How to Add Shortcuts to the Windows Power Menu With hashlnk
The Power Menu (otherwise known as the WinX menu, due to its shortcut) is a useful context menu that allows you to quickly access certain Windows features. But what if it doesn’t include a shortcut to the feature you want? Luckily, you can add shortcuts to it using a free and lightweight utility known as hashlnk.
We’ll show you how to download and use hashlnk to add shortcuts to your favorite Windows features on the Power Menu.
How to Download hashlnk
The hashlnk app lets you add shortcuts to theWindows Power menu. To get started, go to thehashlnk download page on GitHuband clickDownload.
This will download a ZIP file. To unzip the file, right-click it and selectExtract All. Then, clickExtractto extract its contents to the same folder you downloaded it in.
Open the extracted folder, and you’ll see a single file in it calledhashlnk.exe.
Don’t close this window, as we’ll need it for the next part of this guide.
How to Add Shortcuts to the Power Menu Using hashlnk
The first thing you need to do is create a shortcut for the app you want to add to the WinX menu.
PressWin + Sto bring up Windows Search and type the name of the app or Windows feature in the search box (we’re using Control Panel for our example). When it shows up in the search results, right-click it and selectOpen file location.
You’ll be taken to the folder where the app’s shortcut is located. Keep this window open as well.
Next, open Windows Run by pressingWin + R. Then, copy and paste the following text into the text box and hit theEnterkey:
TheWinXfolder will open, and you’ll see three subfolders inside it namedGroup1,Group2, andGroup3. These groups indicate how items are arranged in the Power Menu. SoGroup1is for the bottom items,Group2is for the middle ones, andGroup3is for the top ones.
Now, copy the app’s shortcut and paste it into any of theWinXsubfolders mentioned above (we copied the Control Panel shortcut and pasted it into theGroup2folder).
The shortcut won’t show up in the Power Menu just yet, as the menu only displays a special type of shortcut that hashlnk will help us create.
The magic will happen inCommand Prompt. Toopen Command Prompt, pressWin + Rto access Windows Run, typecmdin the text box, and hit theEnterkey.
Next, we’ll need the file path to the hashlnk utility. On Windows 11, go back to the folder with thehashlnk.exefile, right-click it, and selectCopy as path.
On Windows 10, in the extracted hashlnk folder, check that you’ve selected theHomeribbon in the top menu of File Explorer, and then click onhashlnk.exeto select it. Then, clickCopy path, which you’ll find in theClipboardsection of the ribbon.
Paste the hashlnk utility’s file path in Command Prompt by right-clicking anywhere inside the cmd window.
Next, copy the file path of the app’s shortcut (Control Panel) you pasted in theWinXsubfolder (Group2in our example) and paste it into Command Prompt as well (verify there’s a space between the two file paths).
On our end, the final command looks like the screenshot below. Keep in mind that your file paths won’t be exactly alike, but the screenshot should give you an idea of the final output.
HitEnterto run the command.
Restart your computer. When it reboots, check the Power Menu and you should see the newly-added shortcut there. To remove it, delete the shortcut from theWinXsubfolder you placed it in.
Add As Many Shortcuts As You Like to the WinX Menu
If the Power Menu lacks a shortcut you feel should be there, you can easily add it to make your life easier. Using the hashlnk tool is one of the best ways to go about it, with a little know-how.
If you want a more graphical approach to adding shortcuts to the Power Menu, consider using an app like the WinX Menu Editor app instead.
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