Send shortcut to specific folder from the 'Send To' context menu?

Question

I want to add an option to the "Send to" menu to allow a shortcut to a file to be created and sent to a folder I specify. I have been trying to do this using the solution posted to the questions asked here back in 2013 (First and Second) but without success.

The links to shortcut.zip were not working but I managed to find what I think is the correct program - Shortcuts Map. Although I could extract to the System32 folder as suggested, the setup file will not run from there. If I install normally, it runs fine but it only finds shortcuts related to my desktop or Start Menu and I'm assuming this is not enough for what I need. Have I missed something obvious or will this simply not work on Windows 10? Or have I not found the correct shortcut program?

Thanks for your help

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Aug 21 '21 at 04:03

Select and copy the destination folder in Windows Explorer.

Type shell:sendto in Run dialog (Winkey+R).

Right click and blank spot and choose Paste Shortcut.

Sending in Send To is equivalent to dragging.

Ctrl + Drag is copy the file (the default drag action between drives)
Shift + Drag is move the file (the default drag action on the same drive)
Ctrl + Shift + Drag is create a shortcut to the object

While it doesn't apply to Send To

Right Mouse Drag will popup a menu when you drop it asking what you want.

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 20 '21 at 17:57

I am not sure what you are trying to do. I can edit the sendto menu by hitting Windows Key+R and type: shell:sendto, hit enter, and can then add remove program or location shortcuts to it via right-clicking in an empty area of the sendTo folder, choosing new>shortcut. That does only copy the file, so I would have to delete the original if I want it moved.

Instead of sendto, I used the registry hack that adds 'move to' to the right menu options so I can just 'move' what I want to a folder, but I have to select the folder. To avoid that, I can make a new reg file to merge, editing it something like I did in the attached.screenshot

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Aug 21 '21 at 07:53

You need a script to accomplish this.

THe script (without error checking or creaton confirmation) would take the path of the item that was right-clicked, launch the BrowseForFolder dialog, and crate a shortcut to the selected item in the location seleted in the dialog.

It uses two COM objects: wscript.shell to create the shortcut and shell.applicationto display the BrowseForFolder dialog.

$FormatArgs      = @(
    (New-Object -Com shell.application).BrowseForFolder(0,'Select Shortcut Location',0).Self.Path
    (Get-Item $args[0]).Name
)
$Link            = (New-Object -com wscript.shell).CreateShortcut(( '{0}\{1}.lnk' -f $FormatArgs ))
$Link.TargetPath = $Args[0]
$Link.Save()

Save as SendShortcutToFolder.ps1 in a location that can be accessed by anyone expected to use it.

Then, in your SendTo folder, launch the New Shortcut wizard and for the target, enter:
PowerShell -File "<path to SendShortcutToFolder.ps1>"

and save it with whatever text you want to appear in the menu -- I like Folder… (Create Shortcut) ('…' is the ellipsis character: U+2026 / <alt>+0133)

Important: If you've never enabled local scripts to run in PowerShell, you need to do that once before the shortcut will work. This is done by opening a PowerShell console window and executing:
Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned
Then close the console window.

You will see a blank PowerShell window behind the dailog box until the dialog is closed:

Send shortcut to specific folder from the 'Send To' context menu?

3 Answers3