How to Create a Shortcut on Your Desktop (Windows & Mac)

Desktop shortcuts are one of those small productivity tools that people either swear by or completely ignore — but once you know how to create them properly, they become genuinely useful. Whether you want faster access to a program, a specific folder, a website, or a file, there's almost always a way to put it one click away on your desktop.

What Is a Desktop Shortcut, Exactly?

A desktop shortcut is a small link file that points to something else — an application, document, folder, or URL. It's not the actual file or program. Deleting a shortcut doesn't delete the thing it points to, which is why shortcuts are safe to create, move, and remove freely.

Shortcuts typically appear with a small arrow icon in the corner to distinguish them from actual files stored on the desktop.

How to Create a Desktop Shortcut on Windows 🖥️

Windows offers several methods depending on what you're trying to link to.

Method 1: Right-Click and Send to Desktop

This is the most common method for applications and files already visible in File Explorer.

1. Open File Explorer and navigate to the file, folder, or application (.exe) you want a shortcut for
2. Right-click the item
3. Hover over Send to
4. Select Desktop (create shortcut)

A shortcut appears on your desktop immediately.

Method 2: Right-Click the Desktop Directly

1. Right-click an empty area of your desktop
2. Select New → Shortcut
3. In the dialog box, type or paste the full path to the program, file, or folder — or click Browse to navigate to it
4. Click Next, give the shortcut a name, then click Finish

This method also works for website shortcuts. Instead of a file path, type the full URL (e.g., https://www.example.com) into the location field.

Method 3: Drag from the Start Menu

For apps pinned or listed in the Start Menu:

1. Open the Start Menu and find the app
2. Click and drag it directly onto the desktop

Not all apps support this cleanly depending on how they were installed, but it works reliably for most traditional desktop applications.

Method 4: Creating a Shortcut for a Website in a Browser

In Chrome or Edge:

1. Open the website you want
2. Click the three-dot menu (⋮)
3. Go to More tools → Create shortcut
4. Check Open as window if you want it to behave more like an app, then click Create

This creates a desktop shortcut that opens the site directly.

How to Create a Desktop Shortcut on macOS 🍎

Mac handles shortcuts differently. The equivalent of a Windows shortcut is called an alias.

Creating an Alias

1. Find the file, folder, or application in Finder
2. Right-click (or Control+click) the item
3. Select Make Alias
4. Drag the alias to your desktop

Alternatively, hold Command + Option while dragging any file or folder to the desktop — this creates an alias automatically rather than moving the original.

Website Shortcuts on Mac

In Safari:

1. Open the website
2. Click and drag the URL from the address bar directly to the desktop

In Chrome on Mac, use the same three-dot menu method described above for Windows.

Key Differences Between Platforms

Variables That Affect Your Approach

Operating system version matters more than people expect. Windows 11 reorganized the right-click context menu, so options like "Send to" are now nested under Show more options. If you right-click and don't see the familiar menu, that extra click reveals the classic options.

How the application was installed also plays a role. Apps installed through the Microsoft Store or Mac App Store sometimes behave differently than traditionally installed programs. Store apps may not expose a simple .exe or application file to browse to directly.

File type is another variable. Shortcuts to documents behave identically to shortcuts to apps in terms of how you create them, but document shortcuts depend on the associated application being present. If you move a document shortcut to a different machine without the original file, it breaks.

Network paths and shared drives introduce additional complexity. You can create shortcuts pointing to network locations, but those shortcuts only work when the network drive is connected and accessible.

User permissions can limit what's possible in managed environments — corporate or school-issued computers often restrict what users can place on the desktop or modify in certain directories.

Different Users, Different Needs

Someone who opens the same five applications every morning will use desktop shortcuts very differently from someone who prefers a clean desktop and relies on search (Windows key or Spotlight on Mac) to launch everything.

For power users, shortcuts to specific project folders or frequently accessed network drives can save meaningful time. For casual users, the appeal is usually putting one or two apps front and center without digging through menus.

There's also the question of desktop organization style — shortcuts add clutter for some people and reduce friction for others. Whether that tradeoff works depends entirely on how you actually use your computer day to day, how many items you're considering, and whether your workflow is mouse-driven or keyboard-driven.

Your desktop is ultimately a reflection of your habits, and what belongs there — if anything — comes down to how your own setup is structured.