You don’t have to go to the folder location, again and again, pin it to the Start menu, Quick access, etc., to open it. Just a keyboard shortcut will let you open your folder from any location. Whether you are using the Start menu, File Explorer, browser, or working with an application, when you need to access your folder, press the hotkey and it will open that folder.
Open Folder with Keyboard Shortcut in Windows 11/10
There are two different ways to help you open a folder using a keyboard shortcut. These are: Let’s check both options one by one.
1] Open a Folder with Keyboard Shortcut using Folder Shortcut in Windows 11/10
This is an easier and built-in option in Windows 11/10 to open a folder with a keyboard shortcut. You can also use this option to create keyboard shortcuts to open programs or applications. The process is very much similar. Here are the steps: Now you can open that folder using the hotkey set by you. It will take 2-4 seconds to launch the folder once the hotkey is pressed. Do note that this option will work as long as the desktop shortcut of that folder is available. Once you will delete that shortcut, the hotkey to open that folder won’t work. You can hide that folder shortcut from the desktop if you don’t want to see it there.
2] Open a Folder with Custom Hotkey using the WinHotKey tool
This option is better to use because it doesn’t require a desktop shortcut of a folder. In this option, we have used a free tool named WinHotKey that lets you open a folder using a custom key combination. You can use keys like Shift, Alt, Win, Ctrl, numeric keys, alphabets, etc., to set a hotkey of your choice. Apart from opening a folder, this tool is also helpful to launch an application, open a document, etc., using a custom shortcut key. Moreover, you can also change the hotkey combination for a folder or application anytime you want. Let’s check the steps to open a folder using a keyboard shortcut with the help of this tool: That’s it. The hotkey for that particular folder will be added and visible in the configuration window of this tool along with the hotkey combination, target folder, and action. In the same way, you can assign hotkeys for other folders using the above steps. After that, close the configuration window and the tool will start running in the system tray of your Windows 11/10 taskbar. When you will press the hotkey, the associated folder will open. You can also double-click on its system tray icon to open the configuration window and add more hotkeys. If you want, you can also change the hotkey combination and remove a hotkey set by you using the Edit Hotkey and Remove Hotkey options.
How do I make a shortcut to open a folder?
Different types of shortcuts can be created or used to open a folder. For example, you can:
How do I assign keyboard shortcuts in Windows 11?
There are tons of Windows 11 keyboard shortcuts (like File Explorer keyboard shortcuts, general keyboard shortcuts, taskbar keyboard shortcuts, etc.) already assigned for different tasks. But if you want to use a keyboard shortcut to open a folder and/or application, then you need to assign them manually. For that, you can either use the desktop shortcut of a folder or application or use a third-party tool. This post covers both the options with steps by step instructions. Hope this is helpful. Read next: Access and Launch Applications folder using a Desktop shortcut.
