Windows Productivity Tip - Using the SendTo Folder

Have you ever had a file that you know is a simple text file, but it has some odd file extension? If the file has no associated application and you double click it, you end up having to wait around for Windows to display the “Open With” dialog.

Here’s a quick tip on how to easily add an application to the Windows Send To menu to allow quick opening of text files that don’t have a .txt extension.

For my example I’m going to use Notepad++ which is a great Notepad replacement that allows you to open multiple files in a tabbed interface. You can also perform this quick tip using the default Windows Notepad.

The first step is to find the installed application using Windows Explorer:

The file I’m looking for is the notepad++.exe. Right click the application and select Create Shortcut.

Select the shortcut, right click it and select Cut.

Next you need to find the SendTo folder. In Windows XP the folder is located at C:\Documents and Settings\UserName\SendTo. In Windows Vista you can find the folder at the following location: C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\SendTo (Thank You! Ilian for the tip). When you find this folder you will see that other shortcuts are there already.

Right click in this folder and select Paste. Your shortcut should now be visible (see below). I removed the Shortcut to text from the shortcut.

You should now be able to right click any file and select your application from the Send To menu. The menu is shown below with the newly added notepad++ shortcut.

This is also convenient if you’d like to open an HTML file, XML file, or any other file and you don’t want the default application to open it.

Tags: windows , productivity , software