Recycle Bin - Pin to Taskbar

How to Pin the Recycle Bin to the Windows 7 Taskbar​

   Information

The Recycle Bin provides a safety net when deleting files or folders. When you delete any of these items from your hard disk, Windows places it in the Recycle Bin and the Recycle Bin icon changes from empty to full.

This will show you how to create a Recycle Bin shortcut with Empty Recycle Bin in the context menu, and how to pin this shortcut to the taskbar as a toolbar.

   Note

Removable drives do not use or have a Recycyle Bin. Files deleted from removable drives are permanently deleted instead.

EXAMPLE: Recycle Bin Unpinned and Pinned from the Taskbar





Here's How:
1. Make sure the Recycle Bin is on the desktop.

2. Right click on the desktop and select New and Folder , then rename it anything you like. (i.e. Trash Bin)

3. Drag & drop the Recycle Bin on the new Folder to create a shortcut.
NOTE: You could also Pin to Start Menu this new Recycle Bin shortcut by pressing and holding Shift, then right click on the shortcut, and click on Pin to Start Menu.

4. Save the new Folder (containing Recycle Bin shortcut) to the directory of your choice (i.e. C:\Trash Bin) by dragging and dropping.

5. UnLock the taskbar.

6. Right-click on the taskbar and select Toolbar and New toolbar...

7. Navigate to the location you saved the New Folder (Ex: Trash Bin), select it and click on the Select Folder button.

8. This places the new Toolbar and a Separator (dotted lines) on the taskbar.

9. Right click on the Separator and uncheck Show Text and Show Title.

10. Right click on the Separator and select View and Large Icons.

11. You now have the Recycle Bin pinned to the taskbar.

12. To Keep the Recycle Bin on Right Side of Taskbar
A) Left click on the Separator to the left of the folder and hold, then drag it to the left and right to make any adjustments to how you want the Recycle Bin positioned on the right side of the taskbar. (See screenshot above)

B) Release the left click when done.

C) Go to step 14.
13. To Have the Recycle Bin on Left Side of Taskbar
A) Left click on the Separator of the pinned taskbar programs on the far left side and hold, then drag it to the right past the Recycle Bin and release. (See screenshot below)

B) Left click on the Separator of the pinned taskbar programs on the now right side and hold, then drag it to the left next to the Recycle Bin and release. (See screenshot below)

14. Lock the taskbar.

15. Remove the Recycle Bin from the desktop.

   Note

You do know that when you drag & drop copied shortcuts from the Start Menu in with the Recycle Bin shortcut, that those automatically become Quick Launch items beside the Recycle Bin. By doing it that way you can "kill two birds with one stone".(See screenshot below)

Enjoy,

Related Tutorials

---

• How to Backup and Restore Taskbar Toolbars in Vista and Windows 7
• How to Pin or Unpin a Program to the Windows 7 Taskbar
• How to Enable or Disable Windows 7 Taskbar Pinned Programs
• How to Allow or Prevent the Windows 7 Recycle Bin Icon to Display
• How to Add or Remove a Default Desktop Icon in Windows 7
• How to Pin Your User Files Folder to the Windows 7 Taskbar
• How to Pin the Control Panel to the Windows 7 Taskbar
• How to Change the Windows 7 Pinned Windows Explorer Taskbar Icon Open To Target
• How to Pin Computer to the Windows 7 Taskbar
• How to Pin or Unpin a Folder to the Windows 7 Taskbar
• How to Show or Not Show All Folders in the Windows 7 Navigation Pane
• How to Add Empty Recycle Bin to the Windows 7 Desktop Context Menu
• How to Rename the "Recycle Bin" in Windows 7
• How to Add or Remove "Recycle Bin" from Desktop Context Menu
• How to Change the Recycle Bin Storage Size in Vista and Windows 7
• How to Add or Remove the "Recycle Bin" from the Windows 7 Navigation Pane
• How to Add or Remove Recycle Bin from Favorites in Navigation Pane in Windows
• How to Fix Corrupted Recycle Bin in Windows

 

[geoflp]

Thank you.

 

[camellia]

“kill two birds with one stone”
very good method

 

[Barefoot]

Thanks for the tutorial. Now I find myself emptying the trash quite frequently. I'd like to know how to disable the "Are you sure you want to delete?" pop up. I have it unselected in the recycle bin properties but with this shortcut the warning still pops up.

 

[Brink]

Hello Barefoot,

The delete confirmation option is only for when you delete a file to the Recycle Bin. It will always ask you "Are you sure?" when emptying the Recycle Bin. Sorry.



Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[Barefoot]

Isn't it strange how some of the innermost workings are customizable and other seemingly simple ones are not.

 

[Brink]

Indeed.

 

[bluemoon4ever]

i followed your excellent tutorial to the letter and all went well. i had a lovely Recycle bin icon on my taskbar next to the notification area, so i removed the desktop icon via the personization menu. Then the problem happened.

When i now delete things they dont goto the recycle bin. i checked that the settings were ok (dont move files to recycle bin was UN checked). so i thought i would try deleting the recycle folder from C:\ and this gave me the message - The recycle bin is corrupt, do you wish to empty it? therefore i did this and tried deleting a file again. This time it went to recycle bin ok. However i thought i would delete a 2nd file just to be sure, and sure enough this DIDNT goto the recycle bin.

any ideas?

Edit: FIXED! i needed to delete my recycle bin from all my drives (3) and this seemed to fix the problem.

 

[Mbbest]

Now my desktop is clean, just the way I like it

 

[dregatar]

Pin to Start Menu ???

How do i pin the recycle bin yo the start menu... tried it but it doesn't show empty recycle bin option

 

[Charbroil57]

Follow example...

How do i pin the recycle bin yo the start menu... tried it but it doesn't show empty recycle bin option

I am not sure what might have gone wrong... but if the tutorial is followed as I wrote it, you should be able to right click and have the option of emptying the recycle bin from the context menu...

If you have multiple drives, you might have to address each drive individually.

 

[TheSchaft]

How do i pin the recycle bin yo the start menu... tried it but it doesn't show empty recycle bin option

Are you using the standard recycle bins, or icons from another file?

 

[Brink]

How do i pin the recycle bin yo the start menu... tried it but it doesn't show empty recycle bin option

Hello Dregatar,

You will not be able to pin the same Recycle Bin shortcut created in the tutorial and have a option to pin it to the Start Menu. Only to the taskbar as it was intended in the tutorial.

Instead, you will only be able to pin the default Recycle Bin on the desktop to the Start Menu. As you discovered, it has no "Empty Recycle Bin" context menu option though.

Sorry, but if you do not want the Recycle Bin on the Desktop, you will have to have it pinned to the taskbar as in the tutorial to have the "Empty Recycle Bin" option.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[sicklyslick]

did anyone figure out how to remove the annoying gap in the taskbar when using large icon for the recycle bin?

 

[Brink]

Hello SicklySlick, and welcome to Seven Forums.

Sorry, but no it currently cannot be removed.

 

[sicklyslick]

could we change the recycle bin icons to make it smaller? or that doesnt work either

 

[Brink]

Hello SicklySlick,

Yes, at step 10, you can select (check) to use Small Icons instead if you like.

 

[sicklyslick]

i meant cant we change the the recycle bin icon (like use a different icon, not using the small icon option) that is 40pixels high? would that solve the problem?

 

[Brink]

i meant cant we change the the recycle bin icon (like use a different icon, not using the small icon option) that is 40pixels high? would that solve the problem?

I have not tried it to see how it looks, but yes you can change the Recycle Bin icon to another one to see if it may help.

 

[gohardsupreme]

thanks for the tutorial, it works great. However i have one small problem with it. i am using a theme in which a portion of my taskbar is a different color than the sides. when i added the recycle bin to the taskbar the 2nd color disappeared. is there a way to get it back?

 

[Brink]

Hello Gohardsupreme,

Does moving the Recycle Bin around to a different location on the taskbar make any difference, or using a small icon instead?