How do I create a shortcut to a file on Android?

Last reviewed: October 15, 2026 · Markdown version

It depends on the phone, and for a single file the vendors document less than you would expect. On a Samsung Galaxy, My Files can put a folder on the Home screen. Files by Google's Home-screen shortcuts cover only two of its own screens, Clean and Downloads, so for one file its documented answer is a star. The practical workaround on either phone is to put the file in a folder and make the folder easy to reach.

How Android shortcuts work in general

Android's own help lists three things a Home screen can hold: apps, "Shortcuts to content inside apps", and widgets. The shortcut part depends on the app: "Touch and hold the app, then lift your finger. If the app has shortcuts, you'll get a list", and you drag the one you want onto the screen (Add apps, shortcuts & widgets to your Home screens, Android Help, read 15 October 2026). That page says nothing about files specifically. Whether a file can be pinned comes down to what your file manager offers.

Samsung My Files: pin a folder

Samsung Australia's guide to folders in My Files ends with exactly this. Open Internal storage, long press the folder to select it, tap More, then Add to Home screen, then Add; "Once aded you will be able to view the folder on your Home screen", typo and all (Creating New Folders in the My Files app, Samsung Australia, read 15 October 2026; page "Last Update date : Sep 09. 2026"). The guide is written for Australian-variant phones, and Samsung says so on the page. It describes the steps for a folder only and is silent on whether a single file can be pinned the same way. If your My Files shows Add to Home screen for a file too, it is the same menu; we have not found a Samsung page that documents it.

Files by Google: two built-in shortcuts

Google's help article on Home-screen shortcuts starts with a limit: "This option is applicable for Clean and Downloads." Touch and hold the Files by Google icon, a list of two options appears, and you drag either one out. The Downloads shortcut opens the Downloads tab directly (Add shortcuts to the home screen, Files by Google Help, read 15 October 2026). That article describes nothing for an individual file or for one of your own folders.

What Google does offer for the file you keep opening is Starred. In its words, "To easily access frequently used files, you can mark them as Starred": press and hold, then More › Add to Starred, and the file appears under Collections › Starred. Note the catch: after an uninstall and reinstall, "you need to mark your files as Starred again" (Manage your Starred files, Files by Google Help, read 15 October 2026). It is one tap further than a Home-screen icon, and it has the advantage of working on any phone that runs the app.

Files in Google Drive

If the file lives in Drive rather than on the phone, Drive has its own widget. Touch and hold the Home screen, tap Widgets, choose Drive shortcut, then "tap the Drive folder you want to add" (Add & customize your Google Drive widget, Google Drive Help, read 15 October 2026). Again it is a folder, not a single file. Copying a phone file into Drive to get the shortcut means a second copy, and Google notes that an upload "will take up space in your Drive" (Upload files & folders to Google Drive, Google Drive Help, read 15 October 2026).

Our suggestion: pin the folder, not the file

Every documented route above ends at a folder, so lean into it. Make a small folder for the few documents you open from the Home screen (a ticket, an insurance card, a timetable), pin that, and replace what is inside as things change. The icon stays put while the contents move on. Making the folder first takes a minute in either app.