This site will have limited functionality while we undergo maintenance to improve your experience. If an article doesn't solve your issue and you want to ask a question, we have our support community waiting to help you at @FirefoxSupport on Twitter and/r/firefox on Reddit.

Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

FF Desktop shortcuts no longer work

  • 2 replies
  • 0 have this problem
  • Last reply by whawn1

more options

Am on win10 -- FF 118.0.2

A strange thing has just occurred in the past two days -- Firefox will no longer drag and drop URLs to form a shortcut on the desktop; I get only the international "can't do that" symbol, the circle with a slash, as I drag.

When I make a shortcut within firefox, then copy it and paste to the desktop, instead of the FF icon, I get the blank sheet, but when I look at the file with Notebook, it shows all the expected content:

++ clip shortcut content ++ [InternetShortcut] URL=https://www.reuters.com/technology/nvidias-forecast-dampens-ai-enthusiasm-other-tech-stocks-2024-08-28/ IDList= HotKey=0 IconFile=C:\<user>\AppData\Local\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\<profile>\shortcutCache\B1_LfDoEyJumsj81b4UeTw==.ico IconIndex=0 ++ end clip=== Items between < > redacted ++ BUT! the shortcut doesn't work. no response, whatever, when clicked on. Same deal with shortcuts that once did work; they are now inactive. However, when dragged onto FF or Chrome, they magically link up as they ought to.

I've googled for answers, but found nothing worthwhile. One suggestion was to shift the default browser to something else. I chose Google Chrome. Did no good. The shortcuts remained inactive. I could drag and drop from Chrome to the desktop but the shortcuts were still of a white sheet and inactive.

So, I'm suspecting something in Windows needs to be reset, but what? Can't find anything about where and how url shortcuts are treated in the registry. It's an annoyance. Any help greatly appreciated.

Am on win10 -- FF 118.0.2 A strange thing has just occurred in the past two days -- Firefox will no longer drag and drop URLs to form a shortcut on the desktop; I get only the international "can't do that" symbol, the circle with a slash, as I drag. When I make a shortcut within firefox, then copy it and paste to the desktop, instead of the FF icon, I get the blank sheet, but when I look at the file with Notebook, it shows all the expected content: ++ clip shortcut content ++ [InternetShortcut] URL=https://www.reuters.com/technology/nvidias-forecast-dampens-ai-enthusiasm-other-tech-stocks-2024-08-28/ IDList= HotKey=0 IconFile=C:\<user>\AppData\Local\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\<profile>\shortcutCache\B1_LfDoEyJumsj81b4UeTw==.ico IconIndex=0 ++ end clip=== Items between < > redacted ++ BUT! the shortcut doesn't work. no response, whatever, when clicked on. Same deal with shortcuts that once did work; they are now inactive. However, when dragged onto FF or Chrome, they magically link up as they ought to. I've googled for answers, but found nothing worthwhile. One suggestion was to shift the default browser to something else. I chose Google Chrome. Did no good. The shortcuts remained inactive. I could drag and drop from Chrome to the desktop but the shortcuts were still of a white sheet and inactive. So, I'm suspecting something in Windows needs to be reset, but what? Can't find anything about where and how url shortcuts are treated in the registry. It's an annoyance. Any help greatly appreciated.

Modified by cor-el

All Replies (2)

more options

An Internet shortcut is opened by the default browser, so it is possible that something is wrong with this. Do other internet shortcuts work ?

Try to redo the default browser setting and temporarily set another browser as the default browser.

Problems with specific programs:

As a workaround for now, you can create a copy of the Firefox desktop shortcut and add the URL to its target line.

Helpful?

more options

cor-el thanks for the reply:

--> Try to redo the default browser setting and temporarily set another browser as the default browser. <-- As I mentioned. I did that before I posted here. FF & Google Chrome exhibit similar behavior.

--> Do other internet shortcuts work ? <-- As I mentioned, shortcuts work within the browser and when dragged from the desktop to the browser window. They do not show the correct icon on the desktop and do nothing when double-clicked.

Regards, whawn1

Helpful?

Ask a question

You must log in to your account to reply to posts. Please start a new question, if you do not have an account yet.