Osenpa
Windows guide

Create a Desktop Shortcut for a Microsoft Store App

Press Windows+R, enter shell:AppsFolder and find your installed app. Right-click it, choose Create shortcut and agree to put the shortcut on the desktop.

By Osenpa · Updated
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Before you start

  • A Windows PC with the app already installed. If Microsoft Store still shows an installation in progress, let it finish.

Follow these steps

  1. Open the Applications folder

    Press Windows+R. Type shell:AppsFolder into Run and press Enter. Windows opens a list of installed applications.

  2. Find the app

    Find the app by name in the Applications window. Select the installed app you want to open from the desktop.

    Windows 11 Applications folder with Settings selected as an example installed app.
    Choose your installed app in Applications; Settings is shown as an example. Enlarge image.

  3. Open the app’s right-click menu

    Right-click the selected app and choose Create shortcut.

    The Settings app is selected in Applications and its right-click menu includes Create shortcut.
    Choose Create shortcut from the menu for the app you selected. Enlarge image.

  4. Put the shortcut on the desktop

    If Windows says it cannot create a shortcut here and offers the desktop instead, choose Yes.

    The desktop shortcut confirmation appears over the Applications window, with Settings still selected behind it.
    Windows offers to place the shortcut on the desktop. Enlarge image.

  5. Try the new icon

    Press Windows+D to show the desktop. Double-click the new shortcut and check that the intended app opens.

If you need more help

You can also drag it from Start

Open Start and choose All or All apps. Find the installed app, then drag it from that list onto an empty area of the desktop. Use the Applications-folder steps above if dragging does not work on your setup.

If the app is missing

Search for its name in Start. If Microsoft Store has not finished installing it, complete the installation first, then reopen the Applications window.

For an Osenpa app, the official downloads page links to its Store listing. Use the same installed app name when looking for it in Windows.

If the shortcut is not visible

Right-click an empty part of the desktop, open View and turn on Show desktop icons. You can also open Desktop in File Explorer to look for the shortcut.

To remove the icon later

Delete the desktop shortcut when you no longer need it. Removing that shortcut leaves the app installed.

Windows references

  • Microsoft: add app shortcuts and show desktop icons
  • Microsoft: open the installed-app list with shell:appsfolder