Mouse
What if you could make your own menus!
Mouse

Think about all those files you use most regularly. Some of them will be documents, some will be spreadsheets, there might be some music, or a favourite video. All sorts of things. And right at this moment they're lurking in "My Documents", hopefully in one or more folders.

But what if you could keep them in a pop-up menu on your desk top? It would be so convenient for quick access. I have three of those menus—one for Creative Writing, one contains a series of links to all my software programs, the third is a miscellany of files that I use more than any other—and they all slumber on my taskbar until I wave some smelling salts under their virtual noses and bring them to life.

It's easy.

  1. Decide which folder/s you want to use as menus. If you intend to use a variety of files from different places, you'll need to drag them all into one folder.
  2. Place your mouse pointer over a clear space on your Taskbar (which runs right along the bottom of your Desktop and has "Start" at the left hand end).
  3. Right click on that clear space and on the menu that appears you should see a tick alongside "Lock the Taskbar".
  4. Click that tick to unlock the Taskbar.
  5. Now, drag the folder (the one you want to use as a menu) onto the Taskbar. You'll need to place it toward the right hand end.
  6. You won't be able to put it in the wrong place because your mouse pointer will change to an "illegal" symbol (a circle with a slash through it) until you reach the correct spot. When you have positioned the folder, release the mouse button and it will stay in place.
  7. Now, go back to a vacant place on the Taskbar, right click then, on the menu that appears, left click "Lock the Taskbar".
  8. That's it. You now have a useful menu on your Taskbar that will allow you to access those files quickly and easily. Your original folder will remain where you first had it—it didn't actually move—but you can access it from the menu. You may still add or delete files as you would in any other folder. They will be added or deleted from your menu as you do.
  9. Something you might like to consider is that a very short file name is an advantage. It takes less space on your Taskbar. My three menus are CW, P, and Z. They don't take up much space that way.