5 Hacks to Fix Broken Windows Shortcuts

Shortcuts are a great way to save time by not traveling the long route on your computer, but sometimes they can get broken. When this happens, we must look at how we can fix it. However, not everyone knows their way around the methods. So, we have listed and explained five easy hacks to fix a broken Windows shortcut. Read on!

What are Broken Windows Shortcuts?

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Windows shortcuts are a great way to get things done quickly on your computer. However, they can be a source of frustration when they are broken. Broken Windows shortcuts don’t work correctly or produce unexpected results.

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There are a few possible causes of broken windows shortcuts. It could be that you created the shortcut wrongly in the first place. Also, it could be that the shortcut was working fine at one point but has since stopped working due to changes in the underlying software or hardware.

Whatever the cause, broken Windows shortcuts can be a real pain. If your Windows shortcuts constantly get broken, here are a few hacks for you.

1. Clear the Virus

If your Windows shortcuts are broken, one possible reason is that there’s a virus on your computer. You’ll need to run a virus scan with your antivirus software to clear the virus and fix broken shortcuts. Once the scan is complete, the software will remove any viruses it finds and repair any broken shortcuts.

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To do this, right-click on the shortcut and select “Properties.” In the “Target” field, you will need fix broken shortcuts to change the location of the file that the shortcut is pointing to. Once you have changed the target, click “OK,” and the shortcut should work correctly.

If you don’t have anti-virus software on your computer, download one. However, research before downloading because not all anti-virus software is reliable.

2. Use PowerShell

If your Windows shortcuts are not working correctly, you can use PowerShell to fix them. To do this, open PowerShell and type the following commands:

First, type Get-ChildItem and press Enter. It will list all the shortcuts in your current directory.
Type dir and press Enter. It will list all the files and folders in your current directory.’
Then, type Get-ChildItem -Recurse and press Enter. This will list all the shortcuts in your current directory’s subdirectories.
Once you have located the broken shortcuts, you can use the PowerShell commands Set-Target and Set-Location to fix them.

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You can also input the following commands:

Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers | Where-Object {$_.InstallLocation -like "*SystemApps*"} | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)AppXManifest.xml"}

Then, your broken shortcuts will be fixed in no time.

3. Recreate the Shortcut

Another hack to fix a broken Windows shortcut is to recreate the shortcut. Sometimes, it might be that the target file has been moved or deleted. If you know where the target file is, you can easily recreate the shortcut by pointing it to the new location.

However, if the target file is missing, you’ll need to find a replacement before you can recreate the shortcut. In either case, recreating the shortcut is a relatively simple process.

All you have to do is recreate the shortcut. Here’s how:

Right-click on your desktop and select “New.”
Select “Shortcut” from the menu.
In the “Create Shortcut” window, type in the location of the file or program you want to create a shortcut for.
Click “Next.”
Enter a name for the shortcut and click “Finish.“

Now you should have a working shortcut on your desktop. However, you might need to restart your computer for the shortcut to work.

4. Repair Windows

If your shortcuts are not working correctly, you can run a full windows repair to fix the issue. This relatively simple process can be completed in a few steps.

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First, you will need to open the command prompt as an administrator. To perform this, search for “Command Prompt” while hovering in the start menu, right-click on the result, and select “Run as administrator.“

Once the command is open, you must type in the following command: “sfc /scannow” and press Enter. This will scan the system for corrupt or missing files and attempt to repair them.

After the scan is done, you will need to restart your computer for the changes to take effect. Once your computer has restarted, your shortcuts should be working correctly again.

5. Leave the Homegroup

Another proven hack to fix broken Windows shortcuts is to leave the homegroup. A home group is a small network created in a home environment. All the computers on the network must be able to connect and share files and other resources. To create a homegroup, you must have a router, and all the computers on the network must be running the same version of Windows.

However, you might need to leave the home group if your shortcuts malfunction. Here’s how to do that:

First, open the Control Panel and click on Network and Sharing Center.
Next, click on Change advanced sharing settings.
Under Home or Work profile, find the homegroup you want to leave and click Leave the homegroup. A pop-up window will appear, asking you to confirm your decision.
Click Leave the homegroup, and you’re done!

Conclusion

We hope this article on five hacks to fix broken Windows shortcuts works for you. Please let us know in the comments section if we have missed anything. Thanks for reading!