Windows system allows users to quickly access their favorite programs, games, and folders by creating shortcuts for those items on the desktop, taskbar, or start menu, enhancing the user-friendly experience of the system. But did you know that you can also add shortcuts within the This PC or My Computer window? This window is frequented by anyone using Windows on a daily basis, as it provides easy access to hard drive partitions, other storage units connected to the device, or to folders for downloads, pictures, documents, etc. Therefore, placing shortcuts there is another effective way to run programs and games quickly. Let me tell you how to do that in the following lines.
The This PC window in Windows 10 contains a third section called “Network locations” alongside the two main sections: Folders and Devices and drives. Its purpose is to host shortcuts for network and internet-related devices connected to the computer, allowing for quick access. However, most users likely do not have network devices that require working on the computer, which is why the “Network locations” section does not appear in the This PC window—because it is empty.
Now, let’s explain how to add some shortcuts in the Network locations section for better utilization.
First, you need to open the folder responsible for adding shortcuts in the Network locations section. To do that, press the (Win) + (R) keys together on the keyboard, then in the Run window, enter the command “%appdata%\microsoft\Windows\Network Shortcuts” and press Enter.
This should take you to the Network Shortcuts folder and as you will notice, the folder is completely empty. So, all we need to do is create a new shortcut for anything we want quick access to through the This PC window. This could be a file, folder, or even a program—basically anything that can be shortcutted.
To start, click on New item from the Home section and choose Shortcut. Alternatively, right-click anywhere inside the folder and select New, then choose Shortcut from the dropdown menu.
When the “Create Shortcut” window appears, simply enter the location of the item you want to create a shortcut for and click “Next”. To make it easier, click on the Browse button and navigate, from the small window that appears, to the location of the folder or file on the hard drive. If you have shortcuts on the desktop that you want to access through the This PC window, you can easily move all these shortcuts at once to the Network Shortcuts folder.
After finishing, open the This PC window through the icon on the desktop or the File Explorer icon pinned to the taskbar. You will now notice the appearance of the “Network locations” section with shortcuts, and in general, anything you put in the Network Shortcuts folder will show up under this section. This means that your favorite programs and games can be run directly from the This PC window without needing to navigate from one folder to another.
