Losing shortcuts is annoying, but losing actual files is far more challenging to recover from. In this case, move directly to the next method below. How to Generate Art from Text Using Simplified AI Art Generator? Your email address will not be published. Unfortunately, Windows 11 still lacks the "Show all icons" option from Windows 10. A number will appear for a second on each monitor. Right-click a blank space on the desktop, and select "View/Show Desktop Icons" in the pop-up menu. Created by Anand Khanse, MVP. However, if none of the above solutions work, you may have to reset your Windows 11 PC as a last resort. 2. TechTips. If the issue persists even after updating the driver, your graphics driver may be corrupt. If your desktop icons are still missing at this point, you can try restoring them manually. Following this, your desktop icons should be visible. Right-click on your desktop and select the, Check the icons you wish to show on the desktop and click on. Why am I not able to click on desktop icons? We explain and teach technology, solve tech problems and help you make gadget buying decisions. Not associated with Microsoft. 3. To open Desktop Icon Settings, input this command and click OK: desk.cpl ,,5. Desktop Icons not working or are unclickable. Step 3: In the Process tab, scroll down to find Windows Explorer. Click Identify to see how Windows sees your monitors. But what if these desktop icons vanish without a trace? Top 11 Ways to Fix Windows 10 Showing Black Screen Before Login. replied to Anonymous. I have tried everything in this article, and have also uninstalled One Drive. Right-click a folder on your Windows 11 PC and select Show more options to expand the menu. Choose Personalization. Wait for the process to complete and then restart your PC. When a folder is encrypted, Windows adds a lock icon overlay to the folder icon to identify it as an encrypted folder. I never had a system with OneDrive, and frankly Im only living with it for 1 year. Step 2: Now, right-click again on an empty space on the Desktop and click Refresh. Thank you for mentioning OneDrive. Time-saving software and hardware expertise that helps 200M users yearly. It will open another window where you can change icons of This PC, User Folder, Network, Recycle Bin using the Change Icon button. Second, the reason this is an issue in Windows 11 for some users is because a recent update toggled the display desktop icons setting off for some people. The fixes above are most likely to work for restoring missing desktop icons. When work isn't on his mind, you can find him watching a football match or reading a book. Follow these suggestions to bring the icons back on your Windows Desktop: Some of the methods may need admin permission.if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'thewindowsclub_com-medrectangle-4','ezslot_1',815,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-thewindowsclub_com-medrectangle-4-0'); If Windows has set to hide the desktop icons or you have done it earlier and forgotten about it, you can enable it quickly. Before fixing desktop icons not showing, its worth considering some of the causes for them disappearing in the first place. Then press the Windows logo key. Copy the following commands and paste them one after the other in the Command Prompt window. If you want to hide or unhide the desktop icons, or if your Desktop icons are not showing in Windows 11/10/8/7, then this post is sure to help you. Now, you'll see a window containing desktop icons. Close the elevated Windows Terminal app and see if the problem is now fixed. The cause of this is a .. Then, switch to the Customise tab. As a last resort, you can perform a clean boot or restore your PC to an earlier restore point. If so, you dont need to be a magician to get them back. Step 2: In the following window, switch to the View tab and uncheck the Always show icons, never thumbnails box. Folder and file names are not showing in Windows 11/10 If folder and file icon names are not showing . Windows 11 can stop showing you those file thumbnails for various reasons sometimes. Commentdocument.getElementById("comment").setAttribute( "id", "af71bf9a4de3d912dd596aa311b2bee6" );document.getElementById("c494d01588").setAttribute( "id", "comment" ); (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Get weekly Video Tutorials tips and trends via email! Click on the Personalization option. Its essential to have icons on the desktop for quicker software access. I only needed to complete step 3. If the problem is still not fixed, move down to the final potential fix below. To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. Many of us prefer using thumbnails over icons. Toggle on the settings next to the app icon you want to appear. This is because the icons on the desktop have not been removed, they are simply in a state of not being displayed. Now, you may check the next section for all the questions you may have regarding fixing the icons not showing on desktop issues. Below are the steps you may take to show desktop icons. This PC > Desktop > r-click > Location > [onedrive path] 0 Likes. What did work? Refreshing the icon cache will only force-enable the icon cluster back on. If the device you are using is running Windows 11, you may have recently run into an odd issue where all of your desktop icons were suddenly missing. However, this article elucidates how to fix the issue quickly and easily. The easiest way is to Select the Action Center icon in the lower right-hand corner of the screen, then click Tablet mode . This is the value because which desktop icons are not showing on your Windows 11/10 system. Finally, drag the app shortcut to your desktop. In Themes, scroll down and click "Desktop Icon Settings.". Rebuild the icon cache. Now all your desktop icons will appear immediately. Then, click Next followed by Finish. 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. Then use the delete key to remove the text, and press the Enter key. This is driving me crazy! Double-click on it to open its Properties box. 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. Incidentally, on a related note, this post will help you if your Desktop Icons not working or are unclickable. How to Fix Icons Not Showing on Desktop Issue, Fix 1: Activate the show desktop icon feature, Fix 2: Check the settings of your desktop icons, How to Fix Run as Administrator Not Showing in Windows, [Solved] USB Drive Not Showing Up on Windows 10, How to Fix Windows 10 Taskbar Not Working, How to Fix Unable to Determine Filesystem Type, How to Fix Kotion Each G2000 Mic Not Working (Easily), Samsung Xpress M2876ND Driver Download and Update, HP Spectre x360 Driver Download and Update, Windscribe VPN: A Complete Review with its All Features, Duplicate Photo Finder and Cleaner Software. I want to personally thank you for your tutorial on how to repair the thumbnails issue on Windows 11. Then navigate to this directory path (replace with your actual folder): Select to restart the PC from Windows 11s Start menu. Readers like you help support MUO. The following may be the reasons Windows 11/Windows 10 desktop icons are not showing properly. Its possible that youve been logged in with a temporary profile, or you need to fix corrupted values for icon spacing in Registry Editor. If desktop icons are not showing at all which include desktop shortcuts and system icons (like Recycle Bin), then there are chances that an associated setting in Windows Registry is configured for it. Sometimes you see the icons. Click OK to save the changes. How do I fix icons not displaying on my desktop? After this, you can follow the steps mentioned below: First of all, open the Registry Editor window. 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. DEL %userprofile%\AppData\Local\IconCache.db /a. If you face this issue, then this post will help you. #ThisPCWindows11 #CoolITHelp 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. All rights reserved. The good news is nothing is lost, you just need to re-enable the setting. Your desktop icons may be hidden. The above article may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. After weve investigated this issue thoroughly, it turns out that this problem has multiple potential causes. File Explorer on Windows is known to run into errors at times. Check whether the above steps fixed the issue or if the Windows 10 desktop icons are still not showing. To show the icons, simply select the . However, apps that werent pre-installed on your PC will not be preserved after a reset. The thumbnails not showing issues can also occur due to that. If you dont want themes to change these icons, uncheck the box next that allows changing theme desktop icons. How to Show Desktop Icons in Windows 11. Step 3: Scroll down and select Desktop icon settings. This will take you to the folder's properties page. Step 4: Click on Taskbar behaviors option at the end of the page. Hopefully, one of the solutions above has helped you bring those thumbnails back. Heres how to change that. We recommend downloading this PC Repair tool (rated Great on TrustPilot.com) to easily address them. Thankfully, Windows 11 comes equipped with an SFC, aka System File Checker scan, that can find corrupted system files on your PC and restore them to their previous version. Thankfully, such issues are often easily resolved once you restart File Explorer. For example, if you'd like to see the Recycle Bin on your desktop . Fix 4: Try system restore. Restart File Explorer. TheWindowsClub covers authentic Windows 11, Windows 10 tips, tutorials, how-to's, features, freeware. To show the icons, simply select the option. The above steps must have helped you resolve the Windows icons not showing issue. Copy the file to your Windows 11 PC and make sure you put it somewhere you plan to keep it . This post will show you how to unpin or remove the pinned Taskbar items in Windows 11/10. If the above solutions fail to resolve the thumbnails not showing issue on Windows, then malware may affect your PC. If Windows 11 is failing to load up thumbnails, you can try running an SFC scan by following the steps below. How do you get the icons back? Click Identify to see how Windows sees your monitors thumbnails for various reasons sometimes desktop for software. To the next section for all the questions you may take to show the not! With it for 1 year showing, its worth considering some of page. To an earlier restore point, its worth considering some of the causes for them disappearing in following... Resolve the Windows 10 [ OneDrive path ] 0 Likes the questions you check. How do i fix icons not showing elevated Windows Terminal app and see if the above steps must helped. The above solutions work, you dont want Themes to change these icons, select! A window containing desktop icons are not showing issues can also occur due to that get them back article... 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