Windows has the default behavior of adding the Text - Shortcut to the name of each shortcut you create. But you don't have to live with the default Windows behaviors, of course. You can definitely customize the text to add to the name of the shortcuts you create. You can also choose not to add text to link names. Read on to learn how to customize the text that is added to the names of the links you create, using the regedit program with very few simple steps.
See also: - Create keyboard shortcuts to open applications in Windows 10
- First, let's take a look at the default link naming scheme of the Windows operating system. To do this, right-click the file for which you want to create a link, then click Create Shortcut from the context menu.
- Now if you take a look at the name of the link that was just created, you will see that the word Shortcut is added to the name of the link. It is this suffix, which can be customized according to your options. Follow the steps below to get the same result.
- First type regedit in Cortana's search box and click on the search result as shown in the screenshot below.
- A new window called Registry Editor opens. You have to navigate to the following path.
If you cannot find the Subkey Name Templates file, you can create it as explained in the next step.
- Right click on Explorer first. Then click on New and finally under Wrench. Label the newly created subkey as Name Templates. If in doubt, refer to the screenshot below.
- Then right click on Subkey Name Patterns, then New and then via String Value.
- Now in the right window pane, you will see the newly created subkey. Rename it to ShortcutNameTemplate.
- Double-click on ShortcutNameTemplate, to open the Edit Window String file. In the text field called Value data, copy and paste “% S.lnk”. “% S” indicates the name of the file to which the link is created. Don't forget to add the quotes. When done, click the OK button.
- Now, create a shortcut for a file as before. If you notice the name of the shortcut, you can see that the Shortcut suffix has disappeared.
- If you want to add a prefix to the link name by default, copy and paste "Direct access to% s.lnk" a Value data stored by the Edit String window. You can change the link text to any text of your choice.
- To see the effect, create a shortcut as usual. If you notice the name of the link, you can see that the prefix was added successfully.
- Now what if you want to add your own custom suffix to the shortcut instead of the Windows default one? Then copy and paste “% S shortcut ready.lnk” a Value data stored by the Edit String window. You can change the ready shortcut text to any text of your choice.
- To see the effect, create a link, look at the name and verify that the suffix was added correctly.
- Going back to the default Windows shortcut naming scheme is a breeze. Just right click on the Subkey Name Templates file and click on Delete option.
That's all. We can now have our own custom suffix or prefix for our shortcut names just like this. Try them today. I hope you have fun.