Tips & Tricks

Control Windows Explorer Focus

Ever wish you could control the folder or drive that Windows Explorer opens to? Well, you can and here's how:

Right-click the Desktop and select New, Shortcut.

In the command line box, put in one of the commands below:

1. To have this shortcut open Explorer with focus on the My Documents folder, use this in the command line (probably a good idea to copy and paste the line):

explorer /e,/n,/root, c:\My Documents

It should look like this:

NOTE: XP users will need to insert your user name for a My Documents shortcut. Your command line needs to look like this:

explorer.exe /e,/n,/root, C:\Documents and Settings\YOUR USER NAME\My Documents

2. If you would like to just have focus on the C: drive, use the line below:

explorer /e,/n,/root, c:\

3. If you would like the shortcut to open to a "My Computer" view, use this line: (Note - if you right-click My Computer and select Explore from the resulting menu, you'll get the same effect. This is quicker though)

explorer /n,/e,/root,,/select,C:\

NOTE: As you can see, you can put in any path you like where you see the "C:\" at the end of the line. You could set up Explorer shortcuts for any frequently used folders and or drives.

Once you've decided on the command line, click Next and name the shortcut (something like "Explore My Stuff" or Explore My Docs") and click the Finish button. Cool huh?

~ Steve

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