how to create shortcuts on USB drive

Hi bJay — yes, there are a couple of ways around this, but a normal Windows .lnk shortcut usually stores an absolute path, such as:
G:\Folder\File.docx
So when the USB drive later becomes I:, the shortcut may fail unless Windows can resolve it automatically.

Best options​

Option 1: Assign the USB drive a permanent drive letter​

This is the simplest and most Windows-native solution.

• Plug in the USB drive.
• Right-click Start.
• Choose Disk Management.
• Right-click the USB volume.
• Select Change Drive Letter and Paths.
• Assign it a high letter, for example U: or X:.
• Recreate or edit your shortcut to use that drive letter.

Using a high letter makes conflicts less likely.

Option 2: Use a small batch file instead of a shortcut​

If the file is on the same USB drive as the launcher, this is usually the most reliable method.
For example, if your file is:
I:\Documents\MyFile.pdf
Create a text file in the root of the USB drive named something like:
OpenMyFile.cmd
Put this inside it:
Save it, then double-click OpenMyFile.cmd.
%~dp0 means “the drive and folder where this batch file is located,” so it will automatically become G:\, I:\, U:\, etc., depending on whatever letter Windows assigned that time.

Option 3: Use a relative shortcut, but reliability varies​

Windows shortcuts can sometimes resolve moved files using relative information, but the standard shortcut Target field usually shows and depends on an absolute path. For removable USB drives, I would not rely on this if the drive letter changes often.

My recommendation​

Use either:

• Permanent drive letter assignment if this USB is mainly used on your own PC.
• A .cmd launcher using %~dp0 if you want it to work even when the drive letter changes.

So no, you should not need to manually edit the shortcut every time — but a normal shortcut is not the best tool for this unless the drive letter stays consistent.