Windows® 7 Visual™ Quick Tips

1.1. Pin an Item to Your Start Menu

You can customize the Windows 7 Start menu to give yourself quick access to the programs that you use most often.

The items on the main Start menu — including Computer, Control Panel, and your user profile folders such as Documents and Pictures — are very handy because they require just two clicks to launch. To start up all your other programs, you must also click All Programs and then negotiate one or more submenus. For those programs you use most often, you can avoid this extra work by pinning their icons permanently to the main Start menu.

All pinned program items appear on the left side of the Start menu, above the list of programs you have used most often. This means that once you have pinned a program ...