Windows 11 offers plenty of ways to launch apps, but it’s important to learn which ones are faster and require less technical knowledge. So, let’s look at the five fastest ways to open apps on Windows 11.
1. Pin Apps to the Taskbar
It’s nice to have the apps you use regularly always visible on your screen, so you can launch them with a single click. And, if you haven’t changed its settings, the Windows 11 taskbar is always visible. As a result, pinning apps to your taskbar means you’ll never lose them again.
In addition to letting you open your pinned taskbar apps with a single click, you can also use keyboard shortcuts to launch them. You can do this by pressing Windows Key + [app placement number]. So, if you want to open the previously pinned app, press Windows Key + 1. To open another pinned app, press Windows Key + 2 and so on.
But if your Windows 11 taskbar has stopped working, then this shortcut may not work. So, you must know how to fix when Windows 11 taskbar is not working.
2. Create an app shortcut and pin it to the desktop
When you install an app for the first time, you may also want to create a shortcut for it on the desktop. But in case you forget to do so, you can also create shortcuts to apps manually on the desktop of your Windows 11 PC.
Here’s how you can create one if the app didn’t let you create a desktop shortcut when you installed it.
3. Set shortcut key for app
One of the fastest ways to open an app is with a keyboard shortcut. Here’s how you can create one for any app using the app’s shortcut properties.
It’s worth noting that when you remove an app shortcut from the desktop, you can’t open it using a keyboard shortcut.
4. Quickly Launch Apps Using the Windows 11 Start Menu
Pinning apps to the Windows 11 taskbar will help you launch them quickly—but what if you prefer to keep your taskbar clean? You can keep shortcuts to your most-used apps tucked away, yet quickly accessible, in the Windows 11 Start Menu.
One way to do this is by going to Start Menu > All Apps and finding the app you want to pin to your Start Menu. You can then right-click on the app and choose Pin to Start. Alternatively, you can click the search bar at the top of the Start menu to help you find the app you need.
But if it’s not working, you should check out how to fix the Start menu to get it working again.
5. Quickly Launch Apps Using Windows 11 Taskbar Search
Using the taskbar search to find the apps you want to open is similar to how you can use the Start menu for the same purpose. To quickly launch apps on Windows 11, click the Search icon on the taskbar and type the name of the app you want to open. You can open it with a single click, just like the Start menu.
Quickly Open Apps on Windows 11
While doing any of the steps above might take a few minutes, the few seconds you save on finding and opening the apps you need will eventually add up. So, choose which technique works best for you and make more efficient use of your time.