Internet Website Shortcut - Create

How to Create an Internet Website Shortcut in Windows​

   Information

This tutorial will show you how to create a Internet Website Shortcut that will open a website in any browser in Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1.

OPTION ONE

Drag and Drop to Create Internet Website Shortcut in IE9, IE10, or IE11

   Note

You will be able to Pin to Taskbar or Pin to Start Menu this shortcut by doing this in Internet Explorer.

1. Open Internet Explorer, and go to the website that you want to create a shortcut of, then do either step 2 or 3 below for how you would like to create the shortcut.

2. To be able to Pin the Internet Shortcut
A) Drag the favicon in the left side of the address bar in IE to your desktop and release to have a shortcut to the website. (see screenshot below)

   Note

When you create a shortcut using this option, the shortcut behaves like when you pin a site from IE, and opens in a new Internet Explorer window. The shortcut's/pinned site is at the center of the experience, not the browser. When a shortcut's/pinned site is launched from the taskbar, the browser frame and navigational controls integrate the site's icon and primary color, providing an experience that's tailored to the site you're viewing.

You can also add additional home page tabs for each site you pin or create a shortcut of like this. That way when you open a site that's pinned you can open several webpages or websites all at once.

B) You can now move the shortcut to where you like for easy use, Pin to Taskbar in Vista/Windows 7 or Windows 8/8.1, use Add site to Start Menu (Vista/Windows 7), use Add site to Start Screen (Windows 8), and use Add site to Apps (Windows 8.1).

OR

3. To Drag and Drop without a Separate IE Window Opening
A) Press and hold shift + left click, drag the favicon in the left side of the address bar in IE9 or IE10 to your desktop and release to have a shortcut to the website. (see screenshot below)

B) You can now pin the shortcut into the jump list of Internet Explorer on the taskbar, or move the shortcut to where you like for easy use.

OPTION TWO

Right Click on Website to Create Internet Website Shortcut in Internet Explorer

   Note

This option will allow you to create a website shortcut quickly to your desktop that you will be able to move where you like, but this shortcut will not have the option to Pin to Taskbar or Pin to Start Menu in it's context menu.

1. Open Internet Explorer, and go to the website that you want to create a shortcut of.

2. Right click on a non clickable area of the webpage, and click on Create shortcut. (see screenshot below)

3. Click on Yes to have the shortcut created on your desktop. (see screenshot below)

4. If you would like to Change the Icon of the Internet Shortcut
NOTE: This is if you do not want to have the default Internet Explorer icon use for your shortcut. If that icon is ok with you, then you are done and can go to step 5 instead.
A) Right click on the new internet shortcut on the Desktop and click on Properties.

B) Click on the Web Document tab, then click on the Change Icon button. (see screenshot below)

C) Click on the Browse button, then navigate to and select the 256x256 pixel ICO file that you want to use as the icon for your internet shortcut, click on Open, select the icon, and click on OK. (see screenshots below)


D) Click on OK. (see screenshot below step 4A)
5. You can now move the website shortcut to where you like.

OPTION THREE

To Manually Create a Internet Website Shortcut to Open in Any Web Browser

   Note

This option will allow you to be able to Pin to Taskbar or Pin to Start Menu this shortcut with any browser by just substituting the full path to the browser's EXE file in the shortcut. You can use the Internet Explorer and Firefox examples below for how. You will also be able to change the icon of this shortcut as well.

1. Right click or press and hold on an empty area on your desktop, and click/tap on New and Shortcut. (see screenshot below)

2. Type the location from either step 3A or 3B OR step 4A or 4B below into the location area, and click/tap on the Next button. (see screenshot below)
NOTE: Check to see if you have a 32-bit or 64-bit Windows installed first. You would substitute website address below with the website URL adress that you want instead.

3. To Create a Internet Shortcut to Open in Internet Explorer Inprivate Browsing
NOTE: InPrivate Browsing enables you to surf the web without leaving a trail in Internet Explorer. This helps prevent anyone else who might be using your computer from seeing where you visited and what you looked at on the web.
A) If you have 32-bit Windows

"%ProgramFiles%\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe" -private [B][COLOR=red]website address[/COLOR][/B]

FOR EXAMPLE:
I would type this below for our website http://www.sevenforums.com/.

"%ProgramFiles%\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe" -private [URL="http://www.sevenforums.com/"][COLOR=#0066cc][URL]http://www.sevenforums.com/[/URL][/COLOR][/URL]

B) If you have 64-bit Windows

• To Have Website Shortcut Open in Default 32-bit Internet Explorer

"%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe" -private [B][COLOR=red]website address[/COLOR][/B]

FOR EXAMPLE:
I would type this below for our website http://www.sevenforums.com/

"%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe" -private [URL="http://www.sevenforums.com/"][COLOR=#0066cc][URL]http://www.sevenforums.com/[/URL][/COLOR][/URL]

• To Have Website Shortcut Open in 64-bit Internet Explorer

"%ProgramFiles%\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe" -private [B][COLOR=red]website address[/COLOR][/B]

FOR EXAMPLE:
I would type this below for our website http://www.sevenforums.com/

"%ProgramFiles%\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe" -private [URL="http://www.sevenforums.com/"][COLOR=#0066cc][URL]http://www.sevenforums.com/[/URL][/COLOR][/URL]

4. To Create Internet Shortcut to Open in Internet Explorer, FireFox, or Chrome
A) If you have 32-bit Windows
"%ProgramFiles%\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe" website address
FOR EXAMPLE:
I would type this below for our website http://www.sevenforums.com/.

"%ProgramFiles%\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe" [URL]http://www.sevenforums.com/[/URL]

   Note

If you wanted to have the website shortcut open in another browser, say Firefox instead as an example, you would use this below instead. You would just substitute the first part in quotes for the full path of the browser's exe file that you wanted to use instead.

"%ProgramFiles%\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" [URL="http://www.sevenforums.com/"][COLOR=#800080][URL]http://www.sevenforums.com/[/URL][/COLOR][/URL]

   Note

If you wanted to have the website shortcut open in another browser, say Google Chrome instead as an example, you would use this below instead. You would just substitute the first part in quotes for the full path of the browser's exe file that you wanted to use instead.

"%ProgramFiles%\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" [URL="http://www.sevenforums.com/"][URL]http://www.sevenforums.com/[/URL][/URL]

B) If you have 64-bit Windows

• To Have Website Shortcut Open in Default 32-bit Internet Explorer

"%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe" website address

FOR EXAMPLE:
I would type this below for our website http://www.sevenforums.com/

"%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe" [URL]http://www.sevenforums.com/[/URL]

• To Have Website Shortcut Open in 64-bit Internet Explorer

"%ProgramFiles%\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe" website address
FOR EXAMPLE:
I would type this below for our website http://www.sevenforums.com/

"%ProgramFiles%\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe" [URL]http://www.sevenforums.com/[/URL]

   Note

If you wanted to have the website shortcut open in Firefox instead as an example, you would use this below instead. You would just subsititute the first part in quotes for the full path of the browser's exe file that you wanted to use instead.

"%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" [URL="http://www.sevenforums.com/"][URL]http://www.sevenforums.com/[/URL][/URL]

   Note

If you wanted to have the website shortcut open in another browser, say Google Chrome instead as an example, you would use this below instead. You would just substitute the first part in quotes for the full path of the browser's exe file that you wanted to use instead.

"%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" [URL="http://www.sevenforums.com/"][URL]http://www.sevenforums.com/[/URL][/URL]

4. Type in the website name (ex: SevenForums), and click on the Finish button. (See screenshot below)
NOTE: You can name this anything you would like.

5. To Change the Icon of the Internet Shortcut
NOTE: This is if you do not want to have the default Internet Explorer icon use for your shortcut. If that icon is ok with you, then you are done and can go to step 5 instead. If you wanted to use the default favicon .ico file used by the website, then these are stored in the hidden C:\Users\User-Name\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files protected operating system folder. It is recommended to move and select to use the favicon to a different location to avoid accidentally deleting the favicon when clearing the browser history.
A) Right click on the new internet shortcut on the Desktop and click on Properties.

B) Click on the Shortcut tab, then click on the Change Icon button. (see screenshot below)

C) Click on the Browse button, then navigate to and select the 256x256 pixel ICO file that you want to use as the icon for your internet shortcut and click on Open. (see screenshots below)


D) Click on OK. (see screenshot below)

6. In Vista and Windows 7, you can now Pin to Taskbar (Windows 7 only) or Pin to Start Menu, add to Quick Launch, assign a keyboard shortcut to it, or move this shortcut to where you like for easy use.

7. In Windows 8 and 8.1, you can Pin to Taskbar on desktop, Pin to Start screen, add to Quick Launch, assign a keyboard shortcut to it, or move this shortcut to where you like for easy use.

NOTE: Just a reminder that if you move or delete the shortcut (target), then the pinned one from this shortcut on the taskbar and/or Start Menu will no longer work since the target has been moved or deleted.
That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

---

• How to Pin or Unpin a Folder to the Windows 7 Taskbar
• How to Enable or Disable QuickLaunch in Windows 7
• How to Pin or Unpin a Program to the Windows 7 Taskbar
• How to Pin Your User Files Folder to the Windows 7 Taskbar
• How to Pin and Unpin Websites from IE9 to the Taskbar or Start Menu
• How to Enable or Disable Internet Explorer 9 Ability to Pin Sites
• How to Create a Shortcut of a File, Folder, Drive, or Program in Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8
• How to Add "Open with" to Context Menu of URL Files in Windows 7 and Vista
• How to Pin and Unpin Websites from IE10 to Start Screen in Windows 8
• How to Pin Site Tile to Start Screen from Internet Explorer 11 (IE11) in Windows 8.1

 

[Brink]

Updated to include creating a internet shortcut that will open in Internet Explorer Inprivate Browsing by default.

 

[mickey megabyte]

another (possibly simpler) method is to drag the icon from the navigation bar to your desktop.



works in ie8, chrome, firefox and probably other browsers too!

*edit* aha - seems like this tip has now been included in main tutorial

 

[Brink]

Hello Mickey,

That would work just as well, but you would not be able to right click on that shortcut to Pin to Taskbar or Pin to Start Menu it like the one in the tutorial. It just depends on your needs though.


UPDATE: You can now Pin with Drag and Drop in IE9 now, but not in IE8 and earlier.

 

[mickey megabyte]

ah - good point shawn - i didn't think of that

 

[Brink]

No problem. If you just wanted one on your desktop, that would be a easy way to do it.

 

[NoN]

Hello Mickey,

That would work just as well, but you would not be able to right click on that shortcut to Pin to Taskbar or Pin to Start Menu it like the one in the tutorial. It just depends on your needs though.

Hi Shawn,

First thanks for this work of yours.

Strange, i followed "mickey megabyte" drag and drop to desktop, to create the shorcut...and i was able to pin either to the taskbar or to the start menu!

Could it be the RTM version of IE9 that does give this ability now?

Well anyway it seems working now.

 

[whs]

I always do it the Mikey way and then I drag the shortcut into my Websites folder of my toolbar. I find that to be the easiest way and I do not have to worry about real estate on the taskbar.

 

[Brink]

@Non:
That's great news. It appears that Microsoft has now made it possible to be able to Pin to Taskbar or Pin to Start Menu a internet shortcut in IE9 with drag and drop. I have updated the tutorial to include this option as well.

In IE8 and earlier, you could drag and drop to the desktop to create a internet shortcut, but you were not able to pin it as is.


@Wolfgang:
I do like your method of putting them in a pinned folder on the taskbar. That's a lot less space being taking up by them when you have more than just a few.

 

[whs]

Yes, I really like the toolbars. With one main folder and a lot of subfolders you can stash away a lot of shortcuts - and they are really very easily accessible and organized by subject. And if one chooses a short name like mine (All), it takes very little real estate - for more than 50 shortcuts in my case.

I tried to popularize the toolbars with a tutorial, but I did not get a lot of takers, which is a bit ashame in view of the clear benefits. On the other hand, people stand on their head to get the Quick Launch back which is really a lot less practical (e.g. no subfolders).

 

[soho1]

I really hate the loss of drag and drop from browser to folder -- as it now closes the existing browser window (which may have been playing a video) and re-opens the URL once the drop completes (which would restart the video).

Neither can users simply copy and paste, as paste is greyed out.

Instead, users must copy, then instead of paste, use right-click > new > shortcut > paste > next > {type in a name} > FINISH. (OPTION TWO in tutorial)

Funny, I thought that avoiding all that **** was why drag and drop was so popular an invention.

 

[Silvera]

Drag and Drop

As I was draging the icon form the address bar I notice the 'shortcut arrow" appear as the cursor passover the desktop. So I released it and pop I had a desktop shortcut. I changed the icon and edited the title of the shotcut. Thanks again your very helpfull tutorials!

 

[Brink]

You're most welcome Silvera.

 

[ethandavis]

Sorry to bump an old thread. I've also been trying to pin websites to my start screen so that they open in Chrome.

Note Chrome has a "create application shortcuts" tool, which automatically generates a shortcut to the website you're currently viewing. Alternatively, you can right-click the desktop and choose "create shortcut" to create a shortcut to a website that will open in Chrome. You can then pin the shortcut to the Start Screen.

In either case however, after some combination of opening and closing Chrome, restarting the computer, etc. the Start Screen tile will disappear. Attempting to re-pin it back to the Start Screen results in a new icon called "example website (2)", as if it remembers the original one I pinned. Also, in the file system, shortcuts remain in the folder called AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\ even after the tiles themselves disappear, which I think is peculiar. Note that none of this happens if I create an IE shortcut, however Chrome is my browser of choice.

As others have mentioned, a third option is to drag the icon from the address bar to the desktop, however the shortcut that is created isn't pinnable to the Start Screen.

Any solutions?

I should mention, as this may be the culprit: the versions of Chrome I user are (1) the 64-bit developer's beta and (2) 64-bit Chrome Canary. Typically I don't use Canary, although today I did try using it to see if I could have a permanent start screen tile to open a website in Canary. Unfortunately, those website tiles too disappear after a few uses.

 

[Brink]

Hello Ethan, and welcome to Seven Forums.

If you like, you could manually create a shortcut using OPTION TWO using something like this below for Chrome.

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" www.sevenforums.com

 

[ethandavis]

Thanks for the reply, Brink. That's one of the methods I've tried. I mentioned it in my second paragraph. Unfortunately, after a little while the tile disappears from the Start Screen.

A quick Google search showed me that I'm not the only one experiencing disappearing Chrome tiles: Here's one of those bug reports, going back all the way to 2012

 

[Brink]

Yeah, it wasn't real clear exactly which option you used, so I was just making sure.

I'm not sure why it would automatically unpin on you though. Do you notice if it happens after any specific action?

Double check your Start screen location below to see if the shortcut is there as well.

shell:Start Menu\Programs

 

[ethandavis]

I just tried a couple times to Pin to Start and record the exact sequence of events:

Runthrough #1: Chrome is open. Create shortcut to certain website and pin it to Start. Try new tile, and it opens up webpage in a new tab. (Everything's OK so far.) Close tab, and close entire Chrome Browser. Go back to Start Screen, tile is still there, use tile to open webpage in Chrome, Chrome opens, check Start Screen again, tile is missing.

Runthrough #2: Repeat all of the previous runthrough, except this time it lasts a little longer. After closing Chrome, I used the tile to start up Chrome and open the webpage. Checking the Start Screen, the tile's still there for now. Then I closed Chrome and checked the Start Screen, I see the tile disappear right before my eyes. Bizarre!

To answer your other question, I went to shell:Start Menu\Programs (for me, that directs to the other location I mentioned, which is AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\) and all the disappearing tiles still show up as shortcuts in that folder, even after they've disappeared, which is what I find most peculiar.

 

[Brink]

Interesting that the shortcuts still show in your Start Menu\Programs folder, but not on the Start screen. Does the shortcut work from the folder location?

Double check to make sure that you didn't just need to scroll further over on your Start screen to see it.

Does the shortcut show on your Apps screen? If so, does it work?

 

[ethandavis]

Thanks again for your reply!

No, the shortcuts don't show up on my app screen. However the shortcuts in the shell:Start Menu\Programs folder do launch the website in Google Chrome just fine. Unfortunately when I try pinning the shortcut to start, it just creates a duplicate file in the folder, and the new tile that appears on the Start Screen shows a (2) after the tile's name, and also disappears shortly after using it.

I found this bug report detailing the problem:
https://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=142980
which claims to be "fixed". Has something to do with Chrome merging shortcuts, and it happens about 15 seconds after launching.

Meanwhile, I created my own bug report here:
https://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=416966
Please feel free to try and see if you experience my issue, and if you do, upvote my bug report. And of course let me know if you think of a solution!

Thanks!
Ethan