They say that necessity is the mother of invention. This was certainly true for me when I found I had two identically named files on two different devices that I wanted to pin to Quick Access. There's no such thing as a right-click | Rename command under Quick Access. But I felt that there had to be a way to accomplish what I wanted.
I have a folder on OneDrive that is named "CSCI 101". I also have a folder on my hard drive named the same thing. I would like to pin both folders to Quick Access, but pinning them the default way (navigating to each folder, right-clicking it, and selecting "Pin to Quick Access") results in two entries under my Quick Access folder that are named exactly the same. I couldn't tell which one was the one on OneDrive, and which one was on the C: drive. What I wanted to do was have the OneDrive folder be named "OD - CSCI 101" and the one from my hard drive be simply "CSCI 101". That way, if I put more files/folders on OneDrive, I can prefix them with the "OD - " string, too.
Of course, I can pin the folder from my hard drive in the usual way, viz., navigate to "CSCI 101", right-click it, and select "Pin to Quick Access". No problem! Now for the hard part: getting my OneDrive folder to Quick Access and naming it "OD - CSCI 101" without having to rename the folder itself on OneDrive.
What I did was to create a folder named "Quick Access" in my user profile, i.e., under "C:\Users\BarryDysert". You can, of course, do this directly from File Explorer or from a command prompt. So now I have a folder called "C:\Users\BarryDysert\Quick Access".
The next thing to do is to create a symbolic link (technically, a directory junction) linking my OneDrive folder to a new, symbolic name. This is done at the command prompt and looks like this:
C:\>MKLINK /J "C:\Users\BarryDysert\Quick Access\OD - CSCI 101" "C:\Users\BarryDysert\OneDrive\Documents\CSCI 101"The above command should be entered all on one line. And the last string is where my OneDrive folder lives, as reported in File Explorer. Press Enter at the end of the complete line. Back in File Explorer, I navigate to my newly created "Quick Access" folder, right-click the "OD - CSCI 101" item, and pin it to the Quick Access folder. Problem solved!
This tip (13609) applies to Windows 10.
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Discover More2019-01-15 19:52:09
Mike Broadley
Arthur, sorry if this was unclear. To do this right click the Taskbar and go to Toolbars/New Toolbar. This takes you to a File Explorer window in which you select the Documents folder (instead of, as in my case, my Shortcuts folder, which you probably won’t have).
The Documents folder name will now appear on your Taskbar with >> next to it. Clicking on the >> will open a window showing the folders in your Documents folder. I think you’ll find that this is a faster and more convenient way of browsing through the various folders.
I hope this helps.
2019-01-14 18:19:16
Mike Broadley
Barry, thanks for all your tips. With relation to the problem of two files of the same name on the Quick Access I solved this by simply creating a folder in File Explorer into which I put shortcuts I use frequently (I call it Shortcuts) of the files and programmes I use most. Then right click the Taskbar and go to Toolbars/New Toolbar. This take you to a File Explorer window in which you select the Shortcuts folder. Having done this the name of this folder will then appear on the Taskbar near to the Quick Access. Next to it you will see two >> arrows. Clicking on this icon opens the "Shortcuts" window allowing you to select any of the file or folder shortcuts listed in it. On my PC the two >> appear next to the Quick Access icon. The beauty of this is that when you hold the mouse over a folder in this box it will also show any sub-folders in it without having to click on them. The box acts very much like the Quick Access box and disappears on touching the Escape key, or clicking any blank spot on the Desktop.
While I also use the Quick Access I find this a much more useful and versatile method which saves time and effort. You could also make your Documents file the target thus saving having to open File Explorer.
2019-01-14 10:32:40
Arthur Connal
Last paragraph needs to be more clear.
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