Shortcut Management

The Shortcut Manager lets you create shortcuts (shell links) to your extracted files and place them on the Desktop, in the Start Menu, or within custom program groups.

Group multiple shortcuts into a dedicated Start Menu folder (Program Group):

1. Enter a Default Name for the folder (e.g. My App 2.0).
2. Optionally enable Prompt User to let end users rename the folder during installation.
3. Choose whether to create shortcuts for All Users (common Start Menu, requires admin rights) or Current User only.

The selected folder path is stored in %SHORTCUTPATH%, which you can use in custom actions.

Property	Description
Filename	Full path to the .lnk file (e.g. %DESKTOPDIR%\App.lnk)
Target	File or URL to execute (e.g. %DESTPATH%\app.exe)
Parameters	Optional command-line arguments passed to the target
Description	Tooltip text shown when hovering over the shortcut
Icon File	Path to an .ico, .exe, or .dll file. Use index syntax for multi-icon files: file.dll|2
Start-In	Working directory for the application when launched (commonly %DESTPATH%)
Component	Link to a component — if skipped, the shortcut is not created

Variable	Description
%PROGMENUDIR%	Current user’s Programs folder (Start Menu)
%COMPROGMENUDIR%	Common (All Users) Programs folder (Start Menu)
%PBSHORTCUTROOT%	Start Menu folder adapted to installation scope
%PBDESKTOPROOT%	Desktop folder adapted to installation scope
%SHORTCUTPATH%	Start Menu folder selected by the user (when prompted)
%DESKTOPDIR%	Current user’s Desktop folder

To create Internet shortcuts (.url files that open a web page), use the Create an Internet Shortcut custom action instead.