How to Add Recycle Bin, Run, Search and Many Other Useful Shortcuts in My Computer?

Recently someone asked us how to add "Recycle Bin" shortcut in My Computer? Actually its very easy and can be done using a very simple registry trick which we are going to reveal in this tutorial.

Today we'll learn how to add various useful shortcuts in My Computer window for quick and easier use as shown in following screenshot:

So without wasting any time, here we start the tutorial:

1. Type regedit in RUN or startmenu search box and press Enter. It'll open Registry Editor.

2. Now go to following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MyComputer\NameSpace

3. Now we'll need to create a new key under "NameSpace" key. Right-click on "NameSpace" key and select "New -> Key". Now you'll need to set its name to any of the following value mentioned in BOLD:

Recycle Bin - {645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}
Control Panel - {21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}
Run - {2559A1F3-21D7-11D4-BDAF-00C04F60B9F0}
Search - {2559A1F0-21D7-11D4-BDAF-00C04F60B9F0}
Flip 3D - {3080F90E-D7AD-11D9-BD98-0000947B0257}
Internet Explorer - {871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30309D}
Administrative Tools - {D20EA4E1-3957-11D2-A40B-0C5020524153}
Network Connections - {7007ACC7-3202-11D1-AAD2-00805FC1270E}
Printers - {2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D}

As shown in following screenshot:

4. That's it. As soon as you set the value in registry, it'll immediately start showing the item in My Computer.

NOTE: To delete the item from My Computer window, simply delete the associated key from registry.

PS: If you want ready-made registry scripts to add these shortcuts automatically, then download following ZIP file, extract it and run the desired .REG file. It'll automatically add the item in My Computer window. An uninstall script is also included in the pack to remove these items.

Download Registry Scripts

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This article was posted in Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP.

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28 Comments

VG

^^ Did you try the ready-made registry script attached at last of the topic?
Soham

Control Panel doesn't work totally..only icon I can see but it never opens... do you have any fixture?
henk

where can i find more of these values you save as keys, im sure you can do this with other applications as well, or at least more applications in the system32 folder?
Michael

I downloaded and tried all your registry scripts and only the following ones worked for me... Administrative Tools, Network Connections, Run and Search. Run and Search appeared as "&Run..." and "&Search" and the Flip 3D script made a blank icon because I don't have it installed, which makes sense...

That still leaves Control Panel, Internet Explorer, Printers and Recycle Bin that don't work.
Rubal

how can bigger taskbar buttons be shown on vista's taskbar
Rubal

how can bigger taskbar buttons be shown on vista's taskbar
Kai

What are some other program's keys that can be input into My Computer? (Like firefox, thunderbird, default anti-virus, etc.)? I looked through the registry (where I am most at home, lawl) and I saw more than 30 thousand keys. Any ideas?
Dementor

Is there a way to pin Flip 3D to the taskbar?
VJ

Insane stuff my brother.

your website is so helpful.... i never go to any other website for tweaking my xp.

awesome, awesome stuff.

thanks.
Save3c

showed *&* with text
Example
&Run
S&earch .... ????