Tech Tip for Writers #60: How to Add Shortcuts to the Desktop
Tech Tips for Writers is an (almost) weekly post on overcoming Tech Dread. I’ll cover issues that friends, both real-time and virtual, have shared. Feel free to post a comment about a question you have. I’ll cover it in a future Tip.
Q: How do I create a shortcut on my desktop so I can find my programs easier?
A: Maybe it’s to your writing program or to the WIP. Whatever it is, it wastes precious writing time (and sometimes we get only 30-60 minutes between activities to get a scene started/edited) to drill down through layers of files to click-click-click to the one you need.
There are two ways to do that:
click on the icon on the start button and drag and drop it to the desktop, or
right click on the icon on ‘all programs’ (click start button, then select ‘all programs’ at the bottom) and select ‘send to’, then select ‘desktop (create shortcut)’
That’s it.
This is a great tool for students so they can easily access the programs they use most often. If you have fourth grade or up students, let them do this themselves. They’ll feel empowered and they’ll add shortcuts you didn’t consider.
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Jacqui Murray is the editor of a technology curriculum for K-sixth grade and creator of two technology training books for middle school. She is the author of Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy. She is webmaster for five blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, a columnist for Examiner.com, Editorial Review Board member for Journal for Computing Teachers, Cisco guest blogger, IMS tech expert, and a bi-weekly contributor to Write Anything. Currently, she’s editing a thriller for her agent that should be out to publishers this summer. Contact Jacqui at her writing office or her tech lab, Ask a Tech Teacher.
Filed under: tech tips for writers Tagged: shortcuts, tech tips, writers tips
