How to pin apps and websites to your Chromebook’s shelf

Access your favorite apps and websites on your Chromebook in seconds

Everyone has websites and apps they use almost every time they open their computer. To make accessing these websites and apps easier, Chromebooks allow you to pin them to the shelf. The shelf on a Chromebook is equivalent to the taskbar on a Windows device.

Here’s how to pin apps and websites to the shelf and how to access them with the tap of a key.

How to pin apps to the shelf

It’s easy to pin apps—both Android apps and web apps—to your shelf on ChromeOS. Here’s how.

1. Press either the Search or Launcher key on your keyboard (depending on the ChromeOS device you have) to open the search feature. Alternatively, click the Launcher button in the lower-left corner of the screen.
2. Scroll until you find the app you’d like to make a shortcut for.

3. Right-click on the app you’d like to pin to the shelf.
4. Click Pin to shelf.

5. The app you selected appears as the rightmost pinned item on your shelf.

How to pin websites to the shelf

In addition to apps, ChromeOS allows you to create app-like shortcuts for any website. This feature is similar to creating website shortcuts on an Android phone. Here’s how to create those shortcuts, and how to pin them to your shelf.

1. Go to whatever website you’d like to create a shortcut for.
2. Click the three dots in the upper-right corner of your Chrome window.
3. Go to More tools.
4. Click Create shortcut.

5. Type a name for the shortcut.
6. Check the Open as window box if you’d like the website to open as its own separate window. If not, leave the box unchecked to have the site open in a normal tab.

7. Click Create to create the shortcut in your app drawer.
8. Find the created shortcut in your launcher and right-click on it.
9. Click Pin to shelf.

10. The shortcut is on your shelf as the rightmost pinned item.

How to open pinned items with your keyboard

Chromebooks have a ton of keyboard shortcuts to make using them quick and easy. One of the handiest lets you access the first nine items pinned to your shelf. Hold the Alt key and press the number key that corresponds to the app you’d like to open. For example, Alt+1 opens the first item on your shelf, Alt+2 opens the second item, and so on.

You can also click the shortcut on your shelf with your mouse, but using the keyboard may be more convenient.

How to rearrange your shelf

It may be useful to rearrange the order of your shelf so your most used apps are first.

1. Click and hold the shortcut on the shelf you want to move.

2. Drag it to the spot on the shelf you’d like it to be.

Do this to rearrange all the apps on your shelf, and they’ll be in the order you like.

Keep your important stuff on the shelf

Using shortcuts on a Chromebook, especially one of the best Chromebooks, makes accessing your most used apps and websites a breeze. Another useful item on the shelf is the Phone Hub, which lets you interact with your Android phone on your Chromebook. Check it out!