By default, whenever you right-click a file or folder in Windows 11 and select “Create shortcut,” the operating system automatically appends the word “- Shortcut” to the end of the new file’s name. If you are organising a clean desktop environment, you are forced to manually rename every single shortcut you create to delete this annoying suffix.
While Windows 11 doesn’t offer a simple toggle switch for this behaviour in the Settings app, you can permanently disable the automatic “- Shortcut” suffix using a quick Registry tweak.
How to Stop the Automatic Shortcut Text
You must edit the Windows Registry to change the default naming convention.
- Click the Start button, type regedit, and press Enter to launch the Registry Editor. (Click “Yes” if the User Account Control prompt appears).
- Copy and paste the following exact path into the address bar at the top of the window and press Enter:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer - With the Explorer folder selected on the left pane, look at the right side of the window for a value named link.
- Double-click on the link value.
- The “Edit Binary Value” box will appear. You will likely see the numbers
16 00 00 00or15 00 00 00. - You need to change this entire value to exactly 00 00 00 00.
- Carefully use your arrow keys and the Delete/Backspace keys to replace the numbers. Make sure there are four sets of double zeros.
- Click OK.
Apply the Changes
You must restart the Windows Explorer shell for the new naming rules to take effect.
- Open the Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc).
- Find Windows Explorer in the list of running background processes.
- Right-click it and select Restart.
Your taskbar will flash briefly. Now, go to your desktop, right-click any file, and create a shortcut. The new icon will appear instantly with the exact same name as the original file, completely free of the “- Shortcut” text suffix.