Desktop Icons Missing in Windows

Desktop Icons Missing in Windows

Introduction

If your desktop icons missing on your Windows 10 computer.

These often do not have a clear reason and that makes it difficult to troubleshoot them.

Don’t worry, you can try the tips below to fix the issue. Quickly and easily.

Before Troubleshoot

The first and the most basic thing you will need to do before you perform any other methods is to check if the option that displays your desktop icons is enabled.

Make sure you have enabled the “Show desktop icon” feature on Windows 10:

Right-click your desktop, click View, and check Show desktop icons.

Check to see if your desktop icons are back.

Desktop Icons Missing in Windows
Desktop Icons Missing in Windows

Method 1. Check your desktop icon settings

  • Right-click your desktop and click Personalize,
  • Click Themes > Desktop icon settings. ( Snapshot 1 )
  • Select the icons you want to show on desktop, then click Ok & Apply. ( Snapshot 2 )
  • Check if your missing icons problem is resolved
desktop icon settings
Snapshot 1
desktop icon settings
Snapshot 2

Method 2. Rebuild Icon cache

You can try these steps to rebuild the icon cache:

  • Open command prompt as Administrator Mode,
  • Copy-paste the following commands one at a time and press Enter after each command.
  • Check if it helps restore your desktop icons.
Rebuild Icon cache
Rebuild Icon Cache

Method 3. Scan & Fix Corrupted Files

Corrupt files are often the reason why some functions don’t work on your computer. Your files can get corrupted due to various reasons but you can fix them very easy.

Run a Command Prompt and type the following command.

Scan & Fix Corrupted Files
Scan and Fix Corrupt Files

Wait for it to find and fix corrupt files on your computer.

Method 4. Perform a System Restore

If the issue has occurred after installing a software or making changes to your computer configuration, you can resolve it by rolling your machine back to a system restore point.

It will get your configurations back to what they were when the icons displayed perfectly fine on your desktop.

Type recovery in the Windows search box, then press Enter.

At Recovery, click Open System Restore

Perform a System Restore
System Restore – Desktop Icons Missing in Windows

Select “Choose a different restore point” click “Next”

Perform a System Restore
Select Restore Point – Desktop Icons Missing in Windows

Check the box beside Show more restore points. You should see a list of ‘restore points’. These are like backups of your computer, as it was at that particular date and time.

Think back to a date when your desktop icons showed up, and select a restore point from that date or slightly earlier (but no later).

Desktop Icons Missing in Windows
Show more restore points – Desktop Icons Missing in Windows

Click Next > Finish , Check to see if your desktop icons are now restored on Windows 10.

Method 5. Reset Your Computer

If the steps above didn’t work for you. Resetting your computer is worth a try. It fixed the desktop icon issue for some users.

  • Open the Settings app on your PC.
  • Click on Update & Security.
  • Select Recovery from the left sidebar.
  • Click on Get started under the Reset this PC section
Reset your Computer
Reset Your Computer – Desktop Icons Missing in Windows

Final Words

In some cases, missing and outdated graphics driver may also reason for this problem. so you should make sure updates your all drivers and to avoid the Desktop icon missing problem. There are two ways to update your graphics driver: manually and automatically.

If the above guide helped you fix the recover the desktop icons issue on your PC, please let us know what method worked for you in the comments below.

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