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Is it possible to create an icon on the Desktop for IE without re-installing?

The questioner had somehow lost the desktop icon for Internet Explorer. IE was still on the machine, but it wasn't at all obvious how to get the icon back.

Fortunately creating desktop icons for any program is easy. As with anything there are about half a dozen ways to do it. We'll review just a few.

What most people don't realize is that items on the Start Menu can be dragged around. They can be dragged onto other submenus within the Start Menu, which moves the item or they can be dragged onto the desktop, which copies it. Try it - locate a program on your start menu like Internet Explorer, click and hold (this can be just a little tricky. Windows doesn't always seem to recognize the hold for me), and then drag it onto your desktop. Instant shortcut.

Windows explorer (not to be confused with Internet Explorer) is another place you can drag from, but it requires just a little extra caution. Fire up Windows Explorer (I use the "start" windows key + E, or right click on My Computer and select "Explore") and navigate to a directory that contains the file you want a shortcut too. To create a new shortcut for Internet Explorer we'll look for IExplore.exe which is normally "C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\IEXPLORE.EXE". Navigate to "C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer", click and hold on IEXPLORE.EXE, and drag it over to your desktop. As you drag it over the desktop you should see the little curved "shortcut arrow" appear indicating that if you release it onto the desktop you'll be creating a shortcut. For many programs or other files the default action is to copy the entire file to your desktop - in those cases holding down the ALT key before dropping the file will cause the shortcut arrow to appear, and dropping the file then will create a shortcut to the original.

For our last example you can just right click on the desktop, select New, Shortcut and in the dialog that results, select the Browse button. Now expand directories listed there to locate the file you want a shortcut to; for example My Computer, C:, Program Files, Internet Explorer. In there we'll see IEXPLORER.EXE; click on that, hit OK, and then Next. Now enter a name for your shortcut (that's what will show on the desktop) and press Finish. You should now have a new shortcut for Internet Explorer.

Article C1989 - June 6, 2004 « »

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Leo Leo A. Notenboom has been playing with computers since he was required to take a programming class in 1976. An 18 year career as a programmer at Microsoft soon followed. After "retiring" in 2001, Leo started Ask Leo! in 2003 as a place for answers to common computer and technical questions. More about Leo.

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Recent Comments
44 Comments
Sue F.
June 5, 2009 6:20 AM

i don't have any network connection to activate my internet explorer icon

JT
July 4, 2009 8:17 AM

I've had trouble for years with IE's icon. With IE7, I simply drug the ieexplorer.exe icon in the Programs folder to the Start menu. However, with IE8, this procedure didn't work because there is no ieexplorer.exe file.

What worked was clicking on Start, Set Program Access and Defaults, Custom drop-down menu, and allowing access to Internet Explorer (which was unchecked). The IE8 icon appeared in my Quicklaunch bar and in the All Programs list! Hope this solution works for you!

tahar chikhi
February 9, 2010 8:05 AM

i lost my internet explora icon from my computer

David Zabriskie
November 8, 2011 6:41 PM

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/945402

This 'fixit' restores the 'special' IE icon (it's not
a regular shortcut).

Kevin
February 22, 2013 8:44 PM

Sometimes my fellow IT people although are helpful the majority of the time take the easy route instead of going that extra mile.

Right Clicking on an Link or Icon and dragging is more efficient than holding down CTRL, left click and drag. It only requires one hand, it gives you 3 options instead of the two given here.

Another item of point. The Internet Explorer shortcut is only good for opening Internet Explorer. The Microsoft engineers are also clueless. They did away with one of the most useful tools and left us with a dumb link. The Original Internet Explorer icon also was a "Full Featured" tool. Not only could you access the Internet but you could also access the Internet Options.

Bring back the Full Featured Internet Explorer icon to the desktop.

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