How to Pin Recycle Bin to the Taskbar on Windows 11 – Complete Guide

With Windows 11 hitting the road soon, Windows users have flooded the internet with all sorts of questions. Well, this is healthy and tech enthusiasts and testers are working tirelessly to explore the Windows 11 built version that is available for installation from the Windows insider program. If you are one, who has been looking up the internet for information about Windows 11 and individual features of the OS, you are in the right place. 

Here we discuss a wide range of topics concerning Windows and other software stuff, providing you with crucial information and guides. Well, this article is all about pinning the recycle bin on the taskbar of Windows 11.

We all are pretty familiar with the recycle bin in Windows OS, it is been there in the OS for a long time and every OS comes with it to facilitate storage management. Well, computers are not self-cleaning so the person using them needs to remove the junk and keep it in shape to enhance and maintain good performance. So there needs to be an option that renders the users a feature with removing unwanted files. This is exactly why Windows has a recycle bin. We all pretty much know this but a little emphasis is not a bad idea. 

The taskbar is essentially very important as it hosts some of the most important things like the start button, the notification center, the network icons, and much more. It is versatile and can be utilized for easing the work of the user. 

Let us keep all these aside and focus on why having applications on the taskbar is good. Well, the taskbar mostly is visible when applications run in maximized mode except in applications that run on full-screen mode. So having important applications pinned to the taskbar can be beneficial to access that application quickly rather than having them on the desktop or the start menu. Applications can be pinned to the taskbar but cluttering the taskbar with too many applications can be confusing and can cause unintended running of applications. So some people like to keep the taskbar clean and remove all the applications from it except for the start button. 

Well, now let’s dive into learning how to pin the recycle bin to the taskbar in Windows 11. Usually pinning the recycle bin to the taskbar is not as easy as pinning other applications, even in Windows 10 and older versions it was difficult or rather a lengthy process. You might wonder how do we devise a method for an unreleased OS version, so here in the catch the Windows 11 developer version that has been released on the Windows insider is the beta version and the base is going to be the same for the official release, so the method that works in the developer version will surely work on the official version. Experts, who have installed Windows 11 developer version are testing and finding all ways to use the OS and configure it to device methods and guides for future use and reference. So one such methods devices can be used to pin the recycle bin to the taskbar.

Pin Recycle Bin to the Taskbar in Windows 11, How to do it

Here is the method that has been made available for pinning the recycle bin to the taskbar on Windows 11. This is pretty much early to know about Windows 11 as the official version is yet to release but this can be useful when the OS comes out as this will work for sure and people who have downloaded the developer version can try pinning the recycle bin to the taskbar by following the method.

  • So here is how to do it, to pin the recycle bin to the taskbar, create a shortcut on the desktop by right-clicking on the screen and then selecting a new option under which select shortcut. 
  • Now, once you have created the shortcut you have to select the path for it.
  • Copy this “%SystemRoot%\explorer.exe shell:RecycleBinFolder” and paste it in the box that says “type the location of the item”.
  • Once done, you have to rename the shortcut. Rename it as Recycle Bin. enter the name in the field under “type a name for this shortcut.
  • Now, you have created a Recycle bin shortcut on the desktop.
  • The shortcut you have created will not have the conventional icon of the recycle bin application, so you have to select the icon and assign the shortcut an icon.
  • To do this right-click on the shortcut, and select “show more options”.
  • Now, go to the properties, from the drop-down menu.
  • In the properties option, look for the option called change icons.
  • In here look for the icon that you want and select it.
  • Now click on Ok to save your choice. After this click on Apply to save your choice.
  • Once done, you will have a shortcut created with an icon that you chose. 
  • You can pin this shortcut to the taskbar by right-clicking on the shortcut and then selecting the pin to the taskbar option. This will do the trick.
  • Once you have pinned the recycle bin to the taskbar, you can delete the shortcut from the desktop to keep it clean, which is pretty important for a great PC.

This is pretty much everything that you need to know about pinning the recycle bin to the taskbar, if you feel it’s not good, you can unpin it from the taskbar. 

Hope the information provided was helpful and informative, you can try out the Windows 11 developer edition or just wait until the OS is officially released to enjoy a lot more features. The guide is perfect and this will be the same when the OS officially releases, so save it for later use and reference.

One comment

  1. Yeah but this is not a functional bin – to be properly functional it should allow drag and drop of files to the bin as well as the icon changing to show level of fullness….

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