Introduction

Every time you open a file or picture, it will create a shortcut on your PC. When you delete these files or pictures, these shortcuts are still there, therefore you need a shortcut fixer to find obsolete shortcuts and delete them thoroughly. Advanced Win Utilities Free provides a shortcut fixer that can find all shortcuts you have on your desktop and in the Start Menu and delete orphaned or useless shortcuts to keep your desktop tidy and in order so that it won't look like a mess.

Step 1. Activate Free Shortcut Remover

Launch Advanced Win Utilities Free and go to "Harddisk" tab and in "FOLDER & SHORTCUT" group, click "Broken Shortcut Removal" to activate the free shortcut remover.

Step 2. Scan Shortcuts

Click "Scan Shortcuts" to choose the drive you want to scan. Click "OK" and the scan will start immediately.

Step 3. Select Broken Shortcuts

The shortcut files found will be listed with info like name, target, location and other details. The program marks the broken shortcut (when the file it is linking to is missing) with a red cross so you can spot it easily and solve the problem. Click "Select invalid" to select all the broken shortcuts. If you want to deselect the shortcuts, click "Select none".

There is a filter box in which you can enter the shortcut name or part of it to quickly find the shortcut. Click the dropdown menu of "Show" to list all shortcuts, the valid ones or just the invalid ones. The info of the selected shortcut such as location, shortcut, target, etc. will be displayed at the bottom. Click "Properties" or double click the shortcut to open up the properties dialog box for the item.

Step 4. Select Files to Erase

Click "Delete" to remove the broken shortcuts and they won't bother you anymore.