Sick and tired of Win11 messing with desktop icons!

retiredat44 · Oct 27, 2023

leave my desktop icons alone! the MS people are creating stupid things we don't need and not fixing the obvious! IMHO

the desktop icons either get moved by the software, and /or refuse to let me move them back. I use relcon icon saver, which works fine, but MS continuously sabotages my efforts to put the icon where I want them and keep them there!

barreleye · Oct 27, 2023

This has been a problem since Windows 95. Besides using programs that can save and restore desktop icon layouts, I've developed a surefire method to avoid the problem altogether - I stopped keeping icons on the desktop. Besides solving this problem:

1. My wallpaper is no longer partially obscured by the icons, spoiling its beauty.
2. The icons never get lost in the ever-changing wallpaper.
3. I don't have to close or move windows to get to the icons.

To augment the Windows Start Menu, which in Windows 11 implemented app folders and became the best implementation since its introduction in Window 95, I do the following:

1. Pin my most used programs to the Task Bar.
2. I maintain a folder "Programs" that contains folders that contain shortcuts, not unlike the old Windows 3.x Program Manager.

FWIW!

glasskuter · Oct 27, 2023

If you have widgets turned on, turn them off. They cause all kinds of problems.

Even though we don't have quick Launch any more you can simulate it. It sure speeds up things for me.
Here's how.

1. Browse to C:\Users\yourusername\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\
(NOTE: you have to have "show hidden files" enabled in folder options to see this folder.)
Within this folder create a sub-folder and name it QuickLaunch or whatever you want.

2. Make a shortcut to this new QuickLaunch folder on your desktop but add
C:\windows\explorer.exe in front of it like this:
C:\Windows\explorer.exe C:\Users\glass\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch.

3. Assign this shortcut an icon. (Right click on desktop shortcut-properties-change icon-select an icon-apply-OK)

4. Pin the shortcut to taskbar

You can't drag and drop to the taskbar, but you can drag & drop your desktop icons onto this desktop shortcut and it will reflect in the pinned taskbar icon.
You can also use this desktop shortcut icon to create files/ folders, anything you normally do and it will be one click away when clicking the icon on the taskbar.

If you want to go crazy, you can create multiple folders inside the parent folder in step 1, follow the same procedure, and have multiple things pinned to the taskbar.
I rarely go to my desktop as everything is organized in a manner that I can quickly access it from my "fake quicklaunch" icon on the taskbar.

starchase · Oct 27, 2023

To add another idea, I found that when I rearranged my desktop icons all across the top of the screen, which makes the 2 rows of icons there not to block the long and narrow image I have on the desktop, then add programs, those new programs add their desktop shortcuts on the left side of the screen and my 2 rows don't even get touched! As usual, your mileage may vary.
John

retiredat44 · Oct 30, 2023

I don't use wallpaper, or anything cute, just icons arranged by me. I just want Win11 to stop messing with me.

Almighty1 · Oct 31, 2023

It seems to mess with icons if you try to rename something, add a new icon or new file if it's pass a certain position on the Desktop.

retiredat44 · Nov 1, 2023

now it changed my desktop colors and background!!! MS, leave it alone!!!!! what is wrong with these people at MS???

joeldf · Nov 2, 2023

retiredat44 said:
now it changed my desktop colors and background!!! MS, leave it alone!!!!! what is wrong with these people at MS???

I'm not sure what's happening with your system, but MS couldn't care less about your screen. Something else is going on. A misbehaving program, some malware... something.

I've had the same desktop colors since I set them when I built my system 2 and a half years ago - even when upgrading from Win 10 to Win 11. They don't just change on their own.

It's time to start combing through your active processes and services to look for something out of the ordinary. It's a bear to do, because there are hundreds of those running just normally. But I think it's a program that got downloaded doing something it shouldn't.

retiredat44 · Nov 2, 2023

only drivers that update are MS and Nvidia.. if I am wrong with MS, then Nvidia is sucking

bcosner2000 · Dec 4, 2023

Please try this free utility. Works for me. (In Windows 11, after you right-click the desktop for dialog box -- you'll have to choose "Show More Options...". You'll see a 'Desktop Restore' option, which leads to 'Save Desktop' or 'Restore Desktop' [restores previously saved desktop icon positions]. Hope you'll find this as useful as I have.) Note: I've always chosen the first option of 'Download Desktop Restore' (never tried the other option there.)

Link: PC Hell: Save and Restore Windows Desktop and Icons

spapakons · Dec 4, 2023

Usually icons change when you switch resolutions for a game or other full screen application. The icons are supposed to return on their original position if you change the resolution back to the native of the monitor, but unfortunately this is not always the case. So you have to use a third-party utility to save and restore the position of the icons. Also make sure you haven't select the "Auto arrange" option. Right-click on your desktop (click on Show more if necessary) and go at View. Unselect the "Auto arrange" if it is enabled. In addition avoid moving an icon between other icons. They never make space the way you want. Move the other icon out to make space first, then move the target icon in its place.

retiredat44 · Dec 15, 2023

I think windows fixed it and it now keeps the icons in the place when putting new drivers in, or maybe Nvidia did,, either way, I am pleased..

spapakons · Dec 15, 2023

It is common for desktop icons to mess when display resolution is changed, even if it is changed to the same resolution, due to update of graphics drivers or a full screen game.

Berton · Dec 15, 2023

It can be an issue since the desktop is not Static like a picture hanging on the wall but Dynamic, always being redrawn/refreshed. Any number of programs can cause the refreshing when loading into memory for running. Most time it's not noticeable as it is done quite fast.

spapakons · Dec 15, 2023

Refreshing the desktop but keeping the icons on their original position isn't annoying. It is annoying when they move around. A common annoyance is when they are positioned in alphabetic order. While you find some icons easier if you know the name of the shortcut, it is not ideal when you are used to certain icons being on certain positions. It is much faster and more convenient when they are exactly where you expect them to be.

PurSpyk!! · Dec 16, 2023

What I find annoying is if a new icon is added to the desktop its added to the top left of the screen, other versions of Windows added the new icon after the last current icon on the desktop. No idea why they hanged this behaviour as it makes no logical sense

spapakons · Dec 16, 2023

I think it is up to the application creating the icon where it will appear. Most applications add it at the end

TM21 · Dec 16, 2023

Strange, but Windows has NEVER messed with my desktop Icons! Not in all the years since Windows 95.

It's just not programmed to do that. Now other programs, is another matter.

I think if I had all your problems, I'd opt for a Clean Install and just start over.

Good Luck,
TM

Merry Christmas

spapakons · Dec 16, 2023

TechnoMage2021 said:
Strange, but Windows has NEVER messed with my desktop Icons! Not in all the years since Windows 95.

It's just not programmed to do that. Now other programs, is another matter.

I think if I had all your problems, I'd opt for a Clean Install and just start over.

Good Luck,
TM
Merry Christmas

Clean installation is not Panacea (the solution for everything). You may introduce more trouble than you think. A simple office or internet PC only has a couple of applications easy to reinstall, but the average home computer has dozens of applications which would take many hours or even days to reinstall and reconfigure. Let alone the hours needed to take a full backup of the data and restore them. No thanks, I would rather try to fix the issue than go through this hassle... again. Yes, I speak of experience. Besides the whole point of this forum is to find a solution to our issues and AVOID a clean installation at all costs. Unless we are talking about a new computer (either new or refurbished) a clean installation should be the Last Resort.

PurSpyk!! · Dec 17, 2023

Steam on my system is the big culprit, if I let it create desktop icons, they always appear on the top left of the screen. Odd this is on Windows 1o this does not happen

Sick and tired of Win11 messing with desktop icons!

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