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8 Ways to Fix Desktop Shortcuts That Aren’t Working

Changing the location of a program may cause shortcuts errors

6 min. read

Updated onNovember 10, 2023

updated onNovember 10, 2023

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Key notes

After updating their system, several users have reported problems with shortcuts on Windows 10.

Both app shortcuts in Modern UI and in Desktop mode became unresponsive and failed to launch the necessary programs.

Why are my shortcuts not working on Windows 11?

If your Windows 10 & 11 shortcuts are not working, this can cause many issues, considering that you won’t be able to access the specific software easily, thus wasting valuable time.

Usually, the main issue why the shortcuts are not working is because the program launched by that shortcut changed location.

Even though Windows 10 offers troubleshooters to deal with these issues, for some systems, these tools were not able to find solutions, resulting in many unhappy customers.

Not being able to use your shortcuts can be a big problem, and in this article, we’re going to cover the following issues:

These errors can be easily fixed, and in this guide, we’ll show you how to do it.

What can I do if desktop shortcuts are not working on Windows 11?

1. Remove your antivirus

It can happen that these problems with your shortcuts occur due to the antivirus software you are using. To fix the issue, we are suggesting using another antivirus solution as this may help fix things if the Windows 11 desktop is not loading.

You can benefit from powerful security services and low resource consumption with another antivirus. Plus, you have great protection while browsing, and malware threats are detected instantly.

Hence, after removing your antivirus you should certainly install one that will not interfere with your Windows, thus choose from thebest antivirus software on Windows 10 today.

2. Check Application Shortcuts directory

If Windows 11 desktop files are not showing, it’s usually due to a broken path to the program executable they should launch.

If you’ve uninstalled a certain program, then all you’re left with is deleting the shortcut.

3. Recreate the shortcut

If you’ve moved or updated the program and the corresponding desktop icons are not showing in Windows 10 anymore, you have the option to either create a new one or try and fix the path of your old shortcut.

4. Check if the path to the application is correct

If things are not working, you would have to modify the Windows 11 desktop icons settings. Once done, the problem should be resolved. If not, head to the next method.

5. Leave the Homegroup

6. Use PowerShell

Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers |Where-Object {$.InstallLocation -like “SystemApps"} | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($.InstallLocation)AppXManifest.xml”}

7. Perform a Clean Boot

8. Fix file associations

How can I fix Desktop shortcuts not working on Windows 11?

Although the new OS has more features and a new design, its core is still very close to the one from Windows 10.

That’s why all the solutions we highlighted above for Windows 10 will work seamlessly on Windows 11 as well.

However, the menus and windows look a bit different, and in Solution 6, you will have to use Windows Terminal instead of PowerShell.

Not being able to use your desktop shortcuts can be an annoying problem.Shortcuts not deletingis an even bigger problem, but we hope you managed to solve it by using the solutions from this article.

Now that you’ve fixed this issue, you might be interested in our article, including the50 best Windows 11 shortcuts.

Please let us know in the comments section below if you have further suggestions or recommendations.

8 Ways to Fix Desktop Shortcuts That Aren’t Working#

What can I do if desktop shortcuts are not working on Windows 11?#

1. Remove your antivirus#

2. Check Application Shortcuts directory#

3. Recreate the shortcut#

4. Check if the path to the application is correct#

5. Leave the Homegroup#

6. Use PowerShell#

7. Perform a Clean Boot#

8. Fix file associations#

How can I fix Desktop shortcuts not working on Windows 11?#