[Tip] Create Shortcuts or Direct Commands to Launch UWP Apps in Windows 10 and 11

Windows 10 and Windows 11 operating systems come with many UWP (Universal Windows Platform) apps preinstalled or bundled. UWP apps are also known as Store apps, modern apps and metro apps. Some examples of UWP apps are 3D Viewer, Clock, Calendar, Mail, Maps, Movies, Photos, etc.

We can also download and install 3rd party UWP apps using Windows Store. To access all these UWP apps, we need to launch them using Start Menu. We can also pin their shortcuts to Start Menu tiles section or Taskbar.

Many times you may want to create shortcut of an UWP app on Desktop or inside some folder for quick and easy access. Many users may want to add UWP apps shortcuts to Quick Launch toolbar or a dock utility.

But when you right-click on any UWP app shortcut, there is no option present to create its shortcut on Desktop or anywhere else. We can only pin the app to Start Menu or Taskbar.

In this tutorial, we’ll tell you how to create direct shortcuts to launch any UWP app right from Desktop or anywhere else. Also you’ll be able to direct launch UWP apps via command line tools such as Command Prompt or RUN dialog box.

Let’s start the tutorial:

METHOD 1: Create Shortcut to UWP Apps Using Hidden Secret Folder

There is a hidden secret folder called “Applications” in Windows 8, Windows 10 and Windows 11. This folder contains list of all installed apps and programs in Windows.

We have told you about this folder long time back in following exclusive article:

Hidden Secret Features and Useful Hotkeys in Windows 8 and Later

We can open and access this hidden folder using shell:appsfolder command in RUN dialog box.

Press WIN+R keys together to launch RUN dialog box and type shell:appsfolder and press Enter key. It’ll open Applications folder containing list of all installed UWP apps and 3rd party software programs.

Now to create direct shortcut to any UWP app, just right-click on the app and select Create shortcut option.

Windows will show a message “Windows can’t create a shortcut here. Do you want the shortcut to be placed on the desktop instead?”, click on Yes button.

That’s it. You’ll get a direct shortcut to the UWP app on Desktop.

Now you can copy the shortcut to anywhere else such as Quick Launch toolbar, docking utility, etc.

METHOD 2: Direct Commands to Launch UWP Apps from Command-line

There are some built-in commands which can be used to direct launch UWP apps in Windows. These commands are known as URI (Uniform Resource Identifier) which are unique addresses to identify specific app.

Following is a list of all available commands to open UWP apps:

You can execute these commands from RUN dialog box, Command Prompt, This PC address bar, etc. You can even create shortcuts using these commands to directly open UWP apps.

PS: While creating shortcut of an app using above mentioned URI commands, you can try to append explorer.exe before the command. For example, to create shortcut for Mail app you can try following string:

If you know about any other method to create shortcuts for UWP apps or direct commands to launch UWP apps, feel free to share them in comments section.

Also Check:

List of Commands to Launch Specific Settings Page Directly in Windows 10

[Guide] How to Uninstall and Remove All Built-in Apps in Windows 10

[Guide] How to Reinstall All Default Built-in Apps in Windows 10