Bridge loaded but no desktop icon

You don't need to create a shortcut to open Bridge.

There are several other ways:

• from the Adobe CC App on your desktop
• from the Windows Start Menu under "All" you will find Bridge
• In the Windows Start Menu, locate Bridge and right click to pin it to Start for quicker access or right click and choose More where you can pin it to your Taskbar, my preferred option as it can then be launched with a single click.

If you use Bridge all the time, there is an option in Bridge Preferences (Edit>Preferences>Advanced) to launch Bridge at login then you reduce the number of clicks to zero!

If you really want your own Desktop shortcut then the quickest way to accomplish this is to navigate to the Bridge exe file. It is located at "C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Bridge 2025\Adobe Bridge.exe" If you are using an older version, change the year accordingly. Once found, right click and choose "Send to>Desktop (create shortcut)".