?

[coip]

I'm new to Windows 8. Just got it yesterday. Overall, I love it and, after hearing 'journalists' endlessly bash it since last year I have to say they are wrong. Still, there are some minor things that do confuse or irk me, coming from Windows 7 (which was also an awesome operating system).

One such thing is the inability, it seems, to have shortcuts to desktop apps on the desktop, which is sometimes possible and sometimes not. For instance, I downloaded Teamviewer and it automatically created a shortcut on both the Start Screen and the desktop. Fine by me. But then I tried to create a shortcut on the desktop for the Snipping Tool but it won't let me (although, it will let me pin it to the Taskbar in desktop mode, but I'm running out of real estate there). In Windows 7 I would click start and, voila, Snipping Tool was one quick click away. In Windows 8, from Desktop mode, I have to click to go back to the Start Screen, scroll to the right to find the app (or type to search for it), click on it, and then it reverts back to Desktop mode because Snipping Tool cannot work in 'modern mode' (which also irks me like no other! why can't I use snipping tool in modern mode?). All in all, it takes a lot longer to open up this program (and many other similar ones like it). Windows 7 shined as an operating system because it was efficient. In many ways Windows 8 makes doing some things less efficient or, even worse, no longer even possible. Again, I like the appeal of the Start Screen and the UI of the modern apps, but having them shouldn't hinder what was once a really functional desktop mode in Windows 7.

I also have a dual screen setup and I love how it can be switched back and forth between modern mode and desktop mode between monitors, but it can also get frustrating and confusing too when you sometimes hit the 'start button' to switch to modern mode or vice-versa and it mucks things up on the other monitor. What would be nice is if they make it so you can 'lock' one monitor to modern mode and one monitor to desktop mode.

Please tell me I am overlooking something and this kind of stuff can be done.

 

[TheJoester09]

You can still create desktop shortcuts in Windows 8, it's just a little bit different. Find the app in the Metro/Modern/Start Screen view and then drag down on the app (or right-click on it if you're using a mouse). This should bring up the menu across the bottom. Select "Open File Location" and it will open up the desktop and bring you to the app's location in Windows Explorer. From there you can create the shortcut just like you would in Windows 7.


As for the dual monitors, unfortunately I've never used Win8 with that kind of setup, so I'm afraid I can't help.

Good luck!

 

[Laura Knotek]

WIN + R | type %windir%\system32 | ENTER |
Scroll down to SnippingTool.exe | rt-click, Send To → Desktop |
ALT + F4 (closes)

You just put a shortcut to the Snipping Tool on your DESKTOP screen.

WIN + D | rt-click on the Snipping Tool shortcut | Pin to Start

You just put a Snipping Tool Tile on your TILE screen.

WIN (to switch to the Tile screen) | END |
Drag the Snipping Tool Tile to the desired position

 

[coip]

You can still create desktop shortcuts in Windows 8, it's just a little bit different. Find the app in the Metro/Modern/Start Screen view and then drag down on the app (or right-click on it if you're using a mouse). This should bring up the menu across the bottom. Select "Open File Location" and it will open up the desktop and bring you to the app's location in Windows Explorer. From there you can create the shortcut just like you would in Windows 7.


As for the dual monitors, unfortunately I've never used Win8 with that kind of setup, so I'm afraid I can't help.

Good luck!

Thanks, that worked like a charm. While admittedly not complicated to do now that I have the instructions, very few typical Windows 8 users would be able to figure that out on their own, so I don't quite get why Microsoft simply didn't make it easier to do (i.e., right click on the live tile and select 'create desktop shortcut' or something like that).

The other missing feature that I wish they'd add to Desktop mode in is the ability to just start typing from the Start Screen to search. I understand that there is an easy keyboard shortcut for this: just hit the Windows Key and start typing, but, hey, that's still an extra button. There are quite a few other keyboard shortcuts that I found useful for dual monitor setups, such as
WindowsKey +PgUp or PgDwn (to flip-flop the Start screen and apps to the other monitor) [for modern mode]
WindowsKey + left or right arrows (to move around desktop apps on both monitor [for desktop mode]

 

[Storl]

The other missing feature that I wish they'd add to Desktop mode in is the ability to just start typing from the Start Screen to search. I understand that there is an easy keyboard shortcut for this: just hit the Windows Key and start typing, but, hey, that's still an extra button.

This makes no sense

 

[coip]

This makes no sense

What doesn't make sense about it? In Windows 7 I could very quickly access many programs via the Start button. Windows 8 makes accessing some of those programs take longer, requiring you to go back to the Start Screen, search for it, click on it, have it go back to the Desktop to open it and finally use it, which is not as fast as the Start menu was in Windows 7 (click start, move the mouse up 2", click it and, voila, it opens). One thing that speeds this up in "modern mode" of Windows 8 is, if you're on the Start Screen you can just start typing: e.g., "snipping tool". Then quickly click on the results that pop up. It's efficient to do, but only if 1. you remember the name of the program you want to open (easy for some programs but tough for others, which many Windows 7 users had accessed via 'muscle memory' by clicking around in the Start Menu) and 2. are already on the Start Screen. But, if you are on the Desktop screen you have to click Start to return to the Start Screen and then type "snipping tool" (just an example) and then click it and then have it bring you back to Desktop to use it. I'm saying that you should be able to just 'type to search' directly from the Desktop mode rather than going back to Start Screen to do it. That would be more efficient.

 

[Storl]

What doesn't make sense about it? In Windows 7 I could very quickly access many programs via the Start button. Windows 8 makes accessing some of those programs take longer, requiring you to go back to the Start Screen, search for it, click on it, have it go back to the Desktop to open it and finally use it, which is not as fast as the Start menu was in Windows 7 (click start, move the mouse up 2", click it and, voila, it opens). One thing that speeds this up in "modern mode" of Windows 8 is, if you're on the Start Screen you can just start typing: e.g., "snipping tool". Then quickly click on the results that pop up. It's efficient to do, but only if 1. you remember the name of the program you want to open (easy for some programs but tough for others, which many Windows 7 users had accessed via 'muscle memory' by clicking around in the Start Menu) and 2. are already on the Start Screen. But, if you are on the Desktop screen you have to click Start to return to the Start Screen and then type "snipping tool" (just an example) and then click it and then have it bring you back to Desktop to use it. I'm saying that you should be able to just 'type to search' directly from the Desktop mode rather than going back to Start Screen to do it. That would be more efficient.

Can't you even read your own quote? you complaind why you can't search from the start screen, yet understand you can search from the startscreen?

Also sorry, pressing winkey and typing in whatever you want to launch is light years faster than moving your cursor around to click something. There is no difference here between Windows 7 and 8.
If don't use your winkey, you are not efficent to begin with.

Also your "move mouse a bit up" does not relate into real world, because unless you are on ultra low-sense mouse, clicking tiles comes at no extra costs as it requires less precision.

And..
Set a Shortcut key (You can find that inside your shortcut properties) for whatever you want to launch or pin it to your Taskbar
Install Listary and place all your crap onto your desktop and search from there, and Everything will make you stop caring about the builtin search.

 

[coip]

Can't you even read your own quote? you complaind why you can't search from the start screen, yet understand you can search from the startscreen?

Also sorry, pressing winkey and typing in whatever you want to launch is light years faster than moving your cursor around to click something. There is no difference here between Windows 7 and 8.
If don't use your winkey, you are not efficent to begin with.

Also your "move mouse a bit up" does not relate into real world, because unless you are on ultra low-sense mouse, clicking tiles comes at no extra costs as it requires less precision.

And..
Set a Shortcut key (You can find that inside your shortcut properties) for whatever you want to launch or pin it to your Taskbar
Install Listary and place all your crap onto your desktop and search from there, and Everything will make you stop caring about the builtin search.

Yeah, I see my original quote had a typo in that I said you should be able to search from the Start Screen by just starting to type, which you can do, and what I meant is that that feature should be the same in desktop mode (i.e., just start typing to search). I stand by that: there is no reason why you shouldn't be able to search directly from the Desktop. That would be faster: 1 less button.

Your claim that hitting the Windows Key and typing to search in Windows 8 is "light years" faster than hitting the Windows Key and clicking on something in Windows 7 is not always true: it depends on what you're typing in and it also assumes you can remember the name of what you're searching for. The reason many people complained about the removal of the Start Menu is because they had relied on muscle memory to access many OS features--i.e., they would click start and remember how to navigate menus rather than remember the name of what they're looking for.

 

[coip]

Here's another gripe: I can't pin my IE Favorites folder. In Windows 7 I would often click start, hover my mouse over Favorites, and then easily be able to choose a favorite website. This was one step faster than booting up IE, having it load up my home page, and then manually click favorites to select the site I knew I already wanted to go to. Akin to this is probably my favorite feature of Windows 7 (I think it originated in Vista?) that I'm so glad Windows 8 still has: jump lists. You pin a program on the taskbar, right click on it, and up pops a list of most recent files (this could also be done in the Start menu too, which is what I'm talking about with the Favorites folder). Now it seems that in Windows 8, I cannot have a 'jump list' for my IE Favorites as I cannot pin my Favorites folder to my desktop task bar (or even to the desktop or, worse yet, not even to the start screen!). Yes, I know I can pin individual favorites to the start screen, but I don't want to pin 30 different sites. I liked the jump list feature. Quick and efficient. Now I have to boot up IE and do it that way, unless you Einstein's have a work around. I bet you do, you smart little buggers.

 

[DalekSnare]

Yeah, I see my original quote had a typo in that I said you should be able to search from the Start Screen by just starting to type, which you can do, and what I meant is that that feature should be the same in desktop mode (i.e., just start typing to search). I stand by that: there is no reason why you shouldn't be able to search directly from the Desktop. That would be faster: 1 less button.

Your claim that hitting the Windows Key and typing to search in Windows 8 is "light years" faster than hitting the Windows Key and clicking on something in Windows 7 is not always true: it depends on what you're typing in and it also assumes you can remember the name of what you're searching for. The reason many people complained about the removal of the Start Menu is because they had relied on muscle memory to access many OS features--i.e., they would click start and remember how to navigate menus rather than remember the name of what they're looking for.

I don't understand your point. In Windows 7 you press windows key, then type the search string. In Windows 8 you press the windows key, then type the search string. There's no extra key press. In Windows 7 you can't just start typing to search; you would just enter text into whatever program you have open if you did that.

 

[coip]

I don't understand your point. In Windows 7 you press windows key, then type the search string. In Windows 8 you press the windows key, then type the search string. There's no extra key press. In Windows 7 you can't just start typing to search; you would just enter text into whatever program you have open if you did that.

It's not an extra key press I'm complaining about, it's the time to go back and forth between desktop, modern, and desktop. If you are in desktop and you search for a desktop program, you click the windows key which brings you to modern mode, start typing which brings up results, choose the result you want, then it switches back to desktop mode to open it. It's not the same as Windows 7. If Microsoft made it so you could search from the desktop without having to hit Start, that would help a little bit. I understand you cannot just have it the same (i.e., just start typing) as that would enter text into whatever program you were using, but they could make it so that if you weren't in a program, or if you clicked the desktop, you could start searching.

Anyway, none of that is a huge problem. The bigger problem is that for programs most Windows users used to access via muscle memory (i.e., how to click to find it rather than how to search for it) on the Start Menu, you cannot do that anymore in Windows 8, making finding those programs much more difficult. Don't get me wrong: I love Windows 8 and I think it's a better OS than Windows 7, which was the best OS out there, but there are definitely some minor growing pains here where some tasks are not as efficient as they were in Windows 7.

 

[coip]

While we're all here, I've got some other complaints about Windows 8's modern mode: you can't multitask very well. In Desktop mode, especially with dual monitors, you can do a ton of things: several programs and folders open and easily accessible. On Windows 8' modern mode, you're very limited. If I'm using the Twitter app and click a link, it opens it within the app so I cannot view it in a separate app and then quickly close it (I have to view it there, then press back, etc.). If I'm listening to music and open another app, the music temporarily gets silenced, whereas in Desktop mode I can have several videos, music players, browsers, and programs up and running simultaneously. I am finding Modern mode to be awesome for tablets or for when I want to do one thing at a time (which is very rare), but in all other situations (e.g., working or surfing the Web while also listening to music, etc.) I find Desktop mode the only acceptable option (especially when you consider that the Snipping Tool cannot work in modern mode and I cannot Search via Ctrl+F for text in most modern apps, like Twitter). Luckily, Windows 8's desktop mode has several improvements over Windows 7's desktop mode that make it worthwhile (although, Windows 7 still has the useful Start Menu, so it's not a total win for Windows 8).

 

[coip]

I've been trying as much as I can to help out my colleagues who recently upgraded from Vista and Windows 7 to Windows 8 and all said the same thing: "WTF?" Most of their complaints dealt with the modern mode mucking things up, making things slower in Desktop mode than Windows Vista or Windows 7 was. I helped a lot of their complaints by suggesting the following, based on our conversations here.
1. Pin desktop programs to the desktop taskbar, especially Control Panel, Office programs, and Adobe Acrobat for use of the jump list feature to access recent files
2. Create desktop shortcuts of other desktop programs (notepad, snipping tool, calculator, Computer, etc.)
3. Create pseudo-Start menus by activating the Links and Desktop toolbars on the taskbar (which create little jump lists of IE links and programs pinned to the desktop, which is useful for quickly opening new programs when your screen is already filled with other open programs)

The remaining gripe most of them had was the search feature built in to Windows 8. If they want to search for a file they have to press Start and type it, then scroll down from Apps to Files. I told them about the WindowsKey + F shortcut, but this didn't appease them because they don't like the modern UI of the search results. They point out that it's just a mess of file icons that you have to scroll horizontally to view (which is very awkward with a mouse, even if it has the horizontal scrolling feature) and that you cannot do any sorting or filtering like you could in Windows Vista or 7. I pointed out that they could pin File Explorer to the taskbar in desktop mode, open it, and use the "search libraries" feature there. They appreciated this, but it still didn't fully satisfy them as they are convinced the previous way of searching from the start menu was faster. Any ideas? Is there a way to quickly go to a desktop interface search, maybe pin it somewhere or a keyboard shortcut?

 

[fatclue_98]

I'm confused about the search posts. I just drag the search from the right edge of whatever screen I'm on. Don't have to go to the start screen.

 

[coip]

I'm confused about the search posts. I just drag the search from the right edge of whatever screen I'm on. Don't have to go to the start screen.

It's not that getting to the search function is harder, it's that the interface displaying the results is worse: "[many people who upgrade to Windows 8 from Windows 7] don't like the modern UI of the search results. They point out that it's just a mess of file icons that you have to scroll horizontally to view (which is very awkward with a mouse, even if it has the horizontal scrolling feature) and that you cannot do any sorting or filtering like you could in Windows Vista or 7 [e.g., search by file type, sort by date, etc]. I pointed out that they could pin File Explorer to the taskbar in desktop mode, open it, and use the "search libraries" feature there. They appreciated this, but it still didn't fully satisfy them as they are convinced the previous way of searching from the start menu was faster."

 

[fatclue_98]

It's not that getting to the search function is harder, it's that the interface displaying the results is worse: "[many people who upgrade to Windows 8 from Windows 7] don't like the modern UI of the search results. They point out that it's just a mess of file icons that you have to scroll horizontally to view (which is very awkward with a mouse, even if it has the horizontal scrolling feature) and that you cannot do any sorting or filtering like you could in Windows Vista or 7 [e.g., search by file type, sort by date, etc]. I pointed out that they could pin File Explorer to the taskbar in desktop mode, open it, and use the "search libraries" feature there. They appreciated this, but it still didn't fully satisfy them as they are convinced the previous way of searching from the start menu was faster."

Windows Explorer is already pinned by default. I didn't think there was an easier way to search from desktop mode than Explorer.