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[Solved] Pin documents to Taskbar icon

Posted: Sat Feb 08, 2025 4:38 am
by LauraABM
Has anyone figured out how to pin files to the OpenOffice icon on the TaskBar with the upgrade?

I upgraded to OpenOffice 4.1.15 on Windows 11 on a PC but now I cannot pin documents & spreadsheets to the OpenOffice taskbar icon which is pretty frustrating.
I used this feature all the time since it allowed quick and easy access to frequently used files.
It did save my previous pinned files but now I am unable to add new pins.
You used to be able to drag files to the OpenOffice taskbar icon and it would pin it to the shortcut list.
(photo attached as reference)

Are there any updates or patches that address this issue?
I'm sure I'm not the only one who misses this function but maybe someone knows how to do it now?
Any advice is greatly appreciated!
Thank you!
Laura

Re: Unable to Pin Docs to Taskbar Icon?

Posted: Sat Feb 08, 2025 11:56 am
by LastUnicorn
I did a bit searching for this and all I found is a half-way house for pinning a file to the taskbar in Windows 11. The instructions are here: Pin File to Taskbar

The problem with that solution is that it seems there is no way to get the pinned file(s) to group into a single item on the OpenOffice/LibreOffice main application taskbar shortcut. So it's probably not what you are looking for. The way this works your taskbar would soon be fully 'occupied' by 'explorer' shortcuts you created and into the bargain it is not clear which shortcut opens which file unless you hover the mouse over the shortcut.

You could try posting your query into this forum and they might have a better idea if what you want is possible on Windows 11 or perhaps they might be able to suggest a workaround which is acceptable to you: Windows 11 Forum

Re: Pin documents to Taskbar icon

Posted: Sun Feb 09, 2025 5:52 am
by LauraABM
Wow, thank you so much for taking the time to search for this! I really appreciate your help and time.

The instructions you found worked and I was at least able to pin a document shortcut to the taskbar.
I think you are correct in that the pinned files won't be in a group and if I add too many shortcuts, then the taskbar would be full of docs but at least I can do this for the most frequently used docs.

I will also look into the other forum as well.
Again, thank you for your help!

Cheers,
Laura

Re: [Solved] Pin documents to Taskbar icon

Posted: Sun Feb 09, 2025 2:35 pm
by LastUnicorn
Ah, Laura! I slept on this overnight and in the morning the term 'Jump Lists' sprang to my mind. I would not normally have this in mind for my own use of my own PC as I have Jump Lists disabled: I have other ways of quickly accessing files I often use.

Anyway. I know that LibreOffice has support for Jump Lists in Windows 11 but I do not know if that is the case for OpenOffice. (I cannot test this myself as I only have OpenOffice Portable on my system and that doesn't interface with the operating system in the same way a fully installed OpenOffice would.) Perhaps you could do your own research on this or ask at Windows 11 Forum. Or, maybe an OpenOffice user could comment here.

I did a quick experimental alteration of my system and enabled Jump Lists. And, glory be, they seem to work exactly as you wish.

For initial research on this see this Tutorial: Open Jump Lists in Windows 11 Please also note that at the bottom of that webpage there is a section titled "Related Tutorials" — be sure to read all the entries there too.

For proof that I got this working on my own system here is a screenshot of a pinned to the taskbar button of LibreOffice Writer (showing the Jump List):

LibreOffice Writer Pinned to Taskbar Jump List (Pinned and Recent).png
LibreOffice Writer Pinned to Taskbar Jump List (Pinned and Recent).png (13.3 KiB) Viewed 5219 times

And here is a screenshot of how the LibreOffice Writer Jump List shows in my Open-Shell Windows Start Menu:

LibreOffice Writer Start Menu Jump List (Pinned and Recent).png
LibreOffice Writer Start Menu Jump List (Pinned and Recent).png (32.07 KiB) Viewed 5219 times

This Jump Lists is all new to me and I was just quickly experimenting on my own system so didn't keep a note of how to get their enablement done. So, if you need further help with this I would go to Windows 11 Forum. But, please do, drop a note here if you managed to get it all sorted out for yourself — I would be interested if you finally got it working.

As an addendum to all this I would mention that you can switch from OpenOffice to LibreOffice to enable all this easily. There are several good reasons for making the switch anyway, some of which are mentioned here: [Tutorial] Considering a Switch from OpenOffice to LibreOffice? Some Useful Information

Re: [Solved] Pin documents to Taskbar icon

Posted: Sun Feb 09, 2025 10:26 pm
by LauraABM
Thank you so much for really looking into all of this!!
I had no idea it was called 'Jump Lists'. This is so helpful.
I honestly didn't really think of LibreOffice so I officially downloaded it and it DOES support Jump Lists, woo hoo!!!
It sounds like it was good to switch to LibreOffice for many reasons so thank you so much for sharing all of this information.
I'm going to work on transferring my files to this program now :-)

Cheers!
Laura