Top 6 Ways to Fix File Explorer Tabs Not Showing in Windows 11. Right-click on the Desktop and then click on View. Step 1: Press Windows key + I to open Settings and go to Storage. . Hopefully, the above-mentioned solutions have helped you restore the missing desktop icons on Windows 11 and things are back to normal. 2 Copy and paste the ie4uinit.exe -show command into Windows Terminal, and press Enter. If this does not work, try unchecking the option to change your desktop icons. However, if none of the above solutions work, you may have to reset your Windows 11 PC as a last resort. Above, we discussed all about fixing the Windows 10 desktop icons not showing issue. Select Yes when the User Account Control (UAC) prompt appears. Right-click on the desktop icon and select Properties. After installation, simply click the Start Scan button and then press on Repair All. You might only need to select a context menu option to restore missing desktop icons. Step 2: Type in the command given below and press Enter. When you make a purchase using links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Top 8 Ways to Fix Mouse Cursor Not Showing on Windows 11. File Explorer on Windows is known to run into errors at times. When that data gets corrupted, Windows might fail to load up thumbnails. An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. So, you need to delete it. Still having issues? If desktop icons are still not showing after applying all the aforementioned potential solutions, a more drastic fix might be needed. Heres how to refresh the icon cache via Windows Terminal: Note: If the icons are still not showing on your Windows 11 installation, follow the next sub-guide directly below. Continue with Recommended Cookies. Thumbnail previews on Windows give you a glimpse of your files without opening them. At Recovery, click Open System Restore . I found the solution. OneDrive as an online signin and upload or download is a helpful resource, for me. If you can't figure out what it is, you can use System Restore to restore Windows to a previous state. Make sure to click and drag the icon, not the address itself. Toggle on the settings next to the app icon you want to appear. How To Fix VLC Shortcuts or Hotkeys not Working Problem? Open Apps in the Windows Settings; Then click on the Modify button and click Yes (if UAC prompt received). Not having the proper desktop icon settings may also lead to the Windows 10 home desktop not showing issue. This action would purge and rebuild the icon cache. Note: If you notice a checkbox next to Show desktop icons, icons should already be enabled on your Windows 11 installation. However, some users cant access their shortcuts when the desktop doesnt show icons. Note: If the icons are still not showing on your Windows 11 installation, follow the next sub-guide directly below. Almost nobody complains that they do not get enough emails. For example, if you'd like to see the Recycle Bin on your desktop . Step 2: In the following window, switch to the View tab and click on the Restore Defaults button. If your desktop icons are missing or appear blank or broken, you can fix the issue by rebuilding the desktop icon cache. Now all your desktop icons will appear immediately. Select Show desktop icons. If you're missing the Recycle Bin icon on your Desktop in Windows 11, the steps below will show you how to restore it. Make sure you select the Keep my files option. Right-click on your desktop and select the, Check the icons you wish to show on the desktop and click on. Rather than trying to recreate your desktop, follow the steps below to regain the original icons: Once you click "Show desktop icons" the menu will disappear and all the icons will once again be visible on the desktop. Check whether the above steps fixed the issue or if the Windows 10 desktop icons are still not showing. A Confirm Value Delete box will appear. On the desktop, press and hold Ctrl while you scroll the wheel to make icons larger or smaller. This software repairs common computer errors by replacing the problematic system files with the initial working versions. Just open the elevated Command Prompt and execute the following command: Below are the step-by-step instructions to do it. Can't unpin icon from Taskbar in Windows 11/10. Hide desktop icons. Deleting a corrupted icon cache is among the confirmed solutions for this issue. How do I fix icons not displaying on my desktop? Since there are no icons on the desktop, it should not matter where you right-click. Fix 3: Build the icon cache again. Typecmdin your Windows search bar and selectRun as Administrator. To rebuild icon cache on Windows 11: Press Win + S to open the search menu. Some of our partners may process your data as a part of their legitimate business interest without asking for consent. That is fine the Themes window is where the . But what if these desktop icons vanish without a trace? Press the WIN + I keyboard shortcut to open the Settings app, then navigate to: Personalization -> Themes. Step 1: Open the Start menu, type view advanced system settings, and press Enter. Your email address will not be published. 5. Choose Personalization. Then, you can change the arrangement options if necessary. Here are a couple of troubleshooting tips to fix the problem of Windows 11 desktop icons not showing. 3 minutes ago. If the refresh doesnt happen automatically, right-click on a free space on your desktop again and click on Refresh from the context menu. Readers like you help support MUO. To add an icon to the desktop in Windows 11, open the Start menu and click on All apps. Note: If you notice a checkbox next toShow desktop icons,icons should already be enabled on your Windows 11 installation. Click View on the command bar. Right click on your desktop and select View. DEL %userprofile%\AppData\Local\IconCache.db /a. Hello all, I've run into a problem on my laptop where icons are not showing up on the desktop. 4. If you move the taskbar to the top of your screen, the taskbar thumbnail previews show above the taskbar (off screen) and not below. Follow these steps to perform a system restore on Windows: Wait for Windows to reboot and revert to the specified restore point. Desktop icons still dont show up after trying the above methods? Therefore, this article focuses on helping you fix the desktop icons not showing issues. Next, type 'notepad' inside the text box, then press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to open up Notepad with admin access. Select the "View" submenu and choose the "Show desktop icons" option again to hide the icons . Once you complete the above steps, your icons should appear on the desktop. Step 4: Click on Taskbar behaviors option at the end of the page. Copyright Windows Report 2023. When you run such an application, you will get a UAC prompt. Make sure the option Always show icons, never thumbnails under Advanced Settings is not selected. Your desktop icons may be hidden. Same as other users, I have gone through all the troubleshooting steps listed above but the issue persists. Copy the following commands and paste them one after the other in the Command Prompt window. There may be times when you might want to quickly show a clean desktop by hiding all the icons. Next, click the. Press OK to exit and close Group Policy Editor. Select Show and Click the Hidden items option. If this is the case, you can restart the Windows Explorer process to fix the problem. How to Fix Desktop Icons Not Working/Not Showing Properly in Windows 10/8/7. Click the Start button and select Settings. Right-click your desktop and choose the option to. However, apps that werent pre-installed on your PC will not be preserved after a reset. YouTube is undoubtedly a popular video streaming service for many users for various reasons. Right-click anywhere on the desktop and expand "View". While they are there for security reasons, it gets annoying to get the prompt every time you run it. . Corrupt system files may make you receive the Windows 10 desktop icons not showing issue. Lastly, click on Apply and OK to save changes. You may take the steps shared below to do it. Quick Repair Office; Then let the process complete and reboot your PC to check if the Word . Uninstalling OneDrive. These were all the solutions you need to fix the missing Desktop icons. Please read the entire post & the comments first, create a System Restore Point before making any changes to your system & be careful about any 3rd-party offers while installing freeware. Kamil is a certified MCITP, CCNA (W), CCNA (S) and a former British Computer Society Member with over 9 years of experience Configuring, Deploying and Managing Switches, Firewalls and Domain Controllers also an old-school still active on FreeNode. Copyright 2023 The Windows ClubFreeware Releases from TheWindowsClubFree Windows Software Downloads, Download PC Repair Tool to quickly find & fix Windows errors automatically, Desktop icons disappear when I click on them [Fix], Taskbar icons not showing, missing, invisible, blank in Windows 11/10, How to remove Green Check Marks on Desktop Icons in Windows 11/10, Microsoft adds the new AI-powered Bing to the Windows 11 Taskbar, New Bing arrives on Bing and Edge Mobile apps and Skype. In that case, you'll need to reinstall the graphics driver on your PC. We recommend installing Restoro, a tool that will scan your machine and identify what the fault is.Click hereto download and start repairing. The Group Policy Editor lets you make various system-wide changes on your Windows computer. Note: You probably noticed the result you get isn't actually "Desktop Icon Settings," but rather "Themes and Related Settings.". We covered this topic in more detail in our guide to how to add icons to the desktop on Windows. Right-click on an empty area on the Desktop and click on View > Show desktop icons. How to add This PC icon on Windows 11 desktop. You can turn on Bluetooth simply by double-clicking on the "fsquirt" icon . The content remains unbiased and authentic. How to Fix Icons Not Showing on Desktop Issue. Fix: In StartAllBack, a Start menu replacement app, you can set the taskbar to uncombine by selecting None on the Taskbar tab. As always, knowing how to undo the small changes Microsoft sometimes implements, especially those that can have potentially huge consequences, is key to preventing frustration and saving time! Project Name Stars Downloads Repos Using This Packages Using This Most Recent Commit Total Releases Latest Release Open Issues License Language; Sharpshell: 1,277: 73: 1: This problem seems to be primarily affecting Windows 11 users running on insider builds. Pankil is a freelance tech writer from India who enjoys writing how-tos, guides, and troubleshooting tips for Windows, Android, and Internet. If youre running Windows 11 Home, check our guide on how to access the Local Group Policy Editor on Windows Home before continuing. TheWindowsClub covers authentic Windows 11, Windows 10 tips, tutorials, how-to's, features, freeware. Then use the delete key to remove the text, and press the Enter key. Release the icon on your desktop. Step 2: When you click the Folder Options tab. To add icons to your desktop such as This PC, Recycle Bin and more: Select Start , open Settings , then under Personalization , select Themes . document.getElementById( "ak_js" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); We at TechPout promise to put forth stories that help people to learn and simplify their digital life. Copyright 2023 The Windows ClubFreeware Releases from TheWindowsClubFree Windows Software Downloads, If you find that your desktop icons are missing, type, Download PC Repair Tool to quickly find & fix Windows errors automatically. Feb 28 2022 11:28 AM. In Windows 11, only the Recycle Bin icon is not automatically on the desktop by default. It will open another window where you can select which desktop icons can appear on the Desktop. Make sure to untick the Auto Arrange icons option. You'll see the icon and the site address drag with your mouse cursor. If the refresh doesnt happen automatically, right-click on a free space on your desktop again and click on Refresh from the context menu. Step 1: Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc on your keyboard to quickly launch the Task Manager. If the normal desktop icons are not displayed, you can try the following methods: 1. I strongly believe that there may be issues with the MS OneDrive that may also be a culprit in this scenario. You may follow the fixes shared in this article to get the icons back on the desktop. Now select the Desktop folder, present in the right pane. I want to personally thank you for your tutorial on how to repair the thumbnails issue on Windows 11. Created by Anand Khanse, MVP. It is missing right from Windows 10 and has been configured such that users can choose what appears in the Start menu. Modify the Office Installation; Now choose the Quick Repair option and click on the Repair button. Right-click on "fsquirt" and then click on "Copy" to copy the application. If your desktop icons are still missing at this point, you can try restoring them manually. The following may be the reasons Windows 11/Windows 10 desktop icons are not showing properly. Fonts can come. Step 3. Frequently Asked Questions. If the method above was not effective in your case, you should proceed by troubleshooting a potential corruption thats affecting the icon cache. System restore returns your computer to the state before you started experiencing the Windows 11/10 icons not showing on the desktop problem. Heres how to change that. Now, uncheck the Auto arrange icons option from the sub-menu. THank God I was able to resolve it. Anand Khanse is the Admin of TheWindowsClub.com, a 10-year Microsoft MVP (2006-16) & a Windows Insider MVP (2016-2022). When they made it a mandatory it really soured me on them because of syncing issues. Regardless of what you store on your desktop - application shortcuts, files, folders, etc., it is important to have access to those items when you need them. 2. Unfortunately, a recent Windows 11 update toggled a setting that made all desktop icons seem to disappear. There might be other reasons why the Recycle Bin icon is missing from your Desktop. After this, you can follow the steps mentioned below: First of all, open the Registry Editor window. It happens when the shortcut is broken, or the file association has a problem. If youve recently tweaked any of the Windows performance options, you might not see any thumbnails previews on Windows. 1:06. Now you should be able to see the icons in the System tray. Users whove restored missing Windows 11 desktop icons with other methods are most welcome to share alternative fixes in the comments below. Several affected users that were also dealing with this issue on Windows 11 have reported that theyve been able to fix the problem by creating a custom .reg file to ensure that the registry database related to icon management is not corrupted. In this video tutorial, we will see how to show 'This PC' on windows 11 desktop. How to Create & Change Desktop Icons! The fixes above are most likely to work for restoring missing desktop icons. How to Restore Windows 10 Administrative Tools Shortcuts, Google Pushes Assistant Shortcuts Once Again For Ease of Quick Actions. In the Desktop window, paste the application. Rebuilding the entire icon cache will require you to build a custom BAT file that will automatically run a series of commands that will effectively rebuild the cache associated with every Windows icon. Now access the Explorer Registry key. 1:46. The desktop is a lot less useful if you can't put icons on it. Step 1: Right-click on the desktop and go to Personalize. #ThisPCWindows11 #CoolITHelp If you already ensured that the desktop icons are enabled from the GUI and you still dont see them, move down to the next potential fix below. 1 Open Windows Terminal, and select either Windows PowerShell or Command Prompt. Step 1: Right-click on the problematic file type, go to Open with and select Choose another app. Press Enter after each command. To remedy that, you can force Windows to rebuild that thumbnail cache. A special window titled "Desktop Icon Settings" will appear. There are lots of variations in fonts which is part of what makes choosing one to best fit your project or business so much fun. Right-click any part of your Windows 11 desktop wallpaper to select, To open Desktop Icon Settings, input this command and click. The updated File Explorer in Windows 11 features a tabbed interface that lets you open multiple File Explorer tabs within a single window and switch between them as necessary. Now, you may check the next section for all the questions you may have regarding fixing the icons not showing on desktop issues. Desktop icons not showing in Windows 11/10. 3. We came around an issue, where some users were facing problems trying to disable drop shadows for desktop icon labels. Click the Start button, type "Desktop Icon Settings" into the search bar, then hit Enter, click "Open," or click "Themes and Related Settings.". Hello Guys,In this video ,You will learnHow To Show Icon On Desktop In Windows 11 || Windows 11 desktop Icons Not Showing InSecond Method :Check out this vi. However, before jumping to the solutions, it is always a good idea to take a look at the problems causes. There are so many different fonts to choose from when working on a project but selecting one can be a big decision. Select a restore point before the issue first appeared and hit. Time-saving software and hardware expertise that helps 200M users yearly. Right-click Windows Explorer and select its, Search for the Command Prompt by inputting a, Right-click Command Prompt within the search tool to select a. Step 1: Right-click anywhere on the Desktop on an empty space and from the context menu select View. Select the Outlook icon in the notification area. Right-click on a blank space on the desktop, and select "Display Settings" in the pop-up menu. Several users have reported that the Nvidia didn't open when the icon was showing up in the search results. There are multiple reasons why your file names are not showing up, like corrupted system image files, conflicting third-party services or startup apps, etc. Right click a blank space on the desktop and choose Display Settings. Reply. Q3. To change your Outlook configuration so that the Outlook icon is displayed in the taskbar when Outlook is running, use the following steps: Start Outlook if it is not running. From there, select an icon that you can easily identify and then click on 'OK'. After knowing the possible causes of the problem, let us move towards troubleshooting. If all desktop icons disappear and you cannot right-click on the desktop, then check if this issue is caused by a improper group policy. That said, now that Start Menu and Taskbar have evolved, putting icons on the Desktop may not make a lot of sense. Any application can add its icon to the system tray. Right-click the shortcut and select Show More Options. Click Change Icon. Also Read: How to Fix Run as Administrator Not Showing in Windows. 6. Now knowing all the time I have spent over the past year trying to resolve the problem and it too was OneDrive really (_(*)W(*E#. Following that, your desktop icons should appear. 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