This tiny application launches Windows links ("lnk" files), Windows executables ("exe" files), URLs ("url" files) or Windows batch files ("bat" or "cmd" files) residing on particular user defined folders.

Important advice: by default the App now automatically starts itself when Windows starts!
If you don't like this behavior, simply open Settings page and untick the "Start when windows starts" flag.

How to allow Taskbar App Launcher to be "Always Visible" in taskbar TRAY

Windows has the annoying habit to hide Tray Icons that user doesn't click in the "taskbar corner overflow".
To make Taskbar App Launcher icon always visible follow these instructions:
  • In Windows 10:
    • Right click on the Windows Taskbar
    • Choose Taskbar Settings
    • Under Notification Area section, click "Select which icons to show on taskbar"
    • Tick "Always show all icons" or otherwise tick just the Taskbar App Launcher entry
  • In Windows 11:
    • Right click on the Windows Taskbar
    • Choose Taskbar Settings
    • Under "Taskbar corner overflow" section, just tick the Taskbar App Launcher entry in order to always show it:
      Make Win11 always show tray icon

These are the current features:

  • Folder selection: a Settings menu entry opens a Settings page that allows to select the folders into which the program looks for "*.lnk", "*.exe", "*.url", "*.cmd" or "*.bat" (other extensions are not included) files, in order to build a menu and then launch those programs.
  • Recursion level selection: in Settings page you cal also choose a recursion level; this settings tells the application to scan a folder's subfolders recureively until 'N'th level (between 2 and 7).
  • Menu reload: the Reload button allows to load again the application menu with no need to restart the app itself.
  • Icons: programs and links have their true icons inside menus. Nice! When icon is not available, the Rocket will show up.
  • Autostart: the app can start itself when windows starts, without the need to open it by yourself everytime.
  • Dangerous Scan Warning: the app warns the user if he/she selects a dangerous folder that is:
    • Too big: it has more than 20 sub-folders.
    • A system-scope folder: Program Files, AppData, System, Windows, This PC etc...

USAGE:

  1. Launch the app and The Rocket will appear in tray notification area:
    The ROCKET MENU
  2. Click on it, click Settings entry and the settings dialog will show up:
    The Settings page
    Once there, you will add folders in which Taskbar App Launcher has to search for shortcuts (lnk files) and programs (exe, cmd and bat files) to be added to menus. Each folder will be a separated menu (nth-level subfolders are scanned, too, based on recursion level chosen!)
  3. On settings page you can also choose a "recursion level": this settings tells the program to scan subfolders of each folder until the "nth" level selected (without having to add subfolders manually)
  4. NEW: whenever you leave settings page, settings files are updated and menu gets Reloaded, so you don't have to click reload no more if you add or remove folders.
  5. IMPORTANT: if you manually add a shortcut (lnk) or exe/bat/cmd/url to a folder, click the rocket and hit "Reload" to rebuild menus scanning all selected folders again!
  6. Finally, click the Rocket and your menus will show up, populated with all your favorite programs having their own icons.
  7. Now simply launch all your favorite programs with one click and enjoy it!

IMPORTANT NOTE nr. 1

If you receive an "insufficient permissions" error while starting some of the programs in your menu, that is because those programs need to be started as an administrator. To avoid this error, be sure to run Taskbar Application Launcher as an administrator, too!!!

IMPORTANT NOTE nr. 2

Windows Store applications often have a "URI" address with wich you can launch them. For example, if you create a Link to "spotify://" address, Taskbar App Launcher will be able to start Spotify without any problem.
On the other hand, links to the Appsfolder will generally won't work because they don't have a path to be launched inside them. If you don't see a shortcut in your ROCKET MENUs that instead you have in your folders, check if the shortcut is of this form:
Bad shortcuts, App won't consider these!
In this case, shortcuts are not "startable" by Taskbar App Launcher and sadly you will have to find another way to launch the application.
Take a look here for a good workaround that's valid for all "Store Apps":
Create valid shortcuts to any Windows Store App
This method will create a shortcut that has a target path, thus will be usable by Taskbar App Launcher!

Contacts and bug reporting:

Feel free to report any bug or suggest any new feature to the developer, aka TheBlackbird.
When you want to submit a bug, please attach the LOG you find in the logs/settings folder of the program!
Use these buttons you see in the "About, Help & Logs" page:
About page!
The first button opens LOG file in notepad. The second one opens the logs/settings folder so that you can take the ".log" file and attach to your request mail to me (the developer).

Changelog

  • New in v1.0.0.0: first version! Yay! :°)
  • New in v1.2.1.0: new implementations and bug fixes.
    • - Left click now shows the menu, not the settings;
    • - Because of this, settings are now moved and available in a fixed menu entry;
    • - Fixed a bug that caused crash when user tried to open settings when already opened;
    • - Added error LOGGING: logs are stored in "TaskBarAppLauncher.log" file under "%HOMEPATH%\<document_folder>\AppLauncherTBB" folder (please note that <document_folder> real name depends on the language of your operative system!);
  • New in v1.3.0.0: other bugs fixes and new features.
    • - NOW OPENING "url" files, too!
    • - Added option to start App when Windows starts (initially cheched);
    • - Added 2 buttons in Help Form to open log file and settings folder without the need for user to search for them;
    • - Now menu reloads whenever user exits from settings page (saves a reload when adding/removing folders);
    • - Added more detailed logs in some circumstances/errors;
  • New in v1.3.2.0: other bugs fixed and improvements.
    • - Fixed ICON retrieval for all type of files managed by the app (lnk, url, bat, cmd, exe)!
    • - Fixed bug that caused the app to ignore files with uppercase extensions
    • - Added version string to log entries
  • New in v1.3.3.0: user experience improvements.
    • - Added version in "About, Help & Logs" page
    • - Added warning if user selects a folder with more than 20 subfolders
    • - Added warning if user selects a "dangerous" folder (Program Files, AppData, This Computer etc.)
    • - Added more precise logging when Icon is not found for an entry