How to Arrange or Move Icons on the Desktop

Summary

This article describes how to arrange, move, and change icons on the desktop.

More Information

How to Arrange or Move Icons

To arrange icons by name, type, date, or size, right-click a blank area on the desktop, and then click Arrange Icons. Click the command that indicates how you want to arrange the icons (by Name, by Type, and so on). If you want the icons to be automatically arranged, click Auto Arrange. If you want to arrange the icons on your own, click Auto Arrange to remove the check mark.

How to Remove Icons

Some icons are shortcuts to programs on your computer. Shortcut icons usually have an arrow in the bottom-left corner. If you do not want a shortcut on your desktop, click the icon, and then drag it to the Recycle Bin. This action only removes the shortcut, not the program that it is pointing to. You can also right-click the icon, and then click Delete to remove a shortcut from your desktop.

Some icons such as My Network Places, Recycle Bin, and My Computer cannot be deleted.

How to Change Icon Pictures

Some icons have the option to change the picture that represents the icon. Not all icons have this option. To change the icon picture:

Right-click the icon and click Properties.

Click the Shortcut tab (if one is available), and then click Change Icon.

Click the icon that you want to use from the list, click OK, and then click OK.

If there are no icons available in the list, the manufacturer may not supply additional icons. To find other icons, follow the same procedure on a different icon, locate its source file (usually an .ico file), and then go back to the original icon that you want to change. Follow the same procedure, but when you click the Change Icon button, browse to the location of the source file from the different icon.

NOTE: Third-party tools are available that enable you to change icons.

For additional information about changing icon pictures, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

253689 Cannot Change the Default Folder Icons in Windows Explorer

TweakUI

NOTE: TweakUI is an unsupported tool. The following information is provided for informational purposes only. Microsoft Product Support Services is unable to answer questions about TweakUI.

If you are a Windows power-user, you can use TweakUI 1.33 to manipulate icons. However, this is an unsupported tool. Read the document that accompanies TweakUI carefully before you download and use the tool.

For additional information about finding more help with icons, click the article numbers below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

262885 Desktop Icons Displayed Incorrectly When You Change Settings

132668 Icons Randomly Change to Different Icons

How to arrange the desktop icons positions on Windows 10?

There is a way to save the icons position ?

Is really annoying to be forced to position the icons every remote connection and many other activities.

Original title: Desktop icons

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Thank you for posting in Microsoft Community and being a part of Windows 10.

I understand the inconvenience you are facing in accessing the desktop icons on your device. We will help you with this issue.

Follow the below steps to arranging desktop icons and check if it helps.

1. Right click on the desktop, over the mouse on to View option.
2. Try to check and uncheck the options Auto arrange icons and Align icons to grid and check if it helps.

Hope it helps. Get back to us for further assistance on this issue. We will be happy to help you.

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I’ve been using this little tool since Vista days and has worked through every version of Windows. Just installed it on W10 to make sure it is still working. It does. Easiest route is to use the installer for Windows 64-bit. If not using 64-bit then you’ll need to install using the .zip file. The tool will add a shift+right click context menu to save/restore icon positions.

Really helpful when I install new graphics drivers or do something else that scatters the icons all over the desktop. It works reasonably well. Just remember to shift+right click and save the icon positions first. You can try it by saving the positions then moving them around the desktop and then shift+right click and restore icon positions. They jump right back to where they were (usually)—sometimes I have to move a couple manually but I have dozens of icons. Pretty nifty little tool. (DIPS64). Downloads are at the bottom of the page.

Desktop icons rearrange and move after reboot in Windows 10

Several Windows users at some point or the other have experienced the problem of their Desktop icons rearranging or moving after reboot. If your Desktop icons keep jumping, bouncing, moving or rearranging after rebooting on Windows 10 PC, here are a few things you can try to fix the problem.

Desktop icons keep rearranging or moving

Please go through the list and decide the order you may want to try these suggestions.

1] Make sure Auto arrange icons is unchecked

Right-click on the desktop, select View. Make sure Auto arrange icons is unchecked. Also, uncheck Align icons to grid.

2] Delete Icon cache

Open File Explorer and navigate to the following folder. Remember to replace ACK with your username.

Copy-paste the address in the address bar and hit Enter. In the Local folder, you will see a “Hidden” IconCache.db file. Delete it. This applies to Windows8/7 users.

Now arrange your icons on your desktop and restart your computer and see if it has helped.

3] Ensure that the Graphics driver is updated

Make sure that you have updated your video or graphics drivers to the latest available version from the manufacturer’s website.

4] Change Screen Resolution

Change your Screen Resolution and see if it helps. Right-click on the desktop and select Display resolution. The System Settings window will pop up.

Here check if you have set the Resolution to the Recommended figure.

Also check if Change the size of text, app, and other items to set to the Recommended figure. If it shows 125%, set it to 100% and see if that helps.

5] Check Desktop Icon Settings settings

Prevent themes from changing icons. To do this, from the Control Panel, open Desktop Icon Settings box. Uncheck Allow themes to change desktop icons, click Apply and exit.

6] Change Icon Spacing

Change Windows Metrics – Icon Spacing and see. You will have to edit the Registry for this.

7] Troubleshoot in Clean Boot State

If nothing helps, check if it happens in Clean Boot State and troubleshoot the issue by trial and error method.

8] Use DesktopOK

You have one other option. Use freeware to lock your icon positions. DesktopOK lets you save, restore, lock desktop icons position, and layout. It can record icon positions and some other desktop arrangements. D-Color is another tool you can use to save the current icon layout, restore earlier icon layout, and more.

9] Use Icon Shepherd

Here’show you can Restore the desktop icon layout to the original position using Icon Shepherd.

Let us know what, if anything here, helped you – or if something else you did worked for you.

TIP: There are several interesting things you can do with your desktop icons. You can resize icons on desktop, display the desktop icons text on the side and quickly hide or unhide them.

Enable Icons Auto Arrange on Desktop in Windows 10

Your Desktop is a special folder which shows your background wallpaper that you have chosen and your files, folders, documents, shortcuts and all such items you have stored. It appears every time you sign in to Windows. In this article, will we learn how to disable the auto arrange desktop icons feature for your user account in Windows 10.

Tip: In earlier Windows versions, the Desktop had important icons enabled by default — This PC, Network, Control Panel, and your User files folder. They were all visible by default. However, in modern Windows versions, Microsoft made most of these icons hidden. In Windows 10, only the Recycle Bin is present on the Desktop by default. Also, the Windows 10 Start Menu does not have links to these icons either. You can enable classic Desktop icons as follows:

By default, Auto Arrange is disabled, so it is possible to place the desktop icons at any position you like on Desktop. If you enable it, all the Desktop icons will automatically be arranged in columns and sorted by their name. Here is how to enable this feature.

To enable icons auto arrange on desktop in Windows 10, do the following.

1. Minimize all open windows and apps. You can use Win + D or Win + M shortcut keys. Alternatively, you can right-click the taskbar and select «Show the desktop» from the context menu or left click the far end of the taskbar.Tip: See What is the difference between Win + D (Show Desktop) and Win + M (Minimize All) keyboard shortcuts in Windows
2. Right click the empty space on your Desktop and select View — Auto arrange icons. This command will toggle the Auto arrange icons feature. When Auto Arrange is enabled, a check mark will appear next to the context menu command’s name.

This is pretty simple.

This feature can be configured with a special Registry tweak. Here is how it can be done.

Enable Icons Auto Arrange on Desktop with a Registry tweak

1. Open the Registry Editor app.
2. Go to the following Registry key.

See how to go to a Registry key with one click.

On the right, modify or create a new 32-Bit DWORD value «FFlags». Set it to one of the following values in decimal.

1075839520 — disable Auto Arrange Icons and Align Icons to Grid
1075839525 — enable Auto Arrange Icons and Align Icons to Grid
1075839521 — enable Auto Arrange Icons and disable Align Icons to Grid
1075839524 — disable Auto Arrange Icons but enable Align Icons to Grid

Note: Even if you are running 64-bit Windows you must still create a 32-bit DWORD value.

To make the changes done by the Registry tweak take effect, you need to restart the Explorer shell.

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About Sergey Tkachenko

Sergey Tkachenko is a software developer from Russia who started Winaero back in 2011. On this blog, Sergey is writing about everything connected to Microsoft, Windows and popular software. Follow him on Telegram, Twitter, and YouTube.

1 thought on “ Enable Icons Auto Arrange on Desktop in Windows 10 ”

I want the icons on my desktop locked in place as I have chosen to arrange them. When automatically rearranged there is great confusion and loss of time.

DesktopOK — Save and restore the positions of the Windows Desktop Icons!

Save and restore the positions of the Windows Desktop Icons and many helpful Windows Desktop-Tools for private, office and commercial usage.

DesktopOK is a small but effective solution for user that have to change the screen resolution often. It is also good for windows users who often have to work with a projector on the notebook eg laptop or tablet-pc on all MS Windows! so the name is Desktop O.K. and not only Icon Save, the program has also other helpful functions for daily works on all windows os!

Key Features in DesktopOK

Other specifications and possibilities
◆ Low system resource usage
◆ Launch at Windows startup.
◆ Portable Windows app.
◆ Each user can then have his own arrangement.
◆ Run in to tray area for easy access.
◆ Change Language
◆ Multilingual

Why save the desktop icons

Especially for users who often have to change the screen resolution, such as webmasters or gamers. Or also for potential users who often have to work with a projector on a notebook. (Here too, the resolution on the notebook is happy to change).

After this change, an icon chaos can be found on the desktop as if a bomb had struck. Likewise, when working with docking devices, desktop bars and windows, the icon position shifts and is not correctly restored if this was not anticipated by the respective program!

The advantage of DesktopOK is the size of the program, less than 300 K, also that no installation is required and the 32 bit version has no disadvantages compared to the 64 bit version, so it has an EXE for all MS Windows OS. Simply place it on the desktop and get started. The program also has many other tools!

Due to the integrated additional desktop tools, it is almost indispensable on every Windows PC, so the name is also desktop OK and not just Icon Save. I would like to expand it with other useful functions, so it lives up to the name, you can find these in the Tools menu, most of them are self-explanatory!

DesktopOK is a random product from FavoritenFreund, but has long been one of the most popular programs in Germany.

The Installation of DesktopOK

The Freeware DesktopOK does not have to be installed and can be executed easily from the desktop, and can be carried on a small usb-stick or other memory device. Start the program. The first time that you use it the program it will present you with a license screen. The program is free and the license info is only displayed the first time (per PC).

For portable use, please create or copy in DesktopOK working directory the DesktopOK.ini.

Supported Operating systems

Save and Restore Desktop Icons is suitable for: Windows 10, Windows 10 Pro, Windows 10 Enterprise, Windows 10 Home, Windows 8.1, Windows 8.1 Enterprise and Pro, Windows 8, Windows 8 Enterprise and Pro, Windows 7, Windows 7 Enterprise, Windows 7 Home Basic, Windows 7 Home Premium + Professional, Windows 7 Starter + Ultimate, , X64, x86 and x32 all Windows, MS Windows Server 2019, 2016,2012, .

Here you will find some helpful information:

# DesktopOK Versions History

New in version 8.77 // 13 April 2021 Important update of the language files Small corrections and adjustments in Desktop-OK for MS Windows operating systems General fine-tuning and improvements.

New in version 8.71 // 16 March 2021 Small optimization and general fine-tuning in DesktopOK for all MS Windows OS Update of the Desktop OK language files

New in version 8.66 // 25 February 2021 Important update of the DesktopOK language files Improvements in the DesktopOK Windows Tools New language in DOK: Portuguese-Portugal Many thanks to TEC Store for the Portuguese language. Оцените статью Вам также может понравиться Windows или Linux: Что лучше выбрать? Есть много причин выбирать между Windows и Linux, но Файл владелец изменить linux Команда Chown в Linux Chown Command in Linux (File Установка шлюза по умолчанию linux Настройка сети вручную Содержание Краткое описание Чем разбить диск для linux ИТ База знаний Курс по Asterisk Полезно — Узнать IP — Правообладателям Политика конфиденциальности Контакты