Take advantage of the new Quick Launch Bar

One of the small but nice new things in Windows Vista is the Quick Launch Bar. It is not just a bar with nice little shortcuts on which you click, it is also a collection of quick keyboard shortcuts.

In Windows Vista the first 10 shortcuts on the Quick Launch bar have their own custom keyboard shortcut. It is very simple: you place 10 shortcuts on your Quick Launch Bar and each one will have its own keyboard shortcut. Press the Windows key + a number (from 1 to 0) and Windows Vista will launch the shortcut corresponding to that number.

Let’s consider the screenshot below: Windows key + 1 is Show Desktop, Windows key + 2 is Switch Between Windows, Windows key + 3 is Firefox, Windows key + 4 is Winamp and so on.

Quick Launch Bar

If you want these shortcuts to work you should NOT hide the Quick Launch bar. When you hide it the keyboard shortcuts will be deactivated as well. Also, there is no need for all shortcuts to be visible. It works even if most of them are hidden. You just have to remember the order of the shortcuts from the Quick Launch bar.


Related articles:
Remove the arrow and the “shortcut” text from your Windows Vista shortcuts

9 thoughts on “Take advantage of the new Quick Launch Bar”

    • The keyboard shortcuts work
      Take it you mean all the shortcuts are in view on the quick launch toolbar and you’ve just hidden the taskbar …

      If you don’t want to clutter your task bar, just reduce the number of icons showing for quick launch down to one

  1. Quick launch bar
    wow the windows key and 1 2 3 is a great hint. I consider my self an expert and had not heard or ever used this. I will start today !! Much Easier. Also thanks for the reg on remove shortcut arrows.

  2. Vista Quick Launch Bar Disabled?
    I have found my Quick Launch Folder in my
    C:/Users/Default/AppData/Roaming/Microsoft/Internet Explorer/Quick Launch
    but when ever I Right-Click the space on my Windows Task Bar to select “Toolbars” and Select “Quick Launch”,
    nothing shows up. It is like the Quick Launch has disappeared.

    Although I can still Hit “Windows Button + D” or just tab out using “Switch Between Windows” to minimize out of my open folders, I would be greatly satisfied if I could make the Quick Launch Bar appear again on my Task Bar for the “quickness” the Quick Launch is suppose to provide.

    Thank You

  3. It’s all fine and dandy, but… WHERE ARE THE SETTINGS STORED?
    The problem with this toolbar is there is no way to LOCK the relative icon position, and there is nothing more aggravating to see them shuffled at Windows’ whim whenever the taskbar is resized or moved around.

    Surely, there must be some setting in the registry that describe their actual position (row, column) on the taskbar?

  4. Quick Launch Icon Ordering
    Until a few months ago, I could click and drag Quick Launch bar icons in Windows XP and they would stay where I put them. For some months now, reboot puts them back in the order they were before moving them.

    How can I make them stay where I put them?

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