Pinning .txt items to my notepad

Question

I need to know how to pin my txt files to my Notepad which is already pinned to my taskbar. Please advise step by step.

Answer 1

Hi Cynthia Vierra,

Welcome to the Microsoft Q&A forum.

In Windows 11, the taskbar is designed to pin apps, such as Notepad. Pinning individual files directly to an app’s taskbar icon isn’t available by default. However, you can still achieve quick one‑click access to a specific text file by using a simple shortcut method.

This approach lets you open a specific .txt file directly in Notepad from the taskbar.

• Open File Explorer and locate your .txt file.
• Right‑click the file and select Show more options > Create shortcut.
• Right‑click the newly created shortcut and select Properties.
• In the Target field, add notepad.exe followed by a space before the file path.
• Example: notepad.exe "C:\Path\YourFile.txt"
• Select OK to save.
• Drag this shortcut onto the taskbar.

Selecting the shortcut from the taskbar will now open that file directly in Notepad.

Let me know if you need further assistance, feel free to ask me by clicking "Add Comment" or "Add Answer" if you cannot add comment so your response will be visible. Thanks for your effort.

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Answer 2

Text files cannot be pinned “inside” Notepad on the taskbar, but they can be pinned to Notepad’s jump list on the taskbar so they’re quickly accessible from the Notepad icon.

Step-by-step (Windows 11):

1. Make sure Notepad is pinned to the taskbar
   • Open Notepad from Start.
   • While Notepad is open, right-click its icon on the taskbar.
   • Select Pin to taskbar if it isn’t already pinned.
2. Open each .txt file you want to pin
   • Double-click the .txt file in File Explorer (or right-click → Open with → Notepad).
   • This adds the file to Notepad’s Recent list on its jump list.
3. Pin the .txt file to Notepad’s jump list
   • Close Notepad if you like; the file will still appear in the recent list.
   • Right-click the Notepad icon on the taskbar.
   • Under Recent (or Recent files), move the mouse over the .txt file you want to keep.
   • Click the pin icon next to that file name.
   • The file moves to the Pinned section of the Notepad jump list.
4. Open pinned .txt files from the taskbar
   • Right-click the Notepad icon on the taskbar.
   • Under Pinned, click the .txt file to open it directly.

This uses the taskbar jump list feature, which is how Windows provides quick access to recent and pinned items for apps on the taskbar.

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References:

• Customize the Taskbar in Windows
• Use a screen reader to explore and navigate the Start menu in Windows