What is desktop shortcut? How does a shortcut work?

Let's explore what makes shortcuts so special and how they work.

What is a shortcut?

Shortcut is a set of instructions that tell your computer to open a file on the computer. When you activate a shortcut, it will give those instructions to your computer, then find and run the file.

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The files on your computer are in a special "house". If you've ever looked into the Program Files folder on your computer, you'll know about these 'houses'.

Usually, when a program builds its 'house' on a PC, it sets up all the files and data it needs to run in its directory. If you remove the program from its directory, it will not be able to find the files it needs to run and an error occurs.

Thus, if you want to run a program, you have to find its 'home' on the operating system and run the corresponding executable (.exe) file. In the past, you had to do this manually every time you wanted to run a new program, and it took a lot of clicks through the folders to get where you wanted.

However, shortcuts make this process a lot easier. They are packages that perform all directory scans and executable files for you. When you double-click a shortcut, the shortcut will automatically go to the program's location and run it for you.

But they're not very smart, because if you move the program out of the folder, the shortcut won't update itself. However, since programs tend to be fixed in one place, shortcuts don't really need to update themselves.

In a way, it's like driving to a friend's house, but you never really remember the way there. Every time you drive, you must check the map and decide which direction you need to turn.

On the other hand, a shortcut is like when you enter a friend's house address into the GPS and let it guide you to your friend's house. You don't have to worry about where your friend lives and what roads there are, just follow the instructions.

In short, the shortcut is like entering the destination address into the GPS, and your car will drive there automatically without your assistance. You don't need to do anything; let the car take you all the way.

Does removing the shortcut always delete the program?

You may notice that the program stays on your computer even after you delete a shortcut. Some people mistakenly think that deleting a shortcut is equivalent to uninstalling a program, but that's not the case.

Shortcuts are not a major part of the program. They are just a package of instructions to tell the computer where to run the target program. When you delete the instructions, it has absolutely no effect on the main program.

In the case of the car example above, it's like deleting your friend's home address from the GPS of your magic self-driving car. Removing the address from your car's memory doesn't mean your friend's house will disappear. In fact, if you removed the address from GPS, you can still go to your friend's house. You can drive there yourself or re-enter the address into the GPS.

In the same way, you can still access a program if you have deleted its shortcut. You can go through your computer's file system to where the program is installed or create another shortcut.

To remove a program, you need to uninstall it from Windows 10. A good uninstaller will also remove the shortcut, but sometimes the shortcut will be left behind. It will provide error message if you try to run it, so please remove the shortcut after you uninstall the program.

How to create a shortcut on Windows 10

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Creating shortcuts on Windows 10 is very easy

If you want to create a shortcut for a program, you can do this easily in Windows 10. Refer to the article: Create and customize application shortcuts on Windows 10 for details on how to do it.

How to see where the shortcut goes in Windows 10

Sometimes you will want to go to the directory where the software is installed. For example, some programs and games will have configuration files in their folders, you can adjust the program's behavior.

We are all too used to working with shortcuts. It's easy to install a program without ever having to know exactly where that program's files are located. Fortunately, there is a way to find this location without ever rummaging through the directory on your computer.

As mentioned above, a shortcut is a small package of instructions about the location of a program. You can use that information to discover where the program is installed without having to run it on your computer.

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The Open file location option helps you know where the original file is on your computer

To do this on Windows 10, right-click the shortcut, then click Open file location . Your computer will then go to the file as instructed, but will not start the program. Instead, it will open the corresponding folder so you can see what's in it.

Isabella Humphrey

Update 28 November 2020