Tailor your Taskbar

The Windows Quick Launch bar can be used to gain easy access to the programs you use most frequently, making it possible to launch them with a single mouse-click. This method of starting programs is significantly faster than navigating through the Start menu or using Desktop shortcuts, as shortcuts contained in the Quick Launch bar are always accessible.

By default, the Quick Launch bar includes links (represented as icons) to the Desktop, Internet Explorer and Windows Media Player as well as the window switching facility, but with a little customisation this Toolbar can be transformed into something even more useful. The differences between the bar in XP and Vista are small, so we’ll focus on Vista ­ – all the examples shown in our screengrabs are similar in XP.

The steps here are easy for all. The Quick Launch bar can be found to the right of the Start button in Windows’ Taskbar and the first thing to do is to check whether it is enabled. As the Toolbar is enabled by default, at least three icons should be visible in this section of the Taskbar. If this is not the case, right-click on an empty section of the Taskbar and select Properties from the menu that appears.

On the Taskbar tab, tick the box labelled Show Quick Launch and click on OK. Alternatively, right-click on an empty section of the Taskbar and hover the mouse over the Toolbars option before ensuring Quick Launch is ticked.

Making space
As more programs are installed, many will add their own shortcuts to the Quick Launch bar, but it is also possible to add others manually. This can be achieved in a couple of ways. The first option is to open up the Start menu and simply drag and drop existing shortcuts onto the Quick Launch bar. Shortcuts can also be dragged from the Desktop or any other folder in exactly the same way.

If several shortcuts are to be added, whether to programs or folders, it may be easier to open the Quick Launch folder. To do so, right-click within the Quick Launch bar immediately to the right of the final icon (take care not to click on the icon itself) and select Open Folder.

Shortcuts can now be dragged into this folder or manually created by right-clicking on a blank section of the folder and selecting New followed by Shortcut. In the ‘create shortcut’ window that appears click on Browse, select the program you want from the list and click OK. Click Next, give the shortcut a name and click Finish to save it. After a few icons have been added, it is likely that some will be invisible.

The first few icons will be on show, followed by a double arrow icon. Clicking on this button will reveal the remaining icons in a pop-up menu. However, the Quick Launch bar can be extended to ensure that all icons are visible at all times. Start by right-clicking on an empty section of the Taskbar and ensure that the option labelled ‘Lock the Taskbar’ is not ticked ­ if it is, click on it to remove the tick.

At either side of the Quick Launch bar, dotted handles will appear. Using the left mouse button, click on the right-hand handle and drag it to the right to extend the bar. Once the bar has been extended enough to display all of the Quick Launch icons, release the mouse button and then relock the Taskbar. More room can be made for icons by increasing the height of the Taskbar.

Ensure that the Taskbar is unlocked and then position the mouse cursor over the top of the Taskbar so that it changes into a double-headed arrow, then drag up or down. If the Taskbar seems to disappear, worry not; the top grey border will remain, so carefully position the mouse pointer over it until the double -headed arrows appear and drag upwards.

Icons that have been automatically added to the Quick Launch bar will be automatically removed if the associated program is uninstalled but this is not the case with icons that have been added manually. If icons need to be removed for this reason or if a particular shortcut is no longer needed, right-click on the icon in question and select Delete from the menu that appears.

As some icons can be hard to distinguish, it may be useful to enlarge them. Right-click on an empty section of the Quick Launch bar and select Large Icons from the View Menu.

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