How do I create a shortcut via command-line in Windows?

I want my .bat script (test.bat) to create a shortcut to itself so that I can copy it to my windows 8 Startup folder.

I have written this line of code to copy the file but I haven't yet found a way to create the said shortcut, as you can see it only copies the script.

xcopy "C:\Users\Gabriel\Desktop\test.bat" "C:\Users\Gabriel\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup"

Can you help me out?

You could use a PowerShell command. Stick this in your batch script and it'll create a shortcut to %~f0 in %userprofile%\Start Menu\Programs\Startup:

powershell "$s=(New-Object -COM WScript.Shell).CreateShortcut('%userprofile%\Start Menu\Programs\Startup\%~n0.lnk');$s.TargetPath='%~f0';$s.Save()"

---

If you prefer not to use PowerShell, you could use mklink to make a symbolic link. Syntax:

mklink saveShortcutAs targetOfShortcut

See mklink /? in a console window for full syntax, and this web page for further information.

In your batch script, do:

mklink "%userprofile%\Start Menu\Programs\Startup\%~nx0" "%~f0"

The shortcut created isn't a traditional .lnk file, but it should work the same nevertheless. Be advised that this will only work if the .bat file is run from the same drive as your startup folder. Also, apparently admin rights are required to create symbolic links.

Cannot be done with pure batch.Check the shortcutJS.bat - it is a jscript/bat hybrid and should be used with .bat extension:

call shortcutJS.bat -linkfile "%~n0.lnk" -target  "%~f0" -linkarguments "some arguments"

With -help you can check the other options (you can set icon , admin permissions and etc.)

Rohit Sahu's answer worked best for me in Windows 10. The PowerShell solution ran, but no shortcut appeared. The JScript solution gave me syntax errors. I didn't try mklink, since I didn't want to mess with permissions.

I wanted the shortcut to appear on the desktop. But I also needed to set the icon, the description, and the working directory. Note that MyApp48.bmp is a 48x48 pixel image. Here's my mod of Rohit's solution:

@echo off
cd c:\MyApp
echo Set oWS = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell") > CreateShortcut.vbs
echo sLinkFile = "%userprofile%\Desktop\MyApp.lnk" >> CreateShortcut.vbs
echo Set oLink = oWS.CreateShortcut(sLinkFile) >> CreateShortcut.vbs
echo oLink.TargetPath = "C:\MyApp\MyApp.bat" >> CreateShortcut.vbs
echo oLink.WorkingDirectory = "C:\MyApp" >> CreateShortcut.vbs
echo oLink.Description = "My Application" >> CreateShortcut.vbs
echo oLink.IconLocation = "C:\MyApp\MyApp48.bmp" >> CreateShortcut.vbs
echo oLink.Save >> CreateShortcut.vbs
cscript CreateShortcut.vbs
del CreateShortcut.vbs

The best way is to run this batch file. open notepad and type:-

@echo off
echo Set oWS = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell") > CreateShortcut.vbs
echo sLinkFile = "GIVETHEPATHOFLINK.lnk" >> CreateShortcut.vbs
echo Set oLink = oWS.CreateShortcut(sLinkFile) >> CreateShortcut.vbs
echo oLink.TargetPath = "GIVETHEPATHOFTARGETFILEYOUWANTTHESHORTCUT" >> CreateShortcut.vbs
echo oLink.Save >> CreateShortcut.vbs
cscript CreateShortcut.vbs
del CreateShortcut.vbs

Save as filename.bat(be careful while saving select all file types) worked well in win XP.

Nirsoft's NirCMD can create shortcuts from a command line, too. (Along with a pile of other functions.) Free and available here:

http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/nircmd.html

Full instructions here: http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/nircmd2.html#using (Scroll down to the "shortcut" section.)

Yes, using nircmd does mean you are using another 3rd-party .exe, but it can do some functions not in (most of) the above solutions (e.g., pick a icon # in a dll with multiple icons, assign a hot-key, and set the shortcut target to be minimized or maximized).

Though it appears that the shortcutjs.bat solution above can do most of that, too, but you'll need to dig more to find how to properly assign those settings. Nircmd is probably simpler.

link.vbs

set fs  = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
set ws  = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
set arg = Wscript.Arguments

linkFile = arg(0)

set link = ws.CreateShortcut(linkFile)
    link.TargetPath = fs.BuildPath(ws.CurrentDirectory, arg(1))
    link.Save

command

C:\dir>link.vbs ..\shortcut.txt.lnk target.txt

I present a small hybrid script [BAT/VBS] to create a desktop shortcut. And you can of course modifie it to your purpose.

@echo off
mode con cols=87 lines=5 & color 9B
Title Shortcut Creator for your batch and applications files by Hackoo 2015
Set MyFile=%~f0
Set ShorcutName=HackooTest
(
echo Call Shortcut("%MyFile%","%ShorcutName%"^)
echo ^'**********************************************************************************************^)
echo Sub Shortcut(ApplicationPath,Nom^)
echo    Dim objShell,DesktopPath,objShortCut,MyTab
echo    Set objShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell"^)
echo    MyTab = Split(ApplicationPath,"\"^)
echo    If Nom = "" Then
echo    Nom = MyTab(UBound(MyTab^)^)
echo    End if
echo    DesktopPath = objShell.SpecialFolders("Desktop"^)
echo    Set objShortCut = objShell.CreateShortcut(DesktopPath ^& "\" ^& Nom ^& ".lnk"^)
echo    objShortCut.TargetPath = Dblquote(ApplicationPath^)
echo    ObjShortCut.IconLocation = "Winver.exe,0"
echo    objShortCut.Save
echo End Sub
echo ^'**********************************************************************************************
echo ^'Fonction pour ajouter les doubles quotes dans une variable
echo Function DblQuote(Str^)
echo    DblQuote = Chr(34^) ^& Str ^& Chr(34^)
echo End Function
echo ^'**********************************************************************************************
) > Shortcutme.vbs
Start /Wait Shortcutme.vbs
Del Shortcutme.vbs
::***************************************Main Batch*******************************************
cls
echo Done and your main batch goes here !
echo i am a test 
Pause > Nul
::********************************************************************************************

I would like to propose different solution which wasn't mentioned here which is using .URL files:

set SHRT_LOCA=%userprofile%\Desktop\new_shortcut2.url
set SHRT_DEST=C:\Windows\write.exe
echo [InternetShortcut]> %SHRT_LOCA%
echo URL=file:///%SHRT_DEST%>> %SHRT_LOCA%
echo IconFile=%SHRT_DEST%>> %SHRT_LOCA%
echo IconIndex=^0>> %SHRT_LOCA%

Notes:

• By default .url files are intended to open web pages but they are working fine for any properly constructed URI
• Microsoft Windows does not display the .url file extension even if "Hide extensions for known file types" option in Windows Explorer is disabled
• IconFile and IconIndex are optional
• For reference you can check An Unofficial Guide to the URL File Format of Edward Blake

To create a shortcut for warp-cli.exe, I based rojo's Powershell command and added WorkingDirectory, Arguments, IconLocation and minimized WindowStyle attribute to it.

powershell "$s=(New-Object -COM WScript.Shell).CreateShortcut('%userprofile%\Start Menu\Programs\Startup\CWarp_DoH.lnk');$s.TargetPath='E:\Program\CloudflareWARP\warp-cli.exe';$s.Arguments='connect';$s.IconLocation='E:\Program\CloudflareWARP\Cloudflare WARP.exe';$s.WorkingDirectory='E:\Program\CloudflareWARP';$s.WindowStyle=7;$s.Save()"

Other PS attributes for CreateShortcut: https://stackoverflow.com/a/57547816/4127357

I created a VB script and run it either from command line or from a Java process. I also tried to catch errors when creating the shortcut so I can have a better error handling.

Set oWS = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
shortcutLocation = Wscript.Arguments(0)

'error handle shortcut creation
On Error Resume Next
Set oLink = oWS.CreateShortcut(shortcutLocation)
If Err Then WScript.Quit Err.Number

'error handle setting shortcut target
On Error Resume Next
oLink.TargetPath = Wscript.Arguments(1)
If Err Then WScript.Quit Err.Number

'error handle setting start in property
On Error Resume Next
oLink.WorkingDirectory = Wscript.Arguments(2)
If Err Then WScript.Quit Err.Number

'error handle saving shortcut
On Error Resume Next
oLink.Save
If Err Then WScript.Quit Err.Number

I run the script with the following commmand:

cscript /b script.vbs shortcutFuturePath targetPath startInProperty

It is possible to have it working even without setting the 'Start in' property in some cases.

Based on Rohit's answer, I created this batch script which accepts the input parameters: AppPath, AppName, AppExtension and ShortcutDestinationPath.

MakeShortcut.bat:

@echo off

set AppPath=%~1
set AppName=%~2
set AppExtension=%~3
set ShortcutDestinationPath=%~4

cd %AppPath%
echo Set oWS = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell") > CreateShortcut.vbs
echo sLinkFile = "%ShortcutDestinationPath%\%AppName%.lnk" >> CreateShortcut.vbs
echo Set oLink = oWS.CreateShortcut(sLinkFile) >> CreateShortcut.vbs
echo oLink.TargetPath = "%AppPath%\%AppName%.%AppExtension%" >> CreateShortcut.vbs
echo oLink.WorkingDirectory = "%AppPath%" >> CreateShortcut.vbs
echo oLink.Description = "%AppName%" >> CreateShortcut.vbs
echo oLink.IconLocation = "%AppPath%\%AppName%.bmp" >> CreateShortcut.vbs
echo oLink.Save >> CreateShortcut.vbs
cscript CreateShortcut.vbs
rem del CreateShortcut.vbs

Example usage to create a shortcut to C:\Apps\MyApp.exe in the folder C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp:

MakeShortcut.bat "C:\Apps" "MyApp" "exe" "C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp"