Desktop icons

qim · May 16, 2023

Hi

In Win10 when I added something to the Desktop it went to the end of whatever was already there. In Win11 it goes to the beginning (topleft of the screen) and displaces whatever is there already

I would like to revert to Win10 arrangemente. What doi I have to do?

Thank you

Qim

Ghot · May 16, 2023

qim said:
Hi

In Win10 when I added something to the Desktop it went to the end of whatever was already there. In Win11 it goes to the beginning (topleft of the screen) and displaces whatever is there already

I would like to revert to Win10 arrangemente. What doi I have to do?

Thank you

Qim

Just "move" the new icon to where you want it.
It will stay there from then on.

I think MS thinks it's a good idea to put the new icon at top left. More noticeable or something. :/

I've noticed that this only happens for "some" new icons.
For example, when I save an edited image to the desktop, it appears at the end (bottom) of my other icons.
Same for Zip files, files I move from another drive to the desktop... etc.

When I install a new program though... the new icon gets placed just below ThisPC...
But this pic I just made was placed after the XnView shortcut.

Just another one of Microsoft's inexplicable... ideas.

qim · May 16, 2023

"Just "move" the new icon to where you want it."

That's the problem: it doesn't!

I thought it could be controlled from the "Taskbar Settings" but I cannot see how

massoudd3j · May 16, 2023

just right click on desktop and sort it by type. Then try again. That may fix your problem.

Fabler2 · May 16, 2023

Right click desktop, view and unselect auto arrange icons.

Ghot · May 16, 2023

qim said:
"Just "move" the new icon to where you want it."

That's the problem: it doesn't!

I thought it could be controlled from the "Taskbar Settings" but I cannot see how

This is how I have mine set. And for "Sort by"... I have nothing selected.

I also used the top (very first), tweak, in the link below... to get the Windows 10 context menus...
I don't know if that makes a difference or not. It might. ^^

Windows 11 Tweaks - Leader Board.

These are tweaks I've seen asked for... many times. They are collected here for easy access. All of these and more can be found in the Eleven Forum Tutorials section. Make sure to read the "notes" in the various tutorials. At the bottom of the first post in all the "tutorials", there are...

www.elevenforum.com

The only tweaking program I use is Winaero Tweaker, and I have nothing in there set... concerning the desktop icons.

john1955 · May 16, 2023

It put's them at the bottom for me and I've never messed with it. Pretty sure this is the default just like Windows 7

rick99 · May 16, 2023

Ghot said:
Just "move" the new icon to where you want it.
It will stay there from then on.

I think MS thinks it's a good idea to put the new icon at top left. More noticeable or something. :/

I've noticed that this only happens for "some" new icons.
For example, when I save an edited image to the desktop, it appears at the end (bottom) of my other icons.
Same for Zip files, files I move from another drive to the desktop... etc.

When I install a new program though... the new icon gets placed just below ThisPC...
But this pic I just made was placed after the XnView shortcut.

View attachment 60230 View attachment 60231

Just another one of Microsoft's inexplicable... ideas.

Frequently, files moved or copied onto my desktop get put right below "This PC" displacing everything else. I then have to move it somewhere else. It's quite annoying.

Dru2 · May 16, 2023

qim said:
Hi

In Win10 when I added something to the Desktop it went to the end of whatever was already there. In Win11 it goes to the beginning (topleft of the screen) and displaces whatever is there already

I would like to revert to Win10 arrangemente. What doi I have to do?

Sometimes that happens to me as well. I don't know why and it doesn't happed all the time but every once in a while an icon will move my trash bin icon down and be placed above it. May be a Windows 11 quirk, but nothing bothersome to me.

qim said:
"Just "move" the new icon to where you want it."

That's the problem: it doesn't!

I thought it could be controlled from the "Taskbar Settings" but I cannot see how

You can have them auto arranged as I do. Simply right click the desktop, select View, than click "Align icons to grid"

Now whenever a new icon is created is should fall behind the last icon in a grid like manner. For "Sort by", I go by "Item type"

Hope this helps.

mck · May 16, 2023

qim said:
Hi

In Win10 when I added something to the Desktop it went to the end of whatever was already there. In Win11 it goes to the beginning (topleft of the screen) and displaces whatever is there already

I would like to revert to Win10 arrangemente. What doi I have to do?

Thank you

Qim

Windows has two desktop folders as follows:

C:\Users\Public\Desktop
C:\Users\UserName\Desktop

The contents of the public desktop folder are always displayed first on the left side of the screen. The contents of the User's Desktop folder follows.

I haven't figured out how Windows decides to store stuff in the Public Desktop folder. But to to have ALL icons on my desktop sorted properly, I created a batch file that moves the contents of the Public Desktop folder into the User's Desktop folder. The result is that all icons on my desktop are sorted properly. I have a shortcut on my desktop that I click to run the batch file when I see icons on the left side of the screen that are out of position.

Here's my batch file:
@echo off
move "C:\Users\Public\Desktop\." "C:\Users\z270\Desktop"
(z270 is my user's name. Yours will be different.)

rick99 · May 16, 2023

mck said:
Windows has two desktop folders as follows:

C:\Users\Public\Desktop

C:\Users\UserName\Desktop

The contents of the public desktop folder are always displayed first on the left side of the screen. The contents of the User's Desktop folder follows.

I haven't figured out how Windows decides to store stuff in the Public Desktop folder. But to to have ALL icons on my desktop sorted properly, I created a batch file that moves the contents of the Public Desktop folder into the User's Desktop folder. The result is that all icons on my desktop are sorted properly. I have a shortcut on my desktop that I click to run the batch file when I see icons on the left side of the screen that are out of position.

Here's my batch file:
@echo off
move "C:\Users\Public\Desktop\." "C:\Users\z270\Desktop"
(z270 is my user's name. Yours will be different.)

The next time this happens, I'll see which folder the item copied to.

qim · May 16, 2023

Thank you all

I guess I have to get used to this nonsensical Win11. I like to place whatever I am working on on the desktop and noit have it moved around without my knowledge. I HATE this Windows!

Is there an easy way to revert to Windows10?

rick99 · Jun 2, 2023

rick99 said:
The next time this happens, I'll see which folder the item copied to.

Just an FYI update, this happened again to me yesterday. I verified that the folder the file was copied to was my user folder, not the public folder.

jseeley · Jun 2, 2023

Not sure if it's the same exact problem, but I sometimes notice this the second I change the name of a desktop file (or it's extension), it pops to the upper left. If I then move the file back to about where it was, and change the name or extension again- same thing. Seems to happen repeatedly with the same files but not with others... doesn't matter if they're new or old. Auto arrange if OFF. Align to grid is ON. "Sort by" NONE. My C:\Users\Public\Desktop is empty.

Also, if I may add, if I change the extension of a file and click off of the icon to make the change, and then click (not Enter) "Yes" to confirm, the "selection rectangle" appears even though no mouse buttons are held! I need to click the desktop again to dis-engage it. Crazy.

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