Unable to create a desktop shortcut of an Excel 2021 file

Question

Unable to create a desktop shortcut of an Excel 2021 file

Kevin and Chris Senior 0

When I try to create a shortcut I get error message 65535. This happens on both Excel and Word.

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4 answers

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Answer 1

Creating a desktop shortcut for an Office file should not require opening Excel or Word; it can be done directly from File Explorer. This avoids application-level errors such as the one described.

To create a desktop shortcut for an Excel or Word file:

Open File Explorer and browse to the folder that contains the Excel (.xlsx) or Word (.docx) file.
Right-click the file.
Select Create shortcut. In Windows 11, select Show more options first if Create shortcut is not immediately visible.
A shortcut to that file will be created in the same folder.
Drag that shortcut to the desktop.

Alternatively, to create a shortcut for the Excel or Word application itself:

Press the Windows key and browse to Excel or Word in the Start menu (in Windows 11, select All to find the app).
Left-click and drag the app name to the desktop. This creates a desktop shortcut to the program.

If the error 65535 appears only when trying another method (for example, from within Excel/Word or via a different shell action), use the File Explorer method above as a workaround.

References:

Answer 2

Kevin and Chris Senior 0

The first solution no longer works. I last used it successfully two months ago. It doesn't work on 24th April 2026.

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Answer 3

Hi Kevin and Chris Senior,

Thank you for reaching out.

Since this is happening with both Excel and Word, and the usual File Explorer shortcut method has already been tried, the behavior points more to a Windows Desktop/shortcut handling issue than to the Office apps themselves. Microsoft’s guidance confirms that Office file shortcuts are normally created from File Explorer, so if that no longer works, it is worth checking the Desktop location and Windows system files next.

Please try the checking steps below to proceed:

1, Test shortcut creation directly from the Desktop

Right-click an empty area of the desktop.
Select New > Shortcut.
Browse to the Excel or Word file and complete the wizard.

If this also fails, it suggests the issue is with the Desktop folder or shortcut creation in Windows, not the Office file itself.

2, Check the Desktop folder location

Open File Explorer.
Verify that your Desktop is pointing to the correct location, especially if OneDrive Desktop backup is enabled.

3, Try creating the shortcut in another local folder

Go to Documents or another local folder.
Create the shortcut there.
Then move the .lnk file to the Desktop.

If it works in another folder but not on the Desktop, that helps confirm the Desktop folder is the affected location.

4, Repair Windows system files

Open Command Prompt as Administrator.
Run: DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth
Then run: sfc /scannow

5, If app shortcut creation is also affected

Press Win + R
Type shell:appsfolder
Find Excel or Word
Right-click and choose Create shortcut

If the issue started recently and still continues

Go to Settings > System > Recovery
Look for Fix problems using Windows Update
Choose Reinstall now

Let me know if you need further assistance, feel free to ask me by clicking "Add Comment" or "Add Answer" if you cannot add comment so your response will be visible. Thanks for your effort.

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Kevin and Chris Senior 0 Reputation points

2026-04-25T08:02:54.98+00:00

The solution is to ignore 'New' and go further down the list to 'Options'; click on that and 'Make a shortcut' is the first option; click on that; and there's the shortcut which can be dragged as usual on to the desktop.

It looks to me that the plan was to remove 'New' all together and replace it with 'Options' but someone forgot to remove the 'New'.
Kevin and Chris Senior 0 Reputation points

2026-04-25T08:04:16.43+00:00

Instead of using 'New' go further down to 'Options' and 'Make a shortcut' is hidden there, and works.
Hendrix-V 20,700 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-04-26T08:12:02.0033333+00:00

Hi Kevin and Chris Senior,

Thank you for sharing the workaround, this explains the behavior clearly and provides a reliable way to create the shortcut.

Create the shortcut via Options

Right‑click the Excel or Word file.

Scroll further down the context menu and select Options.

Click Make a shortcut (the first option).

The shortcut will be created and can be dragged to the Desktop as usual.

I appreciate you taking the time to document this. If there is anything else I can assist you with, please feel free to let me know in the Comments section.

In addition, if you found my answer helpful, I’d really appreciate it if you could click "Accept Answer" and kindly give it an upvote. Your acknowledgment helps others facing similar situations find useful references and contributes to building a stronger community.

Answer 4

Rene V 0

There is a bug in the New Context Menus for Microsoft Office Files (Word, Excel, Powerpoint etc).

Right clicking on the Microsoft Office file will display a menu with a "New" option, it has a sub-menu that has a "Shortcut" option.

Selecting this "Shortcut" will cause an error message to be generated.

Workaround :-

Right click on the Microsoft Office file.

Select "Show more options" to display the original context menu.

Select "Send to", "Desktop (Create shortcut)"

1989

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