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  4. Quick Tip: Windows Explorer, best shortcut ever!!!

Quick Tip: Windows Explorer, best shortcut ever!!!

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  • R raddevus

    At work they have Windows Explorer set to automatically traverse to a place that I rarely, if ever, need to access. Why?!? It kind of drove me crazy, because I'd open Windows Explorer then click multiple drives & folders to finally end up in my UserProfile, because 99% of the time I needed to be there to save some data. Life-Changing Shortcut I don't think I'm overstating this. :rolleyes: Anyways, one of the best things I've done for myself in a long time was simply 1. Create a shortcut that opens File Explorer directly into my %UserProfile% directory -- that's c:\users\\ 2. Add the following Target: C:\windows\explorer.exe %userprofile% 3. Add a shortcut key Ctrl + Shift + Right (arrow) to immediately run the shortcut. Here's a snapshot of what the shortcut looks like[^]. Now, any time I want File Explorer I just Ctrl+Shift+Right(arrow) and it opens up. Shortcut Seems Faster Also, I've discovered that for some reason this copy of File Explorer seems to open faster than if you click the one on the TaskBar (Maybe because this one doesn't have to hit the network since it is going directly to a specific path???) I've been using this for months now it has provided many benefits: 1. Less folder clicking 2. Less screaming, "Why am I automatically navigated to this @#&%@#!!! network folder!!" 3. I used to be bald and all my hair grew back. 4. Previously I was 5'2" and now I'm 6'4" tall 5. A bag of money fell out of the sky and landed next to me. 6. Various other benefits which are too good to mention here. :rolleyes:

    P Offline
    P Offline
    Paul Sanders the other one
    wrote on last edited by
    #9

    raddevus wrote:

    I've been using this for months now it has provided many benefits: 1. Less folder clicking 2. Less screaming, "Why am I automatically navigated to this @#&%@#!!! network folder!!" 3. I used to be bald and all my hair grew back. 4. Previously I was 5'2" and now I'm 6'4" tall 5. A bag of money fell out of the sky and landed next to me. 6. Various other benefits which are too good to mention here.

    Sounds too good to be true 🤣

    Paul Sanders. If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter - Blaise Pascal. Some of my best work is in the undo buffer.

    G 1 Reply Last reply
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    • P PIEBALDconsult

      I think when Win 7 (or 10?) came out, people were saying that the Quick Launch was completely gone, but it isn't. I also have shortcuts for starting Word and Excel empty -- no open document.

      P Offline
      P Offline
      Peter Kassenaar
      wrote on last edited by
      #10

      I believe in Windows 11 Quick Launch is no longer available? If yes, how do I activate/use it? Thanks!

      P 1 Reply Last reply
      0
      • P Paul Sanders the other one

        raddevus wrote:

        I've been using this for months now it has provided many benefits: 1. Less folder clicking 2. Less screaming, "Why am I automatically navigated to this @#&%@#!!! network folder!!" 3. I used to be bald and all my hair grew back. 4. Previously I was 5'2" and now I'm 6'4" tall 5. A bag of money fell out of the sky and landed next to me. 6. Various other benefits which are too good to mention here.

        Sounds too good to be true 🤣

        Paul Sanders. If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter - Blaise Pascal. Some of my best work is in the undo buffer.

        G Offline
        G Offline
        Gary Wheeler
        wrote on last edited by
        #11

        Hush! Let raddevus have their moment.

        Software Zen: delete this;

        1 Reply Last reply
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        • P Peter Kassenaar

          I believe in Windows 11 Quick Launch is no longer available? If yes, how do I activate/use it? Thanks!

          P Offline
          P Offline
          PIEBALDconsult
          wrote on last edited by
          #12

          I have no Win 11 systems. In Win 10 and earlier, look for C:\Users\\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\ Maybe they've eliminated or changed the [ \Internet Explorer\ ] part?

          1 Reply Last reply
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          • R raddevus

            At work they have Windows Explorer set to automatically traverse to a place that I rarely, if ever, need to access. Why?!? It kind of drove me crazy, because I'd open Windows Explorer then click multiple drives & folders to finally end up in my UserProfile, because 99% of the time I needed to be there to save some data. Life-Changing Shortcut I don't think I'm overstating this. :rolleyes: Anyways, one of the best things I've done for myself in a long time was simply 1. Create a shortcut that opens File Explorer directly into my %UserProfile% directory -- that's c:\users\\ 2. Add the following Target: C:\windows\explorer.exe %userprofile% 3. Add a shortcut key Ctrl + Shift + Right (arrow) to immediately run the shortcut. Here's a snapshot of what the shortcut looks like[^]. Now, any time I want File Explorer I just Ctrl+Shift+Right(arrow) and it opens up. Shortcut Seems Faster Also, I've discovered that for some reason this copy of File Explorer seems to open faster than if you click the one on the TaskBar (Maybe because this one doesn't have to hit the network since it is going directly to a specific path???) I've been using this for months now it has provided many benefits: 1. Less folder clicking 2. Less screaming, "Why am I automatically navigated to this @#&%@#!!! network folder!!" 3. I used to be bald and all my hair grew back. 4. Previously I was 5'2" and now I'm 6'4" tall 5. A bag of money fell out of the sky and landed next to me. 6. Various other benefits which are too good to mention here. :rolleyes:

            J Offline
            J Offline
            Joe Fallon
            wrote on last edited by
            #13

            I have always used this shortcut to open a specific folder:

            C:\Windows\explorer.exe /n, /e, C:\SomeFolder

            R 1 Reply Last reply
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            • J Joe Fallon

              I have always used this shortcut to open a specific folder:

              C:\Windows\explorer.exe /n, /e, C:\SomeFolder

              R Offline
              R Offline
              raddevus
              wrote on last edited by
              #14

              Very interesting. Because of your post, I started searching for the windows explorer command-line options to see what /n and /e meant. Those are very difficult to find. There is no : c:\> explorer /? Only thing I could find was: https://superuser.com/questions/21394/explorer-command-line-switches[^] Do you know of a way to get the available options?

              E 1 Reply Last reply
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              • P PIEBALDconsult

                I think when Win 7 (or 10?) came out, people were saying that the Quick Launch was completely gone, but it isn't. I also have shortcuts for starting Word and Excel empty -- no open document.

                S Offline
                S Offline
                sasadler
                wrote on last edited by
                #15

                It's gone on Win 11 unless you use a third party app (ExplorerPatcher). I'd still be on Win 10 without ExplorerPatcher.

                P 1 Reply Last reply
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                • S sasadler

                  It's gone on Win 11 unless you use a third party app (ExplorerPatcher). I'd still be on Win 10 without ExplorerPatcher.

                  P Offline
                  P Offline
                  PIEBALDconsult
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #16

                  So, what does ExplorerPatcher do? Create the directory?

                  S 1 2 Replies Last reply
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                  • R raddevus

                    At work they have Windows Explorer set to automatically traverse to a place that I rarely, if ever, need to access. Why?!? It kind of drove me crazy, because I'd open Windows Explorer then click multiple drives & folders to finally end up in my UserProfile, because 99% of the time I needed to be there to save some data. Life-Changing Shortcut I don't think I'm overstating this. :rolleyes: Anyways, one of the best things I've done for myself in a long time was simply 1. Create a shortcut that opens File Explorer directly into my %UserProfile% directory -- that's c:\users\\ 2. Add the following Target: C:\windows\explorer.exe %userprofile% 3. Add a shortcut key Ctrl + Shift + Right (arrow) to immediately run the shortcut. Here's a snapshot of what the shortcut looks like[^]. Now, any time I want File Explorer I just Ctrl+Shift+Right(arrow) and it opens up. Shortcut Seems Faster Also, I've discovered that for some reason this copy of File Explorer seems to open faster than if you click the one on the TaskBar (Maybe because this one doesn't have to hit the network since it is going directly to a specific path???) I've been using this for months now it has provided many benefits: 1. Less folder clicking 2. Less screaming, "Why am I automatically navigated to this @#&%@#!!! network folder!!" 3. I used to be bald and all my hair grew back. 4. Previously I was 5'2" and now I'm 6'4" tall 5. A bag of money fell out of the sky and landed next to me. 6. Various other benefits which are too good to mention here. :rolleyes:

                    S Offline
                    S Offline
                    ShawnVN
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #17

                    Start / Run / "." [win+R] [Period] [Enter]

                    R 1 Reply Last reply
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                    • P PIEBALDconsult

                      So, what does ExplorerPatcher do? Create the directory?

                      S Offline
                      S Offline
                      sasadler
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #18

                      It basically gives you the Win 10 taskbar in Win 11. You can then move the taskbar to the top, bottom or the sides. Gives you tool bars so you'll be able to enable Quick Launch, etc. It's basically indistinguishable for the standard Win 10 taskbar. I've been using it for months now and it appears to be working just fine. I also use Open Shell to replace the funky Win 11 start menu.

                      1 Reply Last reply
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                      • S ShawnVN

                        Start / Run / "." [win+R] [Period] [Enter]

                        R Offline
                        R Offline
                        raddevus
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #19

                        Someone else mentioned that. However, if your admins set your (env variable) HOMESHARE then when you do that you will be taken to that network location \\network\username\whatever-Admin-Created\ I wanted it to load directly to:

                        c:\users\

                        the local user directory. However, if your admin has set the HOMESHARE, then even when I follow your instructions and use: [win+R][Period][Enter] or [win+R][%userprofile%][Enter] Then it takes me to : \\network\username\whatever-Admin-Created\ Only when I do c:\> explorer %userprofile% does it take me to the local user directory. That's why I was so happy to finally "hack" it.

                        S 1 Reply Last reply
                        0
                        • R raddevus

                          Someone else mentioned that. However, if your admins set your (env variable) HOMESHARE then when you do that you will be taken to that network location \\network\username\whatever-Admin-Created\ I wanted it to load directly to:

                          c:\users\

                          the local user directory. However, if your admin has set the HOMESHARE, then even when I follow your instructions and use: [win+R][Period][Enter] or [win+R][%userprofile%][Enter] Then it takes me to : \\network\username\whatever-Admin-Created\ Only when I do c:\> explorer %userprofile% does it take me to the local user directory. That's why I was so happy to finally "hack" it.

                          S Offline
                          S Offline
                          ShawnVN
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #20

                          Good to know, thanks.. It's interesting.. does explorer.exe really use a network share as the current-working-directory? That seems.. scary, to me. Maybe explains why my work laptop hangs, all the dang time.

                          1 Reply Last reply
                          0
                          • R raddevus

                            Very interesting. Because of your post, I started searching for the windows explorer command-line options to see what /n and /e meant. Those are very difficult to find. There is no : c:\> explorer /? Only thing I could find was: https://superuser.com/questions/21394/explorer-command-line-switches[^] Do you know of a way to get the available options?

                            E Offline
                            E Offline
                            englebart
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #21

                            notepad.exe explorer.exe or better yet, String Dump feature of sys intern Process Explorer. start digging…

                            1 Reply Last reply
                            0
                            • R raddevus

                              At work they have Windows Explorer set to automatically traverse to a place that I rarely, if ever, need to access. Why?!? It kind of drove me crazy, because I'd open Windows Explorer then click multiple drives & folders to finally end up in my UserProfile, because 99% of the time I needed to be there to save some data. Life-Changing Shortcut I don't think I'm overstating this. :rolleyes: Anyways, one of the best things I've done for myself in a long time was simply 1. Create a shortcut that opens File Explorer directly into my %UserProfile% directory -- that's c:\users\\ 2. Add the following Target: C:\windows\explorer.exe %userprofile% 3. Add a shortcut key Ctrl + Shift + Right (arrow) to immediately run the shortcut. Here's a snapshot of what the shortcut looks like[^]. Now, any time I want File Explorer I just Ctrl+Shift+Right(arrow) and it opens up. Shortcut Seems Faster Also, I've discovered that for some reason this copy of File Explorer seems to open faster than if you click the one on the TaskBar (Maybe because this one doesn't have to hit the network since it is going directly to a specific path???) I've been using this for months now it has provided many benefits: 1. Less folder clicking 2. Less screaming, "Why am I automatically navigated to this @#&%@#!!! network folder!!" 3. I used to be bald and all my hair grew back. 4. Previously I was 5'2" and now I'm 6'4" tall 5. A bag of money fell out of the sky and landed next to me. 6. Various other benefits which are too good to mention here. :rolleyes:

                              S Offline
                              S Offline
                              StarNamer work
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #22

                              raddevus wrote:

                              At work they have Windows Explorer set to automatically traverse to a place that I rarely, if ever, need to access. Why?!?

                              It's because most business users don't care about File Explorer taking a few seconds to open, but they do care that if they break their laptop they may lose stuff, so they want it stored on the network so it's safe and backed up etc, but they don't want to actually have to remember to do anything. So it's easiest if group policy or whatever is set so that every user of every PC gets a default network folder opened unless they do something different. Then when you, having stored files locally, accidentally pours coffee on your hard drive and loses a month's work, IT can just shrug and say "Your own fault..."! :)

                              1 Reply Last reply
                              0
                              • R raddevus

                                At work they have Windows Explorer set to automatically traverse to a place that I rarely, if ever, need to access. Why?!? It kind of drove me crazy, because I'd open Windows Explorer then click multiple drives & folders to finally end up in my UserProfile, because 99% of the time I needed to be there to save some data. Life-Changing Shortcut I don't think I'm overstating this. :rolleyes: Anyways, one of the best things I've done for myself in a long time was simply 1. Create a shortcut that opens File Explorer directly into my %UserProfile% directory -- that's c:\users\\ 2. Add the following Target: C:\windows\explorer.exe %userprofile% 3. Add a shortcut key Ctrl + Shift + Right (arrow) to immediately run the shortcut. Here's a snapshot of what the shortcut looks like[^]. Now, any time I want File Explorer I just Ctrl+Shift+Right(arrow) and it opens up. Shortcut Seems Faster Also, I've discovered that for some reason this copy of File Explorer seems to open faster than if you click the one on the TaskBar (Maybe because this one doesn't have to hit the network since it is going directly to a specific path???) I've been using this for months now it has provided many benefits: 1. Less folder clicking 2. Less screaming, "Why am I automatically navigated to this @#&%@#!!! network folder!!" 3. I used to be bald and all my hair grew back. 4. Previously I was 5'2" and now I'm 6'4" tall 5. A bag of money fell out of the sky and landed next to me. 6. Various other benefits which are too good to mention here. :rolleyes:

                                J Offline
                                J Offline
                                John Torjo
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #23

                                Not to forgo the coolness of this, but I have an app that uses Tabs (for years), and always remembers my locations (I have about 10+ of them). So yeah, whenever I open it, it picks up where last left off. Windows Explorer is, to put it simply, pathetic.

                                1 Reply Last reply
                                0
                                • R raddevus

                                  At work they have Windows Explorer set to automatically traverse to a place that I rarely, if ever, need to access. Why?!? It kind of drove me crazy, because I'd open Windows Explorer then click multiple drives & folders to finally end up in my UserProfile, because 99% of the time I needed to be there to save some data. Life-Changing Shortcut I don't think I'm overstating this. :rolleyes: Anyways, one of the best things I've done for myself in a long time was simply 1. Create a shortcut that opens File Explorer directly into my %UserProfile% directory -- that's c:\users\\ 2. Add the following Target: C:\windows\explorer.exe %userprofile% 3. Add a shortcut key Ctrl + Shift + Right (arrow) to immediately run the shortcut. Here's a snapshot of what the shortcut looks like[^]. Now, any time I want File Explorer I just Ctrl+Shift+Right(arrow) and it opens up. Shortcut Seems Faster Also, I've discovered that for some reason this copy of File Explorer seems to open faster than if you click the one on the TaskBar (Maybe because this one doesn't have to hit the network since it is going directly to a specific path???) I've been using this for months now it has provided many benefits: 1. Less folder clicking 2. Less screaming, "Why am I automatically navigated to this @#&%@#!!! network folder!!" 3. I used to be bald and all my hair grew back. 4. Previously I was 5'2" and now I'm 6'4" tall 5. A bag of money fell out of the sky and landed next to me. 6. Various other benefits which are too good to mention here. :rolleyes:

                                  C Offline
                                  C Offline
                                  Choroid
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #24

                                  I don't know if this was

                                  Quote:

                                  Life-Changing Shortcut

                                  I added a desktop icon and made a shortcut to here C:\Users\Dwight\AppData\Local\Temp So I can delete all the files VS 2019 piles up when I am playing (developing) NOW if I was brave I would write a Batch File to delete these files TOO scared I would delete something I should not delete

                                  R 1 Reply Last reply
                                  0
                                  • C Choroid

                                    I don't know if this was

                                    Quote:

                                    Life-Changing Shortcut

                                    I added a desktop icon and made a shortcut to here C:\Users\Dwight\AppData\Local\Temp So I can delete all the files VS 2019 piles up when I am playing (developing) NOW if I was brave I would write a Batch File to delete these files TOO scared I would delete something I should not delete

                                    R Offline
                                    R Offline
                                    raddevus
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #25

                                    Very interesting. You can use %temp% to get the same directory. For example, a user on win10 (probably win11 too)should be able to: 1. go to file explorer 2. type %temp% <ENTER> and it will take her to the windows temp directory while supplying the proper user-name: c:\users\<user-name>\AppData\Local\Temp I did just that and was blown away to discover that my work computer has: 12.9GB of temp files in there!! :wtf: :wtf:

                                    1 Reply Last reply
                                    0
                                    • R raddevus

                                      At work they have Windows Explorer set to automatically traverse to a place that I rarely, if ever, need to access. Why?!? It kind of drove me crazy, because I'd open Windows Explorer then click multiple drives & folders to finally end up in my UserProfile, because 99% of the time I needed to be there to save some data. Life-Changing Shortcut I don't think I'm overstating this. :rolleyes: Anyways, one of the best things I've done for myself in a long time was simply 1. Create a shortcut that opens File Explorer directly into my %UserProfile% directory -- that's c:\users\\ 2. Add the following Target: C:\windows\explorer.exe %userprofile% 3. Add a shortcut key Ctrl + Shift + Right (arrow) to immediately run the shortcut. Here's a snapshot of what the shortcut looks like[^]. Now, any time I want File Explorer I just Ctrl+Shift+Right(arrow) and it opens up. Shortcut Seems Faster Also, I've discovered that for some reason this copy of File Explorer seems to open faster than if you click the one on the TaskBar (Maybe because this one doesn't have to hit the network since it is going directly to a specific path???) I've been using this for months now it has provided many benefits: 1. Less folder clicking 2. Less screaming, "Why am I automatically navigated to this @#&%@#!!! network folder!!" 3. I used to be bald and all my hair grew back. 4. Previously I was 5'2" and now I'm 6'4" tall 5. A bag of money fell out of the sky and landed next to me. 6. Various other benefits which are too good to mention here. :rolleyes:

                                      E Offline
                                      E Offline
                                      englebart
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #26

                                      Quote:

                                      Maybe because this one doesn't have to hit the network since it is going directly to a specific path???

                                      I think you right on that. I had a toolbar that was taking 50+ seconds to open. I was blaming it on the security software, but it turns out I had a short cut to a decommissioned server in the toolbar. I deleted the bad shortcut and now it pops!

                                      1 Reply Last reply
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                                      • P PIEBALDconsult

                                        So, what does ExplorerPatcher do? Create the directory?

                                        1 Offline
                                        1 Offline
                                        10Besties UNBAISED REVIEWS
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #27

                                        Can we make Templates for it? If yes that would be easy.

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