Quick Launch - Enable or Disable

How to Enable or Disable Quick Launch in Windows 7​

   Information

By default Quick Launch is disabled in Windows 7. This will show you how to enable or disable Quick Launch as a taskbar toolbar using small or large icons in Windows 7.

   Note

Quick Launch is a toolbar on the taskbar. Quick Launch is used to open a program quickly from a shortcut from within it separate from the pinned programs on the taskbar.

The Quick Launch folder is located at the hidden system folder location below to add shortcuts to.

C:\Users\(user-name)\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch

   Tip

Microsoft has made available a hotfix that will resolve a problem where the taskbar customizations are lost and reset to defaults when automatic logon is enabled in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. More details are available at FIX: The Taskbar is reset to the default settings when you use the "Automatically Log On" feature in Windows 7 and in Windows Server 2008 R2.



If you still have the issue of where the pinned Quick Launch used in this tutorial disappears on you after logging off and on or restarting the computer, then a workaround for this issue is to either:

• Save your current theme after adding Quick Launch.
• If you have a 32-bit Windows 7, then it has been reported that you may need to turn off UAC if Quick Launch is disappearing on you after every restart.
• Open the hidden Quick Launch folder in the NOTE box above, then right click in the folder and click on New and Shortcut to add a shortcut into Quick Launch instead.
• Create a new folder, copy the shortcuts in the Quick Launch folder above into the new folder, then pin the new folder to the taskbar instead just like the Quick Launch folder here.
• To use a Microsoft hotfix. It is intended to correct only the problem that is described in this article. Apply it only to systems that are experiencing this specific problem.
  • Information: FIX: The Taskbar is reset to the default settings when you use the "Automatically Log On" feature in Windows 7 and in Windows Server 2008 R2
  • Download link: Help and Support

EXAMPLE: Default Windows 7 Taskbar

EXAMPLE: Quick Launch Enabled on Right Side of Taskbar
NOTE: This is the new Quick Launch toolbar with text and title, small icons, or large icons.

EXAMPLE: Quick Launch Enabled on Left Side of Taskbar
NOTE: This is the new Quick Launch toolbar without text and title, and with small icons or large icons.

OPTION ONE

To Add Quick Launch to Taskbar

1. Right click on a empty space on the taskbar, then select (hover on) Taskbar and click on New Toolbar. (See screenshot below)

2. In the Folder line, type or copy the location below. (See screenshot below)
%userprofile%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch

3. Click on the Select Folder button. (See screenshot above)

4. You now have a Quick Launch toolbar on the taskbar. (See screenshot below)
NOTE: Click on the arrow to see your Quick Launch shortcuts.

5. To Expand the Quick Launch Toolbar
A) Unlock the taskbar.

B) Left click and hold on the dotted separator line just to the left of Quick Launch, then drag it to the left or right to adjust to unhide all of the icons. Release the left click when done. (See screenshot below)

C) Lock the taskbar.
6. To Remove Quick Launch Toolbar Icon Text or Title
A) Unlock the taskbar.

B) Right click on the dotted separator line just to the left of Quick Launch, then uncheck the Show Text and Show Title by clicking on them. (See screenshot below step 5B)

C) Lock the taskbar.
7. To Have Small or Large Icons for Quick Launch Toolbar
A) Unlock the taskbar.

B) Right click on the dotted separator line just to the left of Quick Launch, then click on View and select to have Large Icons or Small Icons. (See screenshot below step 5B)

C) Lock the taskbar.
8. To Have Quick Launch Toolbar on Left Side of Taskbar
A) Unlock the taskbar.

B) Left click and hold on the dotted separator line just to the left of Quick Launch, then drag Quick Launch as far to the left on the taskbar as you are able to and release.

C) If you still have any pinned program icons to the left of Quick Launch, then left click and hold on the dotted separator line just to the left of the icons and hold, and drag it to the right past Quick Launch and release. (See screenshot below)

D) The Quick Launch toolbar is now on the far left side of the taskbar. (See screenshot below)

E) Left click and hold on the dotted separator line for the other icons and drag them left or right to make any adjustments to how you want them placed on the taskbar. (See screenshot above)

F) Lock the taskbar.

OPTION TWO

To Remove Quick Launch from Taskbar

1. Right click on a empty space on the taskbar and click on Toolbars and Quick Launch to uncheck and remove it from the taskbar. (See screenshot below)

That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

---

• How to Add Quick Launch to the "Send to" Context Menu in Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8
• How to Backup and Restore Taskbar Toolbars in Vista and Windows 7
• How to Reset and Clear All Taskbar Toolbars in Vista and Windows 7
• How to Pin or Unpin a Folder to the Windows 7 Taskbar
• How to Pin or Unpin a Program to the Windows 7 Taskbar
• How to Use Small or Large Icons on the Windows 7 Taskbar
• How to Enable or Disable Windows 7 Taskbar Button Grouping
• How to Lock or Unlock the Windows 7 Taskbar
• How to Move the Windows 7 Taskbar Location on the Desktop
• How to Show or Hide the Windows 7 Taskbar with Auto-hide
• How to Center the Taskbar Icons in Windows 7
• How to Create a Internet Website Shortcut in Windows 7
• How to Use Toolbars in Windows 7 and Vista
• How to Pin or Unpin a Drive to the Windows 7 Taskbar
• How to Add or Remove a Toolbar on the Taskbar in Vista and Windows 7
• How to Enable or Disable Adding and Removing Taskbar Toolbars in Vista and Windows 7

 

[J.R.]

Strange. I just cannot get QL to dissappear for me when I restart.

I haven't tested this because I'm only using the 32bit Ultimate, but perhaps the problems with the disappearing QL is the bit version of Win7 (32bit vs 64bit)? Maybe even the version, Ultimate vs whatever?

It would be interesting to know the stats if a poll could be taken.

 

[churin]

Strange. I just cannot get QL to dissappear for me when I restart.

I haven't tested this because I'm only using the 32bit Ultimate, but perhaps the problems with the disappearing QL is the bit version of Win7 (32bit vs 64bit)? Maybe even the version, Ultimate vs whatever?

It would be interesting to know the stats if a poll could be taken.

Here's my stats using my four machines: The QL dissappearance problem was solved by saving the theme for the three W7 Ultimate x64 machines but was not for the one W7 Ultimate x86 machine.
There observed something abnormal about the saved Personal Theme after rebooting the 32bit machine: Wall paper as displayed on the desktop was unchanged but the Personalization changed as the attached image. Note the background colour of the theme labeled as "QL Enabled" is black which was W7 theme before rebooting.

 

[Flowright138]

Strange. I just cannot get QL to dissappear for me when I restart.

I haven't tested this because I'm only using the 32bit Ultimate, but perhaps the problems with the disappearing QL is the bit version of Win7 (32bit vs 64bit)? Maybe even the version, Ultimate vs whatever?

It would be interesting to know the stats if a poll could be taken.

Here's my stats using my four machines: The QL dissappearance problem was solved by saving the theme for the three W7 Ultimate x64 machines but was not for the one W7 Ultimate x86 machine.
There observed something abnormal about the saved Personal Theme after rebooting the 32bit machine: Wall paper as displayed on the desktop was unchanged but the Personalization changed as the attached image. Note the background colour of the theme labeled as "QL Enabled" is black which was W7 theme before rebooting.
View attachment 36011

Yes I am running on x86 architecture...Perhaps that's the problem? What did you mean by "Personalization changed as the attached image"?

 

[J.R.]

Yes I am running on x86 architecture...Perhaps that's the problem? What did you mean by "Personalization changed as the attached image"?

What he is talking about is the theme he saved as QL Enabled in the left top corner of the image under My Themes(1) and the bottom left corner of the image that says "Desktop Background" (img0). Both are black. Basically he says the 32bit is not saving the theme correctly or something is corrupting the system and the theme is not being displayed properly upon a reboot.

I also pointed out in an earlier post, that if I turn off UAC I can save the theme and have QL do whatever I want.

Edit: I am unable to test 64bit at this time.

 

[DarrellJ88]

I have Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit and after restarting my QL is still there. So you can use that towards your statistics

 

[Flowright138]

Yes I am running on x86 architecture...Perhaps that's the problem? What did you mean by "Personalization changed as the attached image"?

What he is talking about is the theme he saved as QL Enabled in the left top corner of the image under My Themes(1) and the bottom left corner of the image that says "Desktop Background" (img0). Both are black. Basically he says the 32bit is not saving the theme correctly or something is corrupting the system and the theme is not being displayed properly upon a reboot.

I also pointed out in an earlier post, that if I turn off UAC I can save the theme and have QL do whatever I want.

Edit: I am unable to test 64bit at this time.

How do you turn off UAC?

 

[J.R.]

How do you turn off UAC?

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorial...l-uac-change-notification-settings.html?ltr=U

 

[churin]

Yes I am running on x86 architecture...Perhaps that's the problem? What did you mean by "Personalization changed as the attached image"?

What he is talking about is the theme he saved as QL Enabled in the left top corner of the image under My Themes(1) and the bottom left corner of the image that says "Desktop Background" (img0). Both are black. Basically he says the 32bit is not saving the theme correctly or something is corrupting the system and the theme is not being displayed properly upon a reboot.

I also pointed out in an earlier post, that if I turn off UAC I can save the theme and have QL do whatever I want.

Edit: I am unable to test 64bit at this time.

I have done further experiment on 32bit machine which has QL disappearance problem:
The first thing I did after installing the W7 was disabling UAC. The way I did it was changing for Admin user to having it automatically elevated from prompting credentials. This appears to set the slider at the bottom end for "Never Notify". So, this was the condition under which the QL was previously implemented.
This time I set three UAC entries on gpedit.msc/Windows Settings/Security Settings/Local Policies/Seculity Options, which were set as "Enabled" by default to "Disabled". "Prompt for credentials" for the standard user was left as was since there was no option for "Disabled". "Elevate without prompting" for admin users was also left as was. So, all UACs were set as "Disabled" except the above two.
Then, I added QL and saved the theme.
The result was that the QL still disappeared after rebooting but the colour of the wall paper as shown on the Personalization did not turn to black as was previously reported.
The above seems to indicate the UAC has something to do with saving the theme and possibley the QL problem.

 

[momo]

I would like to know if i can get my quicklaunch bar vertically on the side of the screen. I know i can put it on the right or left, yet still on the task bar. I want to keep the taskbar on the bottom and have my QL on the side, independant of the taskbar and always visible.

Can this be done by Windows 7 or third party app? I want the icons to be normal and small instead of massive like i've seen some apps do for me.

Happy day
Mo

 

[Brink]

Hello Mo, and welcome to Seven Forums.

Sorry, but no QL cannot be used like that in Windows 7. You might see if using something like RocketDock or Nexus may work for you instead.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[Riotblade]

I'm having the same issue under x86. The quick launch bar would disappear on reboot. However, if you terminate explorer.exe and then relaunch it, it appears again.

 

[rjcarlson49]

Yeah, it looks like pinned icons on the taskbar will be the future with Windows 7.

As for the other questions, you should post them in the appropriate General Discussion and Network & Internet forums for them so this tutorial can stay on topic, and so you can get more replies to them.

That is absolutely idiotic. I have 40-50 QL items. That WILL NOT FIT on the task bar as pinned items.

I have no trouble with QL disappearing. When I installed W7 the first time, I noticed immediately that QL was missing. The VERY FIRST THING I did on W7 was Google QL and find a way to get it back.

However, I still have a serious problem. When I arrange the QL buttons as I want them, I lose the order whenever I reboot. How do I get them to stay put?

This is incredibly annoying. I use pinning for the 3-4 apps that I always run. It's convenient to always have them in the same place. The 2 states of the buttons are confusing, but I'll probably get used to that.

You have provided no substitute for the QL bar. Removing it was just dumb.

 

[Brink]

Hello RJ, and welcome to Seven Forums.

As a workaround, you can pin a folder to the taskbar and place your shortcuts in it instead.

 

[Mlad]

Hey guys I have a problem. From time to time my quick launch toolbar dissappears. I haven't noticed if it dissappear after restart but i does. Can anyone help?

 

[Sonixmon]

Yeah, it looks like pinned icons on the taskbar will be the future with Windows 7.

As for the other questions, you should post them in the appropriate General Discussion and Network & Internet forums for them so this tutorial can stay on topic, and so you can get more replies to them.

That is absolutely idiotic. I have 40-50 QL items. That WILL NOT FIT on the task bar as pinned items.

I have no trouble with QL disappearing. When I installed W7 the first time, I noticed immediately that QL was missing. The VERY FIRST THING I did on W7 was Google QL and find a way to get it back.

However, I still have a serious problem. When I arrange the QL buttons as I want them, I lose the order whenever I reboot. How do I get them to stay put?

This is incredibly annoying. I use pinning for the 3-4 apps that I always run. It's convenient to always have them in the same place. The 2 states of the buttons are confusing, but I'll probably get used to that.

You have provided no substitute for the QL bar. Removing it was just dumb.

IMO the QL bar is for 6 or so items, why not use the start menu for the rest of the programs. If you organize the programs it works pretty well. That is what it was designed to do.
I use the QL for 6 or so most often used programs (daily) everything else is desktop or start menu.
I cant imagine you use 40+ items daily??

To each his own I guess

 

[Brink]

Hey guys I have a problem. From time to time my quick launch toolbar dissappears. I haven't noticed if it dissappear after restart but i does. Can anyone help?

Hello Mlad,

Double check to see if step 9 or 10 in OPTION ONE may be able to help you with this.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[Flowright138]

I also pointed out in an earlier post, that if I turn off UAC I can save the theme and have QL do whatever I want.

Edit: I am unable to test 64bit at this time.

Turning off UAC didn't help. It is still disappearing. The User Account Control Setting is already set to the lowest...

 

[Flowright138]

Hey guys I have a problem. From time to time my quick launch toolbar dissappears. I haven't noticed if it dissappear after restart but i does. Can anyone help?

If you read earlier post it is discussed but still it is NOT solved yet.

I'm having the same issue under x86. The quick launch bar would disappear on reboot. However, if you terminate explorer.exe and then relaunch it, it appears again.

Thanks for the tips, I will surely give that a try.

 

[TomL12953]

Yeah, it looks like pinned icons on the taskbar will be the future with Windows 7.

As for the other questions, you should post them in the appropriate General Discussion and Network & Internet forums for them so this tutorial can stay on topic, and so you can get more replies to them.

That is absolutely idiotic. I have 40-50 QL items. That WILL NOT FIT on the task bar as pinned items.

Have you tried checking the "Use small icons" box in Properties? Changing the icons that way makes them the same size as the old QL icons on my system.

Tom L

 

[moinmoin]

Hey guys I have a problem. From time to time my quick launch toolbar dissappears. I haven't noticed if it dissappear after restart but i does. Can anyone help?

If you read earlier post it is discussed but still it is NOT solved yet.

I'm having the same issue under x86. The quick launch bar would disappear on reboot. However, if you terminate explorer.exe and then relaunch it, it appears again.

Thanks for the tips, I will surely give that a try.

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