How to: pin any game to the taskbar

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bitmaster2000 May 20, 2016 @ 3:53am

How to: pin any game to the taskbar

Most Steam games can be pinned to the taskbar, some can not. Reports on how to fix this sometimes fix it, but most solutions I find (e.g. pointing shortcuts directly to game executables) do not fix it for ALL games and also won't load Steam properly (the overlay would be inaccessible). So allow me to give you a working solution for all Steam games.

The steps below will allow you to add any game's shortcut, including proper icon, to the taskbar of Windows 7 to Windows 10. It may seem a lot of work, but if you want it, please read it; you'll understand it when you follow it.

YOUR OLD SHORTCUT (STEAM'S SHORTCUT)

Steam can create a desktop shortcut to the game for you. If you are unable to right-click this shortcut and select 'Pin to taskbar', it's because it uses a Steam URL as a shortcut to start the game, and it not uses the file steam.exe yet which it eventually points to. Our new shortcut will fix this.

• First, find the game id of the game you want to create a pinnable shortcut for. Have Steam create a desktop shortcut for you (if you don't already have it), right-click it and click Properties. In one of the first two tabs of the properties it will tell you the URL. For example, it looks like this:

steam://rungameid/8140

In this example, it points to game id 8140, which is a Tomb Raider game. This id will differ for each other game. Take a note of your game's id.

Now lets create the new shortcut.

YOUR NEW SHORTCUT

In the example below, we're going to point the new shortcut to the steam.exe executable and we'll give it a parameter to launch the game by id. This way it will be not a URL command, but an executable's command, and you will be allowed to pin it to both the start menu and taskbar.

Assuming you have installed Steam at the default location, the command we are about to give to the new shortcut looks like this:

"C:\Program Files\Steam\Steam.exe" -applaunch 8140

Or for 64-bit versions of Windows it would look like this:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\Steam.exe" -applaunch 8140

As you can see, this example says game id 8140 again (Tomb Raider). Replace it with the game id you've looked up in the old shortcut. Leave the quotes as is. If Steam is installed somewhere else for you, you'll have to adjust the path accordingly (perhaps commit a Windows search for 'steam.exe' to find it).

Now lets put this command in a shortcut:

• Right click your desktop, click New -> Shortcut.
• You'll be asked for the location of the item. Enter the entire command line as above, but with your specific game id. Click Next.
• Enter a name for the shortcut... so enter the name of the game. Click Finish.

You can now double-click the newly created shortcut on the desktop to see if it starts the game. It will be possible to right-click the shortcut and to pin it to the taskbar.

If you want to change the shortcut's icon, don't pin it yet.

YOUR NEW SHORTCUT'S ICON

You may want to change the new shortcut's icon to the game's icon, like the game's icon that Steam uses for its own desktop shortcut.

• Right click your newly created game shortcut, click Properties. In the tab 'Shortcut', click 'Change Icon'. A smaller window pops up, click Browse. Now pay attention.

• Browse to the game's folder, which is inside the Steam library. Let's say the game is Tomb Raider again. The default location would then be:

C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\Tomb Raider

Or for 64-bit versions of Windows it would be:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Tomb Raider

You may have your steam library at a custom location. I myself have put it in C:\Games, which led to the location:

C:\Games\Steam Library\steamapps\common\Tomb Raider

• Although your location might differ, you should be able to find it by my examples. Once you have browsed to the game's location, you'll find a file there that has the game's icon. You might recognize it. The name of the file doesn't matter. Select the file, and click OK for each window until all properties are closed.

Your shortcut should now have the proper icon. You can now finally pin it to the taskbar and then delete the shortcut from the desktop.

Best regards,

Albert

Last edited by bitmaster2000; May 20, 2016 @ 8:59am

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