How to restore the Quick Launch bar in Windows 7

For those of you who have been testing out the new Windows 7 RC1, you’ve probably noticed that the quick launch bar is gone! Personally, I don’t see why you would need it anymore, but for those of you who can’t, here’s how you can get it back.

Note that on the new taskbar in Windows 7, you can pin items to the taskbar. This is very similar to how you could pin items to the Start Menu in XP and Vista, which you can still do in Windows 7 also.

Just right-click on any program and choose Pin to Taskbar.

Now you’ll see the program in your taskbar like the other icons. The only issue is that it’s a big icon and not small like the original Quick Launch icons.

Anyway, if you don’t like that, here’s how to restore the Quick Launch bar in Windows 7:

Step 1: Right click on the Taskbar and choose Toolbars and then New Toolbar.

Step 2: Now copy and paste the following line into the Folder box in the New Toolbar dialog box:

%userprofile%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch

Step 3: Now you’ll see the Quick Launch bar shows up at the right of the taskbar. Next, right-click on the Taskbar and turn off Lock the Taskbar.

Step 4: Right-click on the divider and turn off Show Text and Show Title. Also, click on View and change it to Small Icons.

That’s it! Now you got your small icons on the quick launch bar again! Here’s how it looks:

Finally remember to right-click on the taskbar and choose Lock Taskbar again to remove the divider. Enjoy!