How to Make Chrome Shortcuts on Your Windows Desktop

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By
Scott Orgera
Scott Orgera
Scott Orgera
Writer
Scott Orgera is a former Lifewire writer covering tech since 2007. He has 25+ years' experience as a programmer and QA leader, and holds several Microsoft certifications including MCSE, MCP+I, and MOUS. He is also A+ certified.
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Updated on December 24, 2022
Reviewed by
Ryan Perian
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Reviewed by Ryan Perian
  • Western Governors University
Ryan Perian is a certified IT specialist who holds numerous IT certifications and has 12+ years' experience working in the IT industry support and management positions.
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What to Know

  • Go to the website, select Menu (three dots) > More Tools. Choose Add to desktop, Create shortcut, or Create application shortcuts.
  • Then, name the shortcut and select Create.
  • You can also create shortcuts in a folder, on the desktop, or on the Taskbar.

This article explains how to create a shortcut to a website in Google Chrome and add it to your desktop, a folder, or the Taskbar.

How to Create Chrome Shortcuts on Your Desktop

When you create a shortcut to a web page, the shortcut opens the web page in a standalone window without any menus, tabs, or other browser components. A Chrome shortcut can also be configured to open as a standard web page in a new browser tab since the standalone window option isn't available in all versions of Windows.

  1. Open the Chrome web browser and go to a web page.

  2. Go to the Chrome menu, located in the upper-right corner of the browser and represented by three vertically-aligned dots.

  3. Select More tools and choose either Add to desktop, Create shortcut, or Create application shortcuts (the option you see depends on your operating system).

    screenshot showing More Tools

  4. Type a name for the shortcut or leave the default name, which is the title of the web page.

    Create Shortcut screenshot

  5. Select Create to add the shortcut to your desktop.

More Information on Creating Chrome Shortcuts

The above method isn't the only way to make shortcuts that open in Chrome. Here are some other ways to create a shortcut to a web page:

Create a Shortcut in a Folder

  1. Highlight a URL in the address bar.

  2. Drag the link to a folder on your computer.

Create a Shortcut on the Desktop

  1. Right-click the desktop, go to New, and select Shortcut.

  2. Enter the URL and select Next.

  3. Type a name for the shortcut and select Finish.

Create a Shortcut on the Taskbar

  1. Select a shortcut on the desktop.

  2. Drag the shortcut to the Windows taskbar.

If none of these methods open the link in Chrome, change the default browser in Windows.

FAQ
  • How do I add a website to my Chrome homepage?

    To add a website to your Chrome homepage, open a new tab and select Add Shortcut at the bottom of the page. To edit or remove a shortcut, hover your mouse over it and select the three-dot menu.

  • What are Windows shortcut keys?

    Windows keyboard shortcuts are key combinations you can press to control your PC without having to use your mouse or look through menus. For example, you can press Ctrl+C to copy text and press Ctrl+V to paste it.

  • What are Google Chrome keyboard shortcuts?

    You can use Google Chrome keyboard shortcuts for a variety of purposes, ranging from opening Chrome's internal Task Manager to sending the current web page to your printer. For example, press Ctrl+T to open a new tab or Ctrl+F to search within a page.

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