Daddy Bob

DADDY BOB'S COMPUTER Q & A

 

November 4, 2007

Q. I would like to create a shortcut on my desktop that will go directly to a web site. How can I do that?

A. A web site shortcut is created just like any other shortcut except the target is a URL (Universal/Uniform Resource Locator or web site address) instead of a file or application. Here is one way to create this shortcut.

Open your browser, Internet Explorer, Firefox or whatever one you use, and go to the site you want the shortcut to open. Highlight the complete address that is displayed in the address bar at the top of the browser window, and then copy it.

You can copy it by right clicking on it and choosing Copy from the menu. You can also copy it by pressing CTRL+C or by clicking Edit, then copy if you have the menu displayed.

When you have copied the URL from the address bar, close the browser, right click on your desktop, then in the menu displayed, click New and then Shortcut. A dialog similar this will open.

This is how it appears on Vista with the Aero Glass effect active.  XP has about the same text and although the dialog's appearance will be different, the actions are the same. 

Click in the space for the location, and paste the URL you copied from the browser. To paste it, you can press CTRL+V or right click and choose Paste. This will put the URL of your web site in the shortcut. Click Next and a dialog like this will display.

Notice that Windows has detected that you pasted a URL as the target of the shortcut, and detected that you want an Internet shortcut. Enter a name for this shortcut. This name can be anything you like, but since it will be displayed on your desktop, don't make it too long so as to not display correctly. 

Click Finish, and the shortcut will appear on your desktop. Depending on the web site your shortcut points to, your new shortcut icon may take the icon of the web site if it has one associated with it or the default icon of your browser. If the icon is not to your liking, you can change it.

Right click the icon, choose Properties, and then click the Change Icon button and choose your new icon. Now, when you click this icon, your default browser will open and the web site will display.

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