How to Add a System File Scan Desktop Shortcut on Windows 11/10

This post from the MiniTool Partition Wizard website introduces how to add a system file scan desktop shortcut on Windows 11/10. After adding the shortcut, you can run a system file scan from the desktop quickly and directly. In addition, you can also learn how to create the system file scan hotkeys.

Windows 11 is a new operating system provided by Microsoft, as the successor to Windows 10. Windows 11 is based on Windows 10 but is different from Windows 11. It has a brand new outlook and many new or improved features. For detailed information, you can refer to our previous post: Windows 11 vs Windows 10: What Are the Differences?

Both Windows 10 and Windows 11 are built with a System File Checker (SFC) that is usually used to repair corrupted or missing file systems. In the following content, you can learn how to add a system file scan desktop shortcut and hotkey on Windows 11 and 10.

How to Add a System File Scan Desktop Shortcut

Usually, users can access the System File Checker in Command Prompt. If you want to run this tool quickly and easily, it is wise to add a system file scan desktop shortcut. In this way, you can double-click the shortcut to access it.

Step 1: Open a new Notepad file. And type the following commands in Notepad:

sfc /scannow
pause

create a new Notepad

Step 2: Click the File tab and select Save as.

Step 3: In the pop-up window, name the file as System File Checker.bat. And for the file type, select All files. For the Encoding option, select ANSI. Then choose a location and click the Save button to save the file.

save file as

Step 4: Press Windows + E to open File Explorer and navigate to the location contains the SFC batch file. Then right-click the file and select Show more options > Send to > Desktop (create shortcut).

Tip: On Windows 10, you don’t need to select Show more options.

create desktop shortcut

Step 5: Right-click the SFC desktop shortcut and select Properties. Then click Advanced and check Run as administrator. After that, click OK to save the changes.

Warning: If you don’t run the SFC tool as administrator, you will receive an error message while launching it.

Step 6: Click Apply and OK in the SFC Properties window.

Now, you can double-click the SFC desktop shortcut to check and repair system files. When you launch the SFC tool, you might receive a User Account Control window, and you just need to click the Yes button to continue.

How to Create an SFC Hotkey Windows 11/10

Once you have the SFC desktop shortcut, you can configure the hotkey to launch the SFC tool. And here are the detailed steps.

Step 1: Right-click your SFC desktop shortcut and select Properties.

Step 2: Select the Shortcut tab and click the box next to the Shortcut key option. Then press the S key and the CTRL +ALT + S hotkey will appear automatically.

Tip: You can also press another key to change the key combination. For example, if you press F, the hotkey will be CTRL + ALT + F.

create shortcut hotkey

Step 3: Click Apply and OK to keep the changed settings.

The next time, you can press the SFC hotkey to run a system file scan.

About The Author

Sherry

Position: Columnist

Sherry has been a staff editor of MiniTool for a year. She has received rigorous training about computer and digital data in company. Her articles focus on solutions to various problems that many Windows users might encounter and she is excellent at disk partitioning. She has a wide range of hobbies, including listening to music, playing video games, roller skating, reading, and so on. By the way, she is patient and serious.