Deleting Shortcuts

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated March 11, 2019)

Shortcuts are handy for many purposes, but at some point, you may want to get rid of one (or more). You can delete a shortcut the same way as you would any other object in Windows—you simply select it and press the Del key. The icon is moved to the Recycle Bin, where you can later retrieve it, if desired.

There is one important thing to note about deleting shortcuts. Deleting a shortcut does not delete the program or document to which the shortcut refers. Thus, if you delete a shortcut to a graphics program, the graphics program still remains—only the shortcut file itself is deleted.

If you are a Windows 8 user, don't confuse shortcuts (which appear on the desktop) with tiles (which appear on the Start screen). How you delete Start screen tiles is covered in a different WindowsTip.

 This tip (10870) applies to Windows 7, 8, and 10.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

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