Launch Windows Explorer to a Folder You Choose
I re-discovered this tip the other day when I was setting up my new laptop. By default, shortcuts to Windows Explorer launch the app and point it to the My Documents folder. In fact, double clicking explorer.exe does the same thing. I suppose that’s fine for default behavior — I actually do like to keep a shortcut poised to open My Documents — but I also like to launch into my c: drive. Is there a quick way to do that? You betcha.
Right click your Windows Explorer shortcut and select Properties. In the resultant dialog, choose the Shortcut tab and add the following to whatever already exists in the Target field: /e,c:\ In my case, the Target went from …
%SystemRoot%\explorer.exe
… to …
%SystemRoot%\explorer.exe /e,c:\
The /e switch allows you to optionally specify a directory on which to focus. Change c:\ to whatever drive (or directory) you please.
Additional details on this Microsoft TechNet article.
June 20th, 2006 at 1:46 pm
Does it work when you type [windows]+[e] on your keyboard or only on shortcuts ?
June 21st, 2006 at 12:59 am
Davel_x,
The thing that makes this work is the
/eswitch, followed by a specified directory parameter. You could supply these extra details if you launched Windows Explorer from a command prompt or the Start > Run dialog, but not from the key combination you mentioned.June 22nd, 2006 at 6:04 am
Another tip, in a similar vein, is having short cuts for IE that go to specific websites. I maintain a small office network during my day job and have recently switched everyone over to Firefox as the default browser (boy, has this made my life easier). There are, as well know, certain sites that don’t play well with the Fox. One, for instance, is the site my boss uses to process the company’s payroll.
The trick is to create a shortcut to IE, and follow it with the URL. No quotes, no nothing. Just a full url (as in “C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\IEXPLORE.EXE” http://www.quip.net/blog/).
Simple, yes, but very useful at times.
June 22nd, 2006 at 6:55 am
Interesting. I imagine your boss might just feel as if he’s simply launching the payroll software (rather than payroll via IE). Everyone wins in a scenario like that.
April 13th, 2007 at 11:27 am
/e,c:\ Perfect! Thanks!!!