PowerShell command to PIN apps to Windows taskbar

Question

I'm looking for a PowerShell command or script that will pin these applications that I commonly use to the Windows taskbar at the bottom of Windows. (I have included the path to these programs):

1. Computer management. Path: %windir%\system32\compmgmt.msc
2. The Windows PowerShell icon. Path: %windir%\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe
3. The Task Scheduler icon Path: %windir%\system32\taskschd.msc
4. The command prompt icon. Path: %windir%\system32\cmd.exe
5. The Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager icon. Path: %windir%\system32\inetsrv\InetMgr.exe
6. The Notepad icon. Path: %windir%\system32\notepad.exe

This script will mostly be used in environments where I don't have access to Active Directory or Group Policy but where I can have the AD team put in a PowerShell script to run one time on several servers or where I will be running this PowerShell script whenever necessary on the individual servers and workstations that I am customizing.

Someone wrote the following script which needs just a few more modifications until it will work properly:

function New-ShortCut
{
[cmdletbinding()]
Param
(
[parameter(Mandatory)]
[ValidateScript({ Test-Path -path $_ })]
[string] $sourceExe,

    [parameter(ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName)]
    [string]$Arguments,

    [parameter(ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName)]
    [ValidateScript({
        (Test-Path -path $_) -and ( (Get-Item -path $_).PSIsContainer )
    })]
    [string]$WorkingDirectory,

    [parameter(ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName)]
    [string] $DestinationLinkName = '{0}\temp.lnk' -f  [environment]::GetFolderPath("desktop"),

    [parameter(ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName)]
    [ValidateSet('Default','Maximized','Minimized')]
    [string]$WindowStyle = 'Default',

    [parameter(ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName)]
    [ValidateScript({ Test-Path -path $_ })]
    [string]$IconPath,

    [parameter(ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName)]
    [ValidateScript({ $null -ne $IconPath })]
    [int]$IconIndexNumber,

    [parameter(ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName)]
    [string]$HotKeyString

)

$wshShell = New-Object -ComObject WScript.Shell

$WindowStyles = @{
    Default     = 1
    Maximized   = 3
    Minimized   = 7
}

$shortcut = $wshShell.CreateShortcut( $DestinationLinkName )
$shortcut.TargetPath = $sourceExe

if ($arguments)         { $shortcut.Arguments = $Arguments }
if ($WorkingDirectory)  { $shortcut.WorkingDirectory = $WorkingDirectory }
if ($WindowStyle)       { $shortcut.WindowStyle = $WindowStyles.$WindowStyle }
if ($HotKeyString)      { $shortcut.Hotkey = $HotKeyString}
if ($IconPath) {
    if ($IconIndexNumber) {
        $shortcut.IconLocation = '{0},{1}' -f $IconPath,$IconIndexNumber
    }
    else {
        $shortcut.IconLocation = $IconPath
    }
}

try
{
    $shortcut.Save()
}
catch
{
    $_.Exception.Message
}
$null = [System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal]::ReleaseComObject($wshShell)

}

.\New-ShortCut -sourceExe 'c:\windows\System32\mmc.exe' -arguments 'compmgmt.msc' -DestinationLinkName $env:userprofile\desktop\ComputerManagement.lnk

.\New-Shortcut -sourceExe 'c:\windows\system32\windowspowershell\v1.0\powershell.exe' -DestinationLinkName $env:userprofile\desktop\powershell.lnk

Answer 1

Hi，

What is your Windows edition? Just creating shortcuts may not pin the applications to the taskbar. You may use the COM object shell.application and invoke the verb "Pin to Taskbar".
This link could be helpful
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/31720595/pin-program-to-taskbar-using-ps-in-windows-10

In Windows 10, you could configure the taksbar with a layout xml file.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/configuration/configure-windows-10-taskbar

Best Regards,
Ian

============================================

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