How-To: Manage your cramped desktops [Windows]

As the number of standard high resolution monitors increases [1920 x 1200 pixels anyone?], the process of successfully managing cramped desktop environments is becoming a thing of the past. By miniscule, I’m referring to the 800 x 600 or 1024 x 768 resolution workspaces.

If, like me, you find yourself working on a low resolution screen (1024 x 768), you have probably accustomed yourself to utilizing keyboard shortcuts for jumping between the dozens of windows and applications you may have opened on your desktop. There are a handful of methods for overcoming the unproductive moues-navigation-restriction. Everyone knows that the fractions of seconds saved by utilizing keyboard shortcuts adds up.

Desktop shortcuts are no longer accesible if your workflow requires that mutliple windows be open at all times. The quickest way to access your most used folders or applications is to utilize a custom toolbar from the Windows taskbar. Here’s my latest setup.

The first step I’ve taken is to remove all desktop shortcuts. In my honest opinion, desktop shortcuts are useless. They serve zero value because every pixel of a low resolution desktop is covered by an open window [browser, photoshop, text editor, etc]. The next step is to decide what method is best for accessing your own files. Some of us have a casual habit of leaving files unorganized in random folders. Others might be borderline anal retentive and organize files by type, date, name, comments, etc. There are two real choices: a quicklaunch application like AppRocket / Google Desktop, or a simple series of quicklaunch taskbar toolbars. I believe the toolbar quicklaunch folders will suffice.

Windows users are not limited to the default Windows Quick Launch toolbar accessible via the Taskbar properties [right-click > properties and select the 'Show Quick Launch' option]. Let’s create a new toolbar for all of your most used applications / utilities shall we?

1. The new toolbar will house all of your favorite apps / utilties / and possibly a few of your frequently accessed folder shortcuts. For the sake of simplicity, lets create a new folder in your ‘My Documents’ folder. Title the folder whatever you wish. I’ve titled mine ‘X40′. The name of this folder will be the title of your new taskbar toolbar.
2. Next, create shortcuts within the new folder which point to all your favorite items. There are two methods for creating shortcuts. One option is to right-click in your newly created folder and select ‘New > Shortcut’. The create new shortcut wizard will popup which you can then use to “Browse” for your intended target(s) [read shortcuts]. The second option is to right-click on the app / folder directly and select ‘Create Shortcut’. The main goal is to get all your shortcuts to reside within your newly created folder.
3. Rename or title your shortcuts accordingly. The titles you apply to the shortcuts will be the titles you see in your quicklaunch toolbar.
4. Close your windows and right-click on the Windows taskbar. Select ‘Toolbars > New Toolbars’. Navigate to your new folder and select ‘OK’.
5. If your taskbar is locked, right-click anywhere in the Windows taskbar and uncheck ‘Lock the Taskbar’. Doing so will allow you to resize and move the toolbar anywhere along the taskbar. You’re not limited to keeping your toolbar in the Taskbar. If you wish, you can drag the toolbar out of the taskbar and dock it to the top, left, or right side of the screen as a standalone quicklaunch bar. If you right-click on the toolbar itself, you will be prompted with an additional menu which provides options to show text or titles for application and folder shortcuts.

As you can see from the above screenshots, the toolbar can be repositioned and resized like the taskbar to any side of the screen. Enjoy.

Before posting “this is old news, taskbar toolbars have always been around since the prehistoric releases of Windows”, hold your tongue. Many Windows users are unaware of the option to create custom toolbar folders.