How to Pin an App to Your Taskbar or Start Menu

If you use the same apps every day, pinning them to your taskbar or Start menu saves you from searching for them each time you need them. It is a small change that saves a surprising amount of time over the course of a week.

How to pin an app to your taskbar

Click the Start button and find the app you want to pin. You can scroll through the list or type the app name in the search bar. Right click on the app and select Pin to taskbar. The app icon will now appear permanently on the taskbar at the bottom of your screen, so you can open it with a single click.

How to pin an app to your Start menu

Click the Start button and find the app the same way. Right click on the app and select Pin to Start. The app will now appear in your pinned section when you open the Start menu.

What to pin

For most business users, pinning Outlook, Teams, your browser and File Explorer to the taskbar covers the apps you use most often. Anything else you use daily is also worth pinning. The goal is to reduce the number of times you search for the same app every day.

How to remove a pinned app

If you change your mind, right click the app on the taskbar and click Unpin from taskbar. For the Start menu, right click the app and click Unpin from Start. This does not delete the app. It only removes the shortcut.

Rearranging pinned apps

You can drag and drop pinned apps on both the taskbar and the Start menu to put them in the order that suits you best. Most people put their most used app on the far left of the taskbar for the quickest access.

Pinning websites as apps

If you frequently use a web-based tool like your CRM or accounting software, you can pin it to the taskbar too. Open the site in Microsoft Edge, click the three dots in the top right, then click Apps and then Install this site as an app. It will appear in your Start menu and you can pin it to the taskbar like any other app.

When to get help

If apps are missing from your Start menu, if you cannot pin or unpin certain programs or if your taskbar is behaving unexpectedly, there may be a Windows policy or profile issue. Contact your IT provider if basic troubleshooting does not resolve it.