Add the Recycle Bin to the Windows 7 Start Menu

Written by Alan Tuesday, 15 November 2011 07:00

The Windows Start Menu is quite a useful feature, especially in Windows 7.  However, one thing it lacks is access to the Recycle Bin.  For that, you need to go to your desktop, and if you like a clean desktop, like I do, and keep that hidden and it’s apps available from a “Desktop” menu in the Windows Taskbar, then the Recycle Bin is even less convenient to access.  You may have noticed that the Recycle Bin is not even accessible by searching from the Start Menu.

While you can’t actually add the Recycle Bin in a way that makes it an option like Computer, Pictures, or Music, you can make it be found by a search from the Start Menu.  It’s a fairly simple hack that makes this possible.

To get started click Start => Computer and in the menu bar type “C:\Users\your_user_name\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu” and insert your user name in place of “your_user_name”, then hit Enter.

Now right-click in the folder area and choose New => Shortcut.  In the location box enter “explorer.exe shell:RecycleBinFolder”.  Hit Enter and you will be prompted to enter a name for the shortcut.  You can use “Recycle Bin” or whatever you wish.

(You don’t have to perform this step.) Right-click the Recycle Bin shortcut folder and choose Properties.  On the Shortcut tab click Change Icon.  In the “Look for icons in this file” box type “%SystemRoot%\system32\imageres.dll”, hit Enter and then look for the Recycle Bin icon.

Click OK and you are done.  Now when you search for “recycle bin” in the Start Menu search you have a result.  You could even name your shortcut something a little shorter and easier to type like “trash”.

Perhaps in the future Microsoft will make the Recycle Bin a bit more easy to access from various locations, but from what we have seen of Windows 8 that may not be the case, given the vast changes to the interface.  Still, this is a simple hack that almost any user will have no problem following.

Alan

Alan is the owner and editor of Making Windows Easy. In addition to writing about technology he is also an avid distance runner and hiker. Read More

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