How to Create Folders on the Desktop in Windows 11

This practical guide walks through how to create folders on the desktop in Windows 11, explains the main requirements, and highlights common issues that may appear along the way.

Create folders on the desktop using the context menu

The simplest way for you to create a folder on the Windows 11 desktop is to use the context menu.

First, press the keyboard shortcut Windows + D to open the desktop of your Windows 11 PC.

On desktop, you right click on any empty area, A menu will open, this is called context menu. Here, click New > Folder.

Windows 11 will immediately create a new folder on your desktop. Use the keyboard to enter a name for the folder and press Enter.

The new folder is now ready to use. Repeat this simple process to create any other new folders you want.

Create a folder on the desktop using the command

If you prefer a more 'professional' option of creating desktop folders, you can use a command line tool, such as Windows Terminal.

Start by opening the Windows Terminal app on your PC. To do this, first open the 'Start' menu, search for the keyword 'Windows Terminal', then click on the corresponding application in the returned search results.

In Windows Terminal, you can use PowerShell or Command Prompt to create a new folder. On either of these shells, simply type the following command and press Enter. In this command, replace C with the drive you chose to install Windows on. Also, replace 'username' with your own username. This command will make the desktop the current working directory.

cd C:/Users/username/Desktop

Next, type the following command and press Enter. In this command, replace My New Folder with the name that you want to assign to your new folder. Leave quotes around the folder name.

mkdir "My New Folder"

Accomplished! Your new folder is now created on the desktop.