[SOLVED] Create a shortcut (.lnk file) using PowerShell

Create a shortcut (.lnk file) using PowerShell

I want to create a shortcut with PowerShell for this executable:

C:\Program Files (x86)\ColorPix\ColorPix.exe

How can this be done?

Solution

I don't know any native commandlet in PowerShell, but you can use a COM object instead:

$WshShell = New-Object -COMObject WScript.Shell
$Shortcut = $WshShell.CreateShortcut("$Home\Desktop\ColorPix.lnk")
$Shortcut.TargetPath = "%SystemDrive%\Program Files (x86)\ColorPix\ColorPix.exe"
$Shortcut.Save()

You can create a PowerShell script save as Set-Shortcut.PS1 in your $PWD:

param ( [string]$SourceExe, [string]$DestinationPath )

$WshShell = New-Object -COMObject WScript.Shell
$Shortcut = $WshShell.CreateShortcut($DestinationPath)
$Shortcut.TargetPath = $SourceExe
$Shortcut.Save()

...and call it like this:

Set-Shortcut "%SystemDrive%\Program Files (x86)\ColorPix\ColorPix.exe" "$Home\Desktop\ColorPix.lnk"

If you want to pass arguments to the target exe, it can be done by:

#Set the additional parameters for the shortcut
$Shortcut.Arguments = "/argument=value"

...before $Shortcut.Save().

For convenience, here is a modified version of Set-Shortcut.PS1:

param ( [string]$SourceExe, [string]$ArgumentsToSourceExe, [string]$DestinationPath )
$WshShell = New-Object -COMObject WScript.Shell
$Shortcut = $WshShell.CreateShortcut($DestinationPath)
$Shortcut.TargetPath = $SourceExe
$Shortcut.Arguments = $ArgumentsToSourceExe
$Shortcut.Save()

It accepts arguments as its second parameter.