Backup and Restore Your Pinned Taskbar Items in Windows 7/8/10

Often-used programs, folders and web pages

The Windows 7//8/10 taskbar can be a very handy launch bar where you can pin programs you use often. You can also pin often-used files, folders, and web pages to it.

Once you have set up your taskbar the way you want it, you may want to back it up so you can restore it if there is a problem with your computer. You may also want to copy your pinned taskbar items to another user profile.

Backup your Pinned Taskbar Items

To backup the items pinned to your taskbar, open Windows Explorer, enter the following path in the address bar and pressEnter.

Select all the shortcut files in theTaskBarfolder. Right-click on the files and selectCopyfrom the popup menu.

Navigate to the folder you are using to store the Taskbar backup files. Right-click in the folder and selectPastefrom the popup menu.

There is a key in the registry that stores data about the Taskbar that you should also backup. To do this, open theStartmenu and enter “regedit” (without the quotes) in theSearch programs and filesbox. Whenregedit.exedisplays in the list of results, click the link.

Again, clickYeson theUser Account Controldialog box.

Navigate to the following key:

Right-click on theTaskbandkey and selectExportfrom the popup menu.

At the bottom of theExport Registry Filedialog box, noticeSelected branchis selected and the value matches the registry key you selected. Navigate to the folder where you are storing your Taskbar backup files. Enter a name for your registry key backup file, putting a.regextension on the filename. ClickSave.

Close theRegistry Editorby selectingExitfrom theFilemenu.

You should see your.regfile in your backup folder.

Restore your Pinned Taskbar Items

To restore your pinned Taskbar items, open Windows Explorer and navigate to the directory where you stored the Taskbar shortcut files and the.regfile. Select the shortcut files (not the.regfile, yet), right-click on the files, and selectCopyfrom the popup menu.

Navigate to the following folder again:

Right-click inside the folder and selectPastefrom the popup menu.

When theCopy Filedialog box displays, select theDo this for the next X conflictscheck box (Xmay vary, depending on how many shortcuts will be replaced). Then, click theCopy and Replacebutton.

Now, you need to add the backed up Taskband registry key back into the registry. To do this, copy the.regfile you created to the Desktop.

NOTE:We found that .reg files do not always run from external drives or network drives, so we copied theTaskbarPinnedItemsBackup.regfile to our desktop before adding the key back into the registry.

Double-click the.regfile on the Desktop and clickYeson theUser Account Controldialog box that displays.

A confirmation dialog box displays to make sure you really want to add the information in the.regfile to the registry. ClickYes.

A dialog box then displays saying the information has been successfully added to the registry. ClickOK.

Notice that your pinned items do not immediately display on the Taskbar. You need to end the Explorer process and restart it for the items to show up. To do this, right-click on the Taskbar and selectStart Task Managerfrom the popup menu.

On theWindows Task Managerdialog box, click theProcessestab. Right-click on theexplorer.exetask in the list and selectEnd Processfrom the popup menu.

A dialog box displays to make sure you really want to end the Explorer process. ClickEnd process.

To restart the Explorer process, selectNew Task (Run…)from theFilemenu.

On theCreate New Taskdialog box, enter “explorer.exe” (without the quotes) in theOpenedit box and clickOK.

To close theWindows Task Managerdialog box, selectExit Task Managerfrom theFilemenu.

Once you have restarted Explorer, you should see your restored pinned items on the Taskbar again. Enjoy!

Founder of Help Desk Geek and managing editor. He began blogging in 2007 and quit his job in 2010 to blog full-time. He has over 15 years of industry experience in IT and holds several technical certifications.Read Aseem’s Full Bio

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Backup and Restore Your Pinned Taskbar Items in Windows 7/8/10#

Backup your Pinned Taskbar Items#

Restore your Pinned Taskbar Items#