How to really pin the Show Desktop to Taskbar in Windows 7
Update: Fixed addresses so they now have proper forward slashes. If you don’t see these: \ then please make sure to insert one after each word. Internet Explorer is considered one word with a space in between it. I’m working on fixing the problem with disappearing slashes.
If you’ve just picked up Windows 7, you’re probably wondering where the Show Desktop button has gone. It’s actually now moved to the bottom right hand corner of the screen for quick access. Hovering your mouse over it will activate Aero Peek and allow you to preview the Desktop without actually going to it. This feature is good for taking a quick peek at any Gadgets you may have lying on your desktop.
But if you still want a “Show Desktop” icon in your taskbar, it’s possible. This guide will teach you how to pin Show Desktop properly into the taskbar, not the method that gives you a strange unaligned placement in the taskbar.
The Fail Pin
The Win Pin
The guide is actually not as long as it looks. I added a lot of pictures to guide you along the process.
How-to:
1) First, you need to pin an item you don’t actually want in the taskbar. I chose TweetDeck because it stays in the System Tray anyway.
2) Then you need to create your own Show Desktop icon. You can download the Icon here, or do it yourself.
To do it yourself, open Notepad and paste the following code:
[Shell]
Command=2
IconFile=explorer.exe,3
[Taskbar]
Command=ToggleDesktopWhen you save the file, select All Files from the drop down menu, and name the icon Desktop.scf
Whether you download or create the desktop file yourself, make sure to save it into this directory:
C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\User Pinned\TaskBar
3) Right click the item you pinned earlier (in my case, TweetDeck) and click on Properties.
4) Edit the Target Field to the following. Change the field yourusername to your Computer name. You can find this by opening the Start Menu and looking at the first item in the darkened area.
Computer name is shown as the first item on the right side (win7 for me)
Paste this code into the Target Field. Make sure to change yourusername.
C:\Users\yourusername\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\User Pinned\TaskBar\Desktop.scf
5) Now we need to change the icon. Click on Change Icon and paste the following code into the Browse field and press Enter:
%SystemRoot%\system32\imageres.dll
The Show Desktop icon is located somewhere near the middle. This was where mine was located:
6) You can also rename your icon to Show Desktop so you don’t get confused when editing the taskbar later on.
7) Your icon in the Taskbar will not change unless you log off and log back in or end the explorer.exe process in Task Manager. Regardless, the icon should function like the old “Show Desktop” icon.
If you’re a fan of keyboard shortcuts, Win+D shows the desktop too.
Related posts:
Tags: pin show desktop icon, show desktop, windows 7, windows 7 show desktop, windows 7 show desktop icon
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108 Responses to “How to really pin the Show Desktop to Taskbar in Windows 7”
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why do you have to go through all of that when the show desktop shortcut already esists here?
C:\Users\YourUserName\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch
If you just copy and paste that into the Taskbar folder, it will not show up at all.
Sorry… Why try to change ICON in stupid and impossible method ????
ONLY 2 STEP – PLEASE UPGRADE RAR FILE XD
SOLUTION WINDOWS 7
—————————
Open Notepad, paste the following text:
[Shell]
Command=2
IconFile=imageres.dll,105
[Taskbar]
Command=ToggleDesktop
Save as “Desktop.scf” to the following directory:
C:\User\%USERNAME%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\User Pinned\Taskbar
————————————
In WINDOWS VISTA rispective icon is number “104″
————————————
Please upgrade RAR FILE XD
Sorry… Why try to change ICON in stupid and impossible method ????
IN 2 STEP – PLEASE UPDATE RAR FILE XD
SOLUTION WINDOWS 7
—————————
Open Notepad, paste the following text:
[Shell]
Command=2
IconFile=imageres.dll,105
[Taskbar]
Command=ToggleDesktop
Save as “Desktop.scf” to the following directory:
C:\User\%USERNAME%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\User Pinned\Taskbar
————————————
In WINDOWS VISTA rispective icon is number “104″
————————————
BECAUSE it is not WHERE WE WANT IT… it’s stuck on the bottom right… so you find yourself constantly moving from Start … on the far left to Show Desktop on the far right… too much hastle… it’s NOT movable… this methode listed here does NOT work (after I reboot)… so to get the icon BACK beside the Start menu …like everyone is used to… I figured out the most simple,
effective and quickest way is to use this program:
http://perfectflyer.com/desktop.exe
Download it, put it in a permanent location such as c:\program files, then right
click on it and select “Pin to Taskbar.” It can be placed beside the “Start”
menu and it works like a toggle. Click once to Show desktop and again to bring
back the program you are currently working in. I built this program using a
program called “AutoHotkey.” This free program has a powerful list of features
and the most useful is the option to write macros (with the macro recorder) to
automate anything by sending mouse clicks and keystrokes.
There are several programs like this but the reason this one stands out is that
the macros can then be converted to.exe programs (with their utility) that can
be shared and run on their own without “AutoHotkey.”
works great … thank you !!!
Thanks
Your solution is the simplest and works great.
Thanks to u I have now tried AutoHotKey. Like it. Can u share the original script for the Show Deskptop that you compiled for this post?
Thanks. the prog works magic
Terry,
Your software solution is simple and works very well. I like it.
Thanks
very good.
By far the easiest method that anyome has suggusted. THANKS A BUNCH!!!!!!
Thanks Terry. That is the easiest and most elegant solution by far.
Thanks alot Gary, your info worked for me and I was able to locate the directory and pin the show desktop icon to my start menu.
Btw I’m interested as to why some of you would still like the Old Style Show Desktop icon in your taskbar?
Got to agree, it’s already at the right edge (bottom edge for those of us who have the taskbar vertical) in 7000 and 7022, why would you want to duplicate the feature?
eeh. maybe because they placed it all the way to the right instead of to the left where it used to be and where I for one would like it to be.
I’m wondering what’s so hard about pressing Win+D instead of moving your mouse to the taskbar…
I personally hate anything involving the win key. Moving your thumb that far back is kind of awkward
That because people like to click than pressing those keys.
Thanks for the guides but i am lazy to create that patch file.. and change the icon…just for this “show desktop” function.
sorry “win” and “D”…i’ma start to press you everyday..
Great guide, helped me a lot but didn’t work right away.
I followed your instructions and after logging off and back on, the taskbar icon would be blank (the generic one used for unknown files) and clicking it would return a “target not found”-type error.
It was as if Windows was blocking it. So I did the following:
1) I renamed desktop.scf to let’s say toggledesktop.scf (while of course at the same time changing the shortcut target accordingly, eg. “C:\Users\yourusername\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\User Pinned\TaskBar\toggledesktop.scf”) [steps 2,3,4 in your instructions]
2) I renamed the final shortcut to something other than “Show Desktop”, eg. “Toggle Desktop”. I believe this one does the trick. [step 6 in your instructions]
And it worked. I actually think it’s easier if you change the dummy shortcut’s (TweetDeck in your example) name and icon separately and prior to changing its target.
Thanks anyway
Now that we worked this out (it’s been bugging me since forever), I have another issue to share.
Maybe it’s just me again, who knows. Here goes:
I have Windows Explorer (as in %SystemRoot%\explorer.exe /root,::{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}) pinned to my taskbar.
When I open it and double click any one of my disks (c, d, etc), its contents launch in two extra separate windows.
So when I double click C:\, I get three explorer windows, two pointing to C:\ and one still showing “My Computer”.
It seems similar to the MSN Messenger double-window “issue” that needs the compatibility mode.
Any ideas?
Not too sure what you are talking about. When I open Windows Explorer, I select the drives from the left taskpane. Is there a way to set the default location? I thought it was always set to Libraries.
The MSN problem can be fixed by running the .exe in Vista Compatibility mode which will put the icon in the system tray.
I have tried pre-creating the icon but it did not work for me. It seems that you have to somehow pin it so the taskbar “thinks” you’re pinning Tweetdeck. Then you force change it so there’s no way for the taskbar to not let you pin the show desktop button.
I’m sure a registry tweak to simply add Pin to Taskbar for every item will do the trick but I’m no registry guru =(
THANKS A LOT!
What the f….? are u talkin ’bout
these are old craps.
Every1 noes it.
[...] Note: I’ve already written a guide on how to Pin the Show Desktop icon to the taskbar before I discovered this trick. Click here to go to that tutorial. [...]
Awesome!! Thank you!
Guys why does it have to be soooo complicated.
1. Find unused shortcut.
2.make the file on notepad and save it as explained above.
3. Make all the changes in the properties menu of the shortcut:
- set up the target to the created file
C:\Users\yourusername\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\User Pinned\TaskBar\Desktop.scf
- also change the icon to whatever you want before you pin it to the taskbar
and you are ready to go
btw thanks for the guide
how come my shoe desktop shortcut/icon disappear after reboot??
works fine when i made it, but then i shut down/reboot and it’s gone!
can you guys help me out?
thanks
anyone please??? OP?
you must have done one of the steps wrong.
no, followed the guide to the T
it goes away after restart every time. tried it about 10 times.
Mine goes away everytime I reboot too. I’ve done it a couple times and it works till I reboot. The funny thing is… I could always just click on desktop.scf to show the desktop directly.. but after I reboot it doesn’t work… so, I’m not only losing the icon but something funny is going on with the .scf file. There MUST be a simple way to do this that actually works after we reboot. Maybe I have some crap turned off that other people keep running… that’s all I can think of at 3 am.
hi there maybe anybody knows how to pin Switch between windows??? thanks
If you hit monitor with your head hard enough you could Switch even to windows 3.1, good luck!
He meant switching between OPEN windows, not operation systems, you smart ass. It’s called Flip 3D (WIN + TAB).
thanks you for the tip!
thx
Try as I might, I can’t make this method work, as I get as far as the Quick Launch part of the file path, and am then told that the rest of the file path doesn’t exist. How can I get round this?
This filepath works best.. because it works for everyone:
“%userprofile%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\User Pinned\TaskBar\desktop.scf”
if that does not work for you then you probably have desktop.scf named desktop.scf.scf or something else…
Here is the way to absolutely check it… hold your SHIFT key and RIGHT click on the taskbar folder from Windows explorer.. then select Command prompt. At the command prompt type and enter Dir d*
you will easily see the full name. If desktop.scr is NOT showing you have to put it there.
wow. great tip. I learnt many things, especially from comments. View more Windows 7 news from here. Windows Technology Blog
I have tried this so many times now with no luck. I do everything stated above and it works fine until i reboot. once i reboot, the icon disappears. it is so frustrating. btw, im running Win 7 32bit ultimate MSDN version. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
check the article on my blog for this tip. It works fine for me. I gave detailed explanation on how to do it.Show Desktop icon on Windows 7 taskbar
Ahhh.. Thank you palla srehar. that worked. I just created a new toolbar and slid it to the left just like in WinXP. I also used this link also.
http://windows7center.com/tutorials/how-to-enable-the-quick-launch-bar-in-windows-7/
Palla, you can do the same by re-enabling the quick launch and then simply deleting unnecessary shortcuts, leaving only Show Desktop (and Flip 3D, if you feel like it).
But the “toolbar” approach has an its issues. Namely, when you increase the icon size, the taskbar itself increases in height a little bit, leaving the start button centered as it should be, but the rest of everything stuck to the upper edge. Looks not so very good.
This guide has a far better approach: it just lets you pin it as any other shortcuts, seamlessly, not degrading the looks.
cheers! xD
Best way to do it.
Go here: http://www.autohotkey.com/download/
Download & install autohotkey.
Open notepad and type:
Send #d
return
Save the notepad as Desktop.ahk
Use the autohotkey converter to convert the .ahk file to a .exe file. Place the .exe where ever you want, I put mine in my user folder, then pin it to task bar. Piece of cake.
PS: I found the icon file to add to the converter here;
C:\Users\UserName\Desktop\Windows 7 RTM Icons\Windows 7 RTM Icons\Icon_106.ico
Might be slightly differnet(rtm) file location for others….
.
oops… http://www.redmondpie.com/windows-7-icons-pack/
Thanks, Grey, it works like a charm. Although the script seems to work a tiny bit slower than traditional methods.
I’m experiencing a strange problem though: I can’t slide the pinned shortcut to the left, where IE shortcut is located — it just keeps jumping back. Weird.
double w00ps!
Should be
‘exit’ not ‘return’…
Send #d
exit
Why would you go to the trouble of making a Show Desktop button on the taskbar, when it’s already at the end of the taskbar next to the clock?
Because some of us want the Show Desktop button to be next to the Start button, Eric. It’s a matter of personal preference.
It’s all great until you reboot. In my case the pinned shortcut simply disappears.
same for me i did everything, show desktop appeared i moved it where i wanted it then after the restart it just disappeared, its still in the TasbBar folder but not in the bar itself :S
Sorry,
I do all of your instructions. They’re ok; but the icon Desktop.scf don’t still show up.
this tip doesn’t work. Everything works until I reboot. After reboot the “Show desktop” icon disappears
this tip doesn’t work. Everything works until I reboot. After reboot the “Show desktop” icon disappears
hi
i have question, if i pin the icon into taskbar, and i uninstall the software, the icon still exist.
but if i re-install the software, and reboot the system, the icon is disappeared.
is this normal?
The icon was not there in the location listed for me. If you want the same old icon go to
%SystemRoot%\explorer.exe
Not the most pedagocial tutorial I’m sorry to say. However finally got atleast the pinned application to work as show desktop button.
1.choose a program anywhere on computer, even an uninstalled one will do.
2.attatch the program to taskbar.
3.choose properties directly FROM TASKBAR icon which is the symbol of the program you chose (not going to the folder where it originates) but clicking it in the taskbar.
4.copy 2nd adress seen above where the adress ends with Desktop.scf and make sure to just put your computer name (seen under the image in start menu) in the “yourusername” in the copied adress.
5. Press apply and link is working.
Now you can test the button. Add another image than the program image if wanted.
in step 2–> attach I mean “PIN to desktop”
@sleight
Also your method works until I reboot. After reboot the “Show desktop” icon disappears
It did that for me too but leave the change icon part out to see if only the shortcut works creating part works (the steps i wrote is only about creating the shortcut).. If it still doesn’s work after just trying the shortcut part then I have no idea..
what the hell, why is it so complicated, I fell asleep after step one,
To be honest, I’m just going to embrace the change now I know the Win+D shortcut!
Great guide and comments though – thanks all!
Really right way to pin show desktop
Use MS VS2008 (2005,2003)
Write this to console aplication:
Compile with using icon from windows\system32\Shell32.dll
Or you can download from
http://black.sweb.cz/ShowDesktop.exe
Enjoy !
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Text;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
namespace ShowDesktop
{
class Program
{
[DllImport("user32.dll",SetLastError = true)]
static extern void keybd_event(byte bVk, byte bScan, int dwFlags, int dwExtraInfo);
static void Main(string[] args)
{
byte VK_D = 0×44;
byte VK_Win = 0×5B;
const int KEYEVENTF_KEYUP = 0×2;
const int KEYEVENTF_KEYDOWN = 0×0;
keybd_event(VK_Win, 0, KEYEVENTF_KEYDOWN, 0);//press win
keybd_event(VK_D, 0, KEYEVENTF_KEYDOWN, 0);//press D
keybd_event(VK_D, 0, KEYEVENTF_KEYUP, 0);//release D
keybd_event(VK_Win, 0, KEYEVENTF_KEYUP, 0);//release win
}
}
}
GREAT WORK MAN, IT’S A AWESOME TRICK.
FOR THOSE HAVING TROUBLE WITH IT DO THIS:
1. GO TO A FOLDER OF A GAME YOU DON’T PLAY
2. MAKE A DESKTOP SHORTCUT OF IT’S .EXE FILE
3. CHANGE THE ICON OF THAT SHORTCUT WITH THE SHOW DESKTOP ICON FROM IMAGERES.DLL LOCATION
4. PIN THE SHORTCUT TO THA TASKBAR
5. RIGHT CLICK ON IT > PROPERTIES, CHANGE TARGET AS SHOWN UP (”C:\Users\YOUR NAME\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\User Pinned\TaskBar\)
IF THE FOLDERS DONT EXIST, SIMPLY CREATE THEM !
6. THAT’S IT !
I FORGOT ONE STEP:
1.5 RENAME THE EXE FILE OF THAT GAME TO “Show Desktop.exe”
p.s. – The method up from my post is rubish, don’t use it, it blew up my PC…shity stuff
Found a simpler way.. enable Quick Launch and rearrange by dragging it to the left of the new taskbar. See pictures at:
http://www.west-wind.com/Weblog/posts/866080.aspx
Devins way IMHO is by far the easiest and you can easily add new icons just by dragging shortcuts to the toolbar folder, then unlocking the taskbar and resizing your quicklaunch bar to show them.
Moving this was a real blunder by MS!
[...] are ways to pin the “Show Desktop” icon in your taskbar, but required some skills. Show Desktop [...]
Thanks for the Win+D shortcut, didnt know about it and its much easier and less hassle than either moving the cursor all the way to the right to use show desktop button or creating a new shortcut on the left near the start button.
Maybe I’m dumb, but, how the freck do I “change the target” – it is greyed out (uneditable) every time I try.
Dont try the above. no use. Try the following
http://www.gpsoftuk.com/prod_showdesktop.asp#download
figured it out – you gotta right-click on the thingy you pin to the task bar first (before you pin it), and do a “find target”, and pin whatever the TARGET is to the task bar… otherwise you can’t change the target later…
[...] Show Desktop to add show desktop icon in windows 7 taskbar, you can read about a more geeky way to add show desktop icon in windows 7 taskbar var escFun = window.encodeURIComponent ? window.encodeURIComponent : escape; var [...]
http://www.mydigitallife.info/2009/01/14/how-to-show-desktop-in-windows-7-quick-launch-alternative/
thats all.
Thanks, dude. I was so pissed off without the Show Desktop icon.
this “\” is a BACKSLASH!
QUOTE:
proper forward slashes. If you don’t see these: \ then please make sure to insert one
Yeah, this guide doesn’t work. Useless.
Read my comments. I have been using this technique for about 5 months now. I have been using the etchnique I posted for almost 5 months…
If you want a WORKING quick launch toolbar guide, go to http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/888-quick-launch-enable-disable.html
Hello,
Do you know how to move the menu Computer (formerly My Computer) taskbar in Windows 7?
http://www.boostupload.com/files/image_440_Capture.JPG
thank you
Excellent! Works fine, thank you.
I’ve been trying to get a show desktop button on my taskbar, using both this tutorial and the one “How to pin any item to the taskbar in Windows 7″
http://centralsphere.wordpress.com/2009/03/17/how-to-pin-any-item-to-the-taskbar-in-windows-7/
The problem is, both tutorials ask you to right click an item in the task bar and then select properties. When I right click an item in the taskbar, the only options I see are “Unplug this item from the taskbar” and the name of the program. How do I get the properties option to show up?
Thanks
You have to hold down the shift button when right clicking the icon; then all of the normal options that would show up when you right click a desktop icon will appear.
[...] NOTE: This is not an original post by Progress Tech Labs. This post was found at the Windows 7 Center: http://windows7center.com/tutorials/how-to-really-pin-the-show-desktop-to-taskbar-in-windows-7/ [...]
Hi, great! Solves the most important bug in W7!
[...] 網友推薦了加回顯示桌面圖示的另一個作法：How to really pin the Show Desktop to Taskbar in Windows 7，但我試了兩次都無法成功…，不曉得是那個步驟做錯了。 [...]
You guys are working way too hard. Just put this in your location bar of explorer.
%appdata%\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch
That adds quick launch to taskbar. Now right click it and uncheck show icons and text. There you have it. It’s exactly like a XP taskbar.
Here’s a link to do it.
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-7/add-the-quick-launch-bar-to-the-taskbar-in-windows-7/
Exactly what I’ve done.
Thanks so much for this great tip!
[...] 1 Minute Ago Follow the steps on http://windows7center.com/tutorials/…-in-windows-7/ It helped [...]
Change Icon does not work. You can select icons all day, yet they never change on the taskbar. Rebooting makes no difference either. The original icon of the item you pinned to the taskbar just stays there. It functions properly, in that it shows the desktop, it’s just the icon is wrong.
Oh, and to the person who said you had to press SHIFT with right-click to get to Properties of the pinned icon, thanks. That SHOULD have been in the tutorial, not all the way at the bottom of the comments.
thanks. it is great.
not working
once u change the destination to Desktop.scf no matter what shortcut you chose, PIN TO TASKBAR option will not show up.
i cannot find properties in step 3
Two ways to do this. First, you can hold the shift key down and then right click. Second is, when you right click, you see “unpin from taskbar” and then right above it you see the name of the application. scroll over the name, and then right click AGAIN. Then you’ll be able to select properties.
My biggest issue right now is that i CANNOT get the icon to change. I log out, i reboot, nothing works. It functions properly, but no matter how many times I change the icon it never changes. When I right click, and bring up the properties, it shows the right icon in THAT window, but never on the taskbar. Help?
Here’s the trick. You have to change the icon before you pin it to the taskbar. Once it is pinned, then change the target. You are welcome
Try holding down the Shift key and right-clicking on it.
you are a other solution
On a vacuum of the Desktop, click-right, to select New, then Shortened In the place of the element, to copy to stick %SystemRoot% \explorer.exe %APPDATA% \Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\Shows Desktop.lnk may click on Following to Type Desktop for the name of the shortcut and to click Finish click-right on the new icon Desktop and to select Properties In the Shortened tab, to click to Change icon In the frame to Look for icons in this file, to copy to stick %SystemRoot% \system32\imageres.dll and to click on OK.
To select the icon of it Desktop and to validate by OK In the Properties, the new icon appears. To click to Apply The new shortcut Desktop is created.
Of a click-right on this shortcut , to click to Pin in the Taskbar and we can position it where you want
Guys Don’t Worry here is the solution:-
Judy, there is no need to create a ‘Show desktop‘ icon (or a ‘Go to desktop‘ icon as you call it) in Windows 7 64-bit because it’s already there! Unfortunately, it’s kind of inconspicuous on the Taskbar.
The Show desktop ‘icon’ is the glassy looking small vertical strip on the extreme right side of the Taskbar – to the exact right of the time in the system tray.
how sweet! Thanks for sharing this information.
Damn…I don’t need to do none of this thing to miminize the open windows…in Windows 7 Ultimate (I haven’t tried other versions) there is a small button, in the right-bottom corner that shows the desktop!!!