Efficiently Create a Desktop Shortcut for Microsoft Visual Studio

Microsoft Visual Studio is a powerful Integrated Development Environment (IDE) that programmers and developers use to create intricate codes and deploy applications. If you’re an experienced user of Visual Studio, you know how efficient it is to work with. But did you know that creating a desktop shortcut for Visual Studio can make your workflow even more efficient? Instead of navigating the Start menu, you can quickly access Visual Studio with a desktop shortcut. In this article, we walk you through the simple six-step process of creating a desktop shortcut for Visual Studio.

STEP 1: Locate the Visual Studio installation

First, you need to find the program files of Visual Studio on your computer. To do so, open the file explorer and navigate to the installation location of Visual Studio. Generally, it can be found in the C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio location on your system drive, but it may vary depending on your installation path.

STEP 2: Create a new desktop shortcut

Once you have found the installation location of Visual Studio, locate the ‘devenv.exe’ application in the installation folder. This is the executable file for Visual Studio. Right-click on the file and select “Create Shortcut”.

STEP 3: Move the shortcut to Desktop

After you have created the shortcut, it will appear in the same directory as the original application. You need to drag and drop the shortcut to your Desktop. To do that, select the shortcut, hold onto the mouse, and drag it onto an empty space on the Desktop.

STEP 4: Rename the Shortcut

The shortcut will have the same name as the original application, so you need to right-click on the shortcut and select “Rename” from the context menu to make it easily identifiable. Give it a name that you can easily remember.

STEP 5: Customize the shortcut icon

By default, the desktop shortcut will have the same icon as the original Visual Studio executable. However, you can change the icon according to your preference. To do this, right-click the shortcut icon and select “Properties” from the context menu. In the Properties dialog, click on the “Change Icon” button and select a suitable icon from the list or browse for an icon file on your computer.

STEP 6: Save the changes

Once you have customized the icon as per your preference, click on the “Apply” button and then click the “OK” button to save the changes.

And voila! You have successfully created a desktop shortcut for Microsoft Visual Studio. You can now double-click it to launch the application quickly. This feature makes accessing the developer tools of Visual Studio much easier and helps you manage your work efficiently.

Creating a desktop shortcut for Visual Studio takes only a few moments, and it’s a simple way to save yourself time and effort searching for the application on your system. Use this feature to streamline your workflow and improve your productivity.