Updated: 2026-07-05
[2026-07-05]

Pin Emacs on Windows Taskbar

While at work this week I accidentally discovered a useful shortcut on Microsoft Windows1. When you have applications pinned to your taskbar you can swap between them using Super (Windows key) + 1, 2, 3… to open your first, second, third, etc. pinned apps. It will swap the active window to the application or open a new window if it is not running.

This is exciting because it allows me to reuse muscle memory from my sway setup on Debian. In sway Super + 1, 2, 3… moves you between virtual desktops. Since I almost always have web browser on 1 and Emacs on 2 I can easily recreate the same experience by pinning my web browser first and Emacs second.

Strange Issues Launching Emacs from Taskbar

After pinning Emacs to my taskbar I noticed some odd behaviors the next time I launched it. Depending on how it was pinned launching Emacs from the taskbar would either:

  • Open a new Emacs instance separate from the pinned icon on the taskbar. (This breaks the Super+2 as it opens a new Emacs instance every time instead of switching to the open window)

  • Open Emacs with an empty CMD prompt window that cannot be closed without closing Emacs.

    emacs-taskbar-cmd-issue.png

I wasn't seeing either of these issues before pinning Emacs to the taskbar.

Background on Emacs Executables on MS Windows

My normal setup on Windows is to create a shortcut to the Emacs executable, add it to my desktop and pin it to the Start menu. Once added to the Start menu I can click the Super key and search Emacs to launch it quickly. If you've looked at the Emacs program files you'll know it provides several executables to choose from.

  • emacs.exe
  • emacs-30.2.exe
  • emacsclientw.exe
  • runemacs.exe

To run Emacs in a new window without any CMD windows opening you need to use the runemacs.exe, so that is the executable I normally create my shortcut from.

Fixing the Issue with Semi-Hidden Properties Settings

I believe issue was related to this executable difference. Once Emacs is running it is identified as emacs.exe. I assume runemacs.exe is ultimately just calling emacs.exe with some preconfigured options. This difference in name seems to confuse the taskbar grouping.

Reddit user stannis_baratheon_1 offered a fix. You need to edit the taskbar launcher's properties by right-clicking the icon, then right-clicking a smaller icon that pops up, which then shows the "Properties" option.

right-click the taskbar icon then, then right-click the Emacs option in the pop-up, then click Properties Properties menu showing Target set to runemacs.exe
  1. Unpin Emacs from taskbar.
  2. Run runemacs.exe or a shortcut to it.
  3. Pin running Emacs to taskbar.
  4. Right-click on pinned Emacs Icon.
  5. Right-click on Emacs icon in the menu.
  6. Click "Edit Properties".
  7. Change the Application path from "emacs.exe" to "runemacs.exe".
  8. Apply changes.

Once finished test to see if Emacs opens correctly when launched from the taskbar. For me this has resolved my issues and I can now swap quickly between my web browser (Super + 1) and Emacs (Super + 2).

Footnotes:

1

Unfortunately, work requires me to use a MS Windows machine. Every night I pray to Saint IGNUcius for absolution.

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