As expected, the Quick Launch has been disabled in the latest Windows 8 OS as well. Many Windows users might not find the need of Quick Launch in Windows 8 as the Start screen and the Taskbar itself work as good alternatives.
The search feature in Windows 8 Start screen is very powerful and lets you launch a program in a second. You just need to type the name of the program in Start screen followed by a enter key to run the program. Options are also available to save program shortcut on the desktop, or pin frequently used program shortcuts to taskbar.
But then there are users who have switched from the good old Windows XP to the latest Windows 8. If you are one of those users who have been trying to get back the useful Quick Launch feature, here is how to enable it.
Step 1: Right-click on the Taskbar and select Toolbars > New Toolbar. It will open New Toolbar-Choose a folder dialog.
Step 2: In the folder path, enter the following path and click Select Folder button.
%userprofile%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch
Quick Launch toolbar will appear next to the notification area (system tray). To Move the Quick Launch to the left of the taskbar (next to Start button), follow the next step.
Step 3: Unlock the taskbar and then enlarge the taskbar size by dragging the Left click on the dotted vertical separator line and move it the extreme left (next to Start button). If you have any pinned applications on the taskbar, then you need to drag the right vertical separator of the Quick Launch.
Step 4: Now, right-click on the Quick Launch and uncheck Show Text and Show Title options to get the classic Windows Quick Launch in Windows 8.
Step 5: Finally, right-click on the taskbar and select Lock the taskbar option.
Also check out how to enable Start menu in Windows 8.