If you were using a Windows 10 computer, it was possible to drag a shortcut to the taskbar. This does not yet work on a Windows 11 PC. Creating a shortcut and placing this shortcut on the Windows 11 taskbar works slightly differently.
If you work a lot with Office apps such as Microsoft Word, Excel or PowerPoint then placing such a shortcut in Windows 11 taskbar recommended. Launching an app from the taskbar is simply faster than opening it Start menu and open the appropriate app.
This article shows you how to create a shortcut of Office apps, Word, Excel or PowerPoint in the taskbar. You can also read how to get one shortcut on the taskbar to, for example, a Word, Excel or PowerPoint document.
Create a Word, Excel or PowerPoint shortcut in the taskbar
Click Search in the taskbar. Search can be recognized by the magnifying glass in the Windows 11 taskbar. Then search for the Office app that you want to pin to the taskbar.
Pin shortcut to taskbar
In this example I use “Word” but you can also search for “Excel” or “Powerpoint”. Then right-click on this app in the search result. In the menu, click on “Pin to taskbar”.
You will now immediately see the Word, Excel or Powerpoint shortcut in the taskbar. You have now successfully pinned a shortcut of the relevant Office app to the taskbar.
Pin document to taskbar
If you regularly work with the same document. It doesn't matter which document, a Word document, Excel document or Powerpoint presentation. Then you can pin this document to the Windows 11 taskbar.
Pinning the document works via the shortcut of the Office app in the taskbar.
To get started, first open the Office app via the shortcut you just created. In Office, open the document you work with a lot. Save this document and close it again. If you now right-click on the shortcut, you will see the newly opened Office document in the “Recent” view.
On the right side of this shortcut you will see a pushpin icon. This is the “pin to this list” icon. If you click on it you will pin this document in the view.
To immediately open the document via the shortcut, right-click on the Office shortcut in the taskbar. In the “Pinned” view you will see the document that has been pinned. Click on it and the document will immediately open in the relevant Office app Word, Excel or PowerPoint.
In this example I used Word. You can also perform all steps with Excel or PowerPoint. I hope this helped you. Thank you for reading!
Learn what else you can do with the taskbar:
- Disable preview windows in Windows 11 taskbar.
- Hide search button in the taskbar on a Windows 11 PC.
- Hide time and date from the taskbar in Windows 11.
- Remove language input switcher from the taskbar in Windows 11.
- Windows 10 taskbar in Windows 11? It's possible!
- Remove weather icon from Windows 11 taskbar.
- Can't change taskbar color in Windows 11?
- Windows 11 taskbar not working.
- Add Disable button to the taskbar in Windows 11.