Shortcuts

A shortcut is a very small file in the Windows operating system that points or "links" to a file or web site.

Each shortcut file contains information about where the file or web site that it "points" to is located. When a user double-clicks on a shortcut file, the file or web site that it points to is opened instead.

Shortcut files have a .lnk, .url or .pif extension that is hidden by the Windows operating system.

Items in the Favorites menu and the Start menu are all shortcuts. These shortcuts are usually organized into folders, known as shortcut folders. A shortcut folder is simply a folder in the Start menu that contains shortcut files.