The screen disappeared all the icons what to do. SOS: Desired shortcuts and notification area icons have disappeared from the desktop. We are looking for the loss. Video: how to replace standard Windows shortcuts
A Windows 10 user may face a situation where icons will start to be removed from the desktop without any action on his part. To get rid of this problem, you need to find out why it could appear.
Why icons are erased on their own
The main reasons for the disappearance of icons can be attributed to a system bug or virus infection. In the first case, you need to check some system settings, in the second - get rid of the virus, and then return the icons to the desktop manually.
Also, the cause of the problem can be:
- incorrect installation of updates;
- activated "Tablet Mode";
- incorrect disconnection of the second monitor;
- disconnected Explorer process.
If the problem occurs after installing updates, it is most likely that they were downloaded or introduced with errors that caused the icons to be removed. Check your system settings and re-add icons.
"Tablet Mode" modifies some system properties, which can lead to missing icons. Sometimes it is enough to disable it to return all the icons, and sometimes after disabling it, you need to manually add the necessary icons.
How to return icons to the desktop
If you do not know why the icons disappeared in your case, then follow all the instructions below one by one.
Removing viruses
Before you start checking and changing the settings, you need to make sure that your computer is free of viruses. Some malware is capable of deleting and blocking desktop icons. Run the antivirus installed on your computer and run a full scan. Remove the viruses found.
Scan your computer for viruses and remove any found
Activating the display of icons
Check if the system is allowed to display icons on the desktop:
Video: How to Add a My Computer Icon to the Desktop in Windows 10
Creating a new item
You can try to create any new item. In some cases, all hidden icons immediately appear after that.
Deactivating "Tablet Mode"
Activating "Tablet Mode" can also lead to missing icons. To disable it, do the following:
Video: How to Disable Tablet Mode in Windows 10
Dual monitor solution
If the problem appeared when connecting or disconnecting a second monitor, then you need to change the display settings:
Explorer.exe is responsible for the operation of the "Explorer", which determines whether the desktop icons will be displayed correctly. The process can be shut down due to some errors in the system, but it can be started manually:
- Open Task Manager.
Open "Task Manager"
- Expand the File tab and go to start a new task.
Start a new task through the "File" tab
- Enter "explorer" and confirm the action. Done, the process will be launched, the icons should return.
Run the Explorer process to return icons to the desktop
- Find the process in the general list of tasks, if it was started, and stop it, and then follow the above three steps to start it again.
Restart "Explorer" if it was started before
Adding icons manually
If the icons disappeared and did not appear after following the instructions above, then you need to add them manually. To do this, move the shortcuts to the desktop or use the "New" function invoked by right-clicking on an empty space on the desktop.
Add icons to the desktop through the "Create" tab
Removing updates
If the problem with the desktop appeared after installing system updates, they should be removed by following these steps:
- Select the "Programs and Features" section in the "Control Panel".
Go to the "Programs and Features" section
- Go to the list of updates by clicking on the "View installed updates" button.
Click on the button "View installed updates"
- Select the updates that you think have damaged your computer. Click on the "Delete" button and confirm the action. After the system restarts, the changes will take effect.
Select and remove updates that might harm your computer
Video: how to uninstall an update in Windows 10
Registry setting
It is possible that registry settings have been changed or corrupted. To check and restore them, just follow these steps:
What to do if all else fails
If none of the above methods helped you fix the problem, then there is only one way out - reinstalling the system or restoring it. The second option is possible if there is a previously created system backup. Sometimes it is created automatically, so don't despair if you didn't create a copy yourself.
System Restore
By default, restore points are created automatically by the system, so, most likely, you will be able to roll back Windows to a state when everything was working stable:
- Find the "Recovery" section through the search bar in the Start menu.
Select a restore point and finish recovery
Video: how to restore the system in Windows 10
Missing icons from the "Taskbar"
The taskbar icons are located in the lower right corner of the screen. Usually these are icons of battery, network, sound, antivirus, Bluetooth and other services often used by the user. If some icons have disappeared from the "Taskbar", then you must first check its parameters, and then add the disappeared icons manually.
Checking Taskbar settings
Adding Icons to the Taskbar
To add any icon to the "Taskbar", you need to find a file in the .exe format or a shortcut that launches the desired program, and pin it. The icon will appear in the lower left corner of the screen.
Pin the program to the "Taskbar" to add its icon to the lower left corner of the screen
If icons disappear from the desktop, you need to remove viruses, check screen options and settings, restart the Explorer process, or restore the system. If icons disappear from the "Taskbar", then you need to check the corresponding settings and manually add the lost icons.
The main area that is involved when using the computer. Here users can place folders, shortcuts, and program icons. Some services are also displayed on the desktop. For example, "My Computer" and "Trash". But what if no icons appear on the desktop? How to fix the situation?
Removing shortcuts
Let's start with the simplest option - this is a banal removal of previously placed folders and shortcuts on the desktop. This often happens when several people use a PC.
To verify this scenario, the user will need:
- Right-click on any free space on the desktop.
- Select the line "Create".
- Create shortcut or folder.
If the resulting object is located on the computer, that's okay. Icons are not displayed on the desktop because someone deleted them.
You can correct the situation in different ways:
- create shortcuts and folders again;
- restore them from the recycle bin.
In the second case, you will have to open the "Trash", and then select the necessary objects and click on the "Restore" button.
Viruses
The second option, when icons are not displayed on the desktop, is a virus infection. Ideally, the user needs to carry out a complete computer diagnostics using different antiviruses. After that, the operating system must be disinfected, and the documents that did not succumb to the procedure must be deleted.
- Call the "Task Manager". For example, using hotkeys. In Windows it is Ctrl, Alt, Del.
- Switch to the "File" tab.
- Click on the "New task" parameter.
- In the line that appears, type explorer.exe.
- Press the "Enter" control on the keyboard or click on the "Ok" text on the screen.
After the actions taken, the user will restore the shortcuts. It did not help? Then you have to act differently.
Absence on PC
The thing is that viruses can sometimes damage or completely delete files on your computer. This is a fairly common occurrence.
If the above instructions for restoring the desktop did not help, most likely the explorer.exe document is missing on the PC.
- Find a user with a similar system or find a trusted data source on the Web.
- Download the explorer.exe document to your computer.
- Upload the document to the Windows system folder.
- Run it following the instructions above.
If everything is done correctly, the computer will be restored to work. Fast, simple and very convenient.
Registry and its values
Why are the icons not showing on the desktop? Maybe the registry is to blame. It is necessary to make adjustments to its values.
In order to cope with the task, you need:
- Press Win + R.
- In the line that appears, type the regedit command.
- Confirm the operation.
- Take a look along the path indicated in point a.
- In the Shell value, set "explorer.se" (in English).
- In the Userinit block, indicate the inscription specified in point b.
- Travel to the section - see point c below.
- Delete sub-items that have the word explorer in their names. There should be 2 documents.
Here are the sections and addresses to navigate to:
Everything should work now. It remains only to send the computer to reboot. We've figured out what to do when Windows 7 desktop icons and more aren't showing.
Disable shortcuts
But that is not all. Starting with Windows XP, new add-ons for the "desktop" were opened to users. With their help, users can hide and resize shortcuts. System errors can lead to the failure of the relevant parameters.
The user will need to act like this to correct the situation:
- Right click on the desktop.
- Open the "View" menu item. An additional list will appear on the screen.
- Put a dot-mark next to the item "Show icons ...". It is advisable to check the box next to the "Display gadgets ..." section.
If done correctly, shortcuts will appear. Practice shows that the problem under study is a minimum of trouble. Especially if you follow the suggested directions.
Service shortcuts
Sometimes users complain that they do not see the icons on the desktop "My Computer" and "Trash". Most likely, the reasons lie in the knocked down system settings.
The guide for restoring system service shortcuts is as follows:
- Right click on the desktop.
- Select the "Personalization" option.
- Follow the "Customize shortcuts ..." hyperlink. It is located in the upper left corner.
- Check the boxes for the services whose shortcuts you want to see on the desktop.
- Click on "Ok".
Installed Windows 7 x64. The problem is this: some programs lose their icons, that is, the shortcut picture itself. Instead of a picture of the program, a picture of an unknown file type appears. After restarting the program, some pictures return, some of themselves, then disappear again. Advise me what to do?
Vasily | June 19, 2017 8:36 am
Also, a shortcut without a program icon can be if, for some reason, the path to the file (.exe) that launches the program has changed, or the file name has been changed. But in this case, the shortcut won't work.
Max | 18 June 2017, 09:51
Icon Cache Cleaner fixed everything - Win 10 x 64
Arkady Nikotinov
| October 24, 2016 1:58 pm
In addition to all answers. A shortcut without a program picture can be in the absence of this program, with which this shortcut is associated. That is, the shortcut was created when the program was on, and if it was absent (for example, if it was uninstalled) or if for some reason the system does not perceive it (which may be, for example, if the antivirus is absent or disabled), the picture disappears.
Vitaly | October 22, 2016 7:39 pm
run command line as administrator
1. Close the explorer process with the command taskkill / im explorer.exe / f
2.cd% userprofile% appdatalocal
3.attrib -h IconCache.db
4.del IconCache.db
5. Run the explorer command explorer
Eugene | July 23, 2014, 13:01
In my case, the hidden installer folder was removed from the windows folder. You need to restore from an archive copy or overwrite from another computer. Then, under the administrator's name, the Icon Cache Cleaner program is launched easily. We reboot the computer, everything is ok.
Onotole | January 11, 2014 10:50 am
You need to delete the file C: \\\\ Users \\ [User] \\ AppData \\ Local \\ IconCache.db and reload your bucket ... These manipulations are nothing more than clearing the icon cache ...
Igor | December 13, 2013 8:54 pm
They're trying to dig, that's just the point, that your method gives nothing, it's useless to indicate the path to the image file.
Galina | November 22, 2012, 12:42 pm
Icon Cache Cleaner did not help me - some of the shortcuts disappeared altogether, some remained unchanged
Evgeny | April 14, 2012 10:09 am
I have practically the same problem. I tried the same as they wrote and still ((checked for antivirus, for the AVZ utility, for advanced system care, updated Windows, restored the system and still there are icons, but icons are superimposed on them like "the file type is not known". Help me solve this problem
fisher | 24 February 2012, 20:49
Clean the system with CCleaner (http: //www..htm). After rebooting, the pictures on the shortcuts will appear.
If you once turned on your desktop computer or laptop (which are running Windows 7, 10, or XP) and saw that all your desktop icons disappeared and you do not know how to get them back, then this article will help you solve this problem.
There are at least several serious and not very good reasons for this, and now we will analyze them one by one:
Function to enable desktop display.
If your desktop shortcuts are missing and not displayed, but the taskbar is fully functional,
check for their presence in the system folder called your account name. To do this, call "My Computer" by pressing the keyboard shortcuts "Win + E". Next, go to drive "C" / users / folder with your account name / desktop. And if there are at least some shortcuts, then you have disabled the display of desktop shortcuts.
Now, in order to restore and pin the icons to the desktop, you need to right-click on an empty space on the desktop, then hover your mouse over the "View" section, now you need to check the box next to "Show desktop icons".
After the manipulations you have done, all your labels should return.
Important: If you did not find any shortcuts in the system folder, then this method will not return them.
Run the "explorer.exe" subroutine
Explorer.exe is an executable system file that is responsible for launching and displaying the desktop, start menu, and taskbar. But it happens that in connection with virus programs or simply system failures, explorer.exe is disabled. This means you have to manually make it work. There are two ways to do this:
Through the task manager
To enable it, you will have to start the task manager with the keyboard shortcut "Ctrl + Shift + Esc". After that, first click on "File", then from the pop-up context menu "Run a new task".
Now you just need to enter "explorer.exe" in the task creation menu and click "OK".
The startup process may take some time, on average it is 5-10 seconds.
Important: if after that the taskbar appeared, but the icons could not be returned, go to step "1" - the function of enabling the desktop display.
Using the registry
To enter the registry of your system, press the key combination "Win + R", by this action you will call the "Run" task, in which enter the command regedit and click "OK".
Important: if for some reason this cannot be done, then turn off your PC. Now turn it on and while loading Bios, press the F8 key, this will bring up additional boot options for your system, in which you must select the "Safe Mode" option.
Now that you still managed to start the task registry, go to the "Computer / HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \\ SOFTWARE \\ Microsoft \\ Windows NT \\ CurrentVersion \\ Winlogon" folder, now find the "Shell" parameter, open it by double-clicking it with your mouse and, if the value line is empty , enter "explorer.exe" there. Then click "OK".
After closing the registry, all icons should return to their original place.
Recover accidentally deleted shortcuts using the "recycle bin"
If all icons have disappeared from the desktop, for example, you accidentally deleted them, then they can be easily restored. The fact is that all files you have deleted are stored in a temporary park, referred to as the "Trash". (For example, the program "mathcad" will be used).
And so, we find the trash icon on the desktop and open it. Next, we find in it the previously deleted program shortcut and right-click on it, calling up an additional context menu, in which you need to select the "Restore" option.
Important: this method will not work if the shortcut was deleted a long time ago, or if the trash was emptied.
Reinstall the shortcuts you want
This method is suitable if all the previous ones have not been successful. You just need to bring the shortcut to your desktop. To do this, find the program you need in the start menu. And just drag the shortcut to your desktop.
If the required program is not in the start menu, then search for it manually. This can be done in two ways:
Open the start menu and find the search command, then enter the exact name of the required program in the required line (an example is presented on OC Windows 10). When the search returns results, right-click on the icon and select "Open file folder."
When Explorer opens with the shortcut you want, right-click on it again, then select Send / Desktop (create shortcut).
System Restore
This method is extreme, so if the icons disappeared and you tried to bring the shortcuts back to the desktop, but none of the above methods helped, then you should run the system restore task. But do not worry, this is not as scary a method as the name suggests. System Restore serves as a kind of rollback in your system. That is, by running this procedure, say for the 19th, all programs that you installed after this date will be deleted, and any changes related to the system will be canceled.
Important: files, text documents or movies that are on your computer will remain unchanged. Only third-party programs will be removed.
And so, in order to start this procedure, open "My Computer" and right-click on an empty space. Then select the "Properties" option from the list provided in the context menu.
Now that a new window has opened, go to the "System Protection" section.
Now you have been transferred to the "System Properties" menu, in which you need to, while remaining on the "System Protection" tab, click on "Restore".
Then the system recovery setup menu will launch.
Important: you must select the restore point that was created before any problem appeared.
During recovery, your computer may restart several times - this is normal. The recovery itself takes up to 30 minutes maximum, it all depends on the "hardware" and the age of the recovery point.
Conclusion
Do not despair if you have lost icons from the desktop, after reading our article and the methods suggested in it, you can cope with the problem that has arisen. Start from the first point to the last, because let me remind you that system recovery is an extreme method.
In contact with
At one "perfect" moment it may happen like this: you turn on the computer, the operating system boots, and immediately realize that something is wrong, namely, the shortcuts from the desktop have disappeared. This could happen for various reasons, this article will describe the most likely of them, and also tell you how to cope with this problem.
Below we will consider three reasons why shortcuts from the desktop could disappear. Two of them are completely banal, and are solved in a couple of seconds, while the third is more serious, and it will take much longer to solve it.
Reason # 1
First, let's look at the most commonplace reason for the disappearance of shortcuts from the desktop. Perhaps they were simply deleted by someone (if several people work at the computer, then this option is very much the case). It is very easy to check this, create some element on the desktop, for example, a folder, shortcut, blank document, etc. If the object is successfully created, and it is displayed on the desktop, then the question is closed, someone just deleted all the shortcuts.
If the object was created, but it did not appear on the desktop, then the reason is different.
Reason # 2
Let's move on to the second commonplace reason. Perhaps someone (accidentally or on purpose) set an option in the settings, thanks to which the icons from the desktop disappeared (in fact, they are, they are simply not displayed).
You need to check the following:
For Windows XP
- Click on the desktop with the right mouse button (on an empty space, although in this situation this specification is very irrelevant :)).
- Move your cursor over Arrange Icons.
- Pay attention to the item "Display desktop icons", if the checkbox is not checked, check it.
For Windows 7
If at this point there was already a check mark, then this is not your case, we move on to the next reason.
Reason # 3
And finally, let's move on to the third reason for the disappearance of shortcuts from the desktop, and as a rule, it is associated with the activity of malicious software.
For greater accuracy, we will label this reason with a new subtitle.
Missing desktop and start menu
This is a very important point, earlier we talked only about the desktop, and about the icons that disappear from it, but not a word about the taskbar and start menu.
If your taskbar also disappeared along with the desktop, and accordingly there is no access to the Start menu, then most likely this is due to the explorer.exe process (it is not running). Since the explorer.exe process is responsible for Windows Explorer (including the taskbar, start menu, and desktop icons).
To solve this problem, we do the following:
1) First, let's try to manually start the explorer.exe process, for this we do the following:
and) We start the task manager using:
- For Windows XP - “Ctrl + Alt + Del”.
- For Windows 7 - “Ctrl + Shift + Esc”.
b) In the task manager menu, select the "File" item, and then "New task (Run ...)".
in) In the window that opens, write explorer.exe, and click Ok.
If Explorer starts, and the taskbar and desktop icons appear, then the explorer.exe file is still present on your computer. If, after the above operations, there is no result, perhaps the explorer.exe file is damaged, and it will have to be restored. Alternatively, it can be copied from a computer on which the exact same OS is installed, in most cases this helps. But, of course, it is better to use your own, native, from the installation disk.
2) You need to check your computer for viruses. After all, if the cause of what happened is precisely the virus, then it is useless to do anything until it is found and destroyed.
4) If, after rolling back the system, the problem is not resolved, you can look into. If you have not previously had to work with the system registry, I advise you to follow the link that was given above and familiarize yourself with the basics of security when editing the system registry.
and) Start Task Manager, go to the menu: File \\ Run, write “regedit”, and click OK.
b) Go to the following address:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \\ SOFTWARE \\ Microsoft \\ Windows NT \\ CurrentVersion \\ Winlogon
Check the following parameters:
Shell - should be “explorer.exe”.
Userinit - must be “C: \\ Windows \\ system32 \\ userinit.exe,”.
If your values \u200b\u200bdiffer from the above, correct them.
in) Go to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \\ SOFTWARE \\ Microsoft \\ Windows NT \\ CurrentVersion \\ Image File Execution Options
If you see a subsection “explorer.exe” or “iexplorer.exe” here, delete them.
P.S. The subsection is the one in the left column, in this case under the Image File Execution Options attachment.
After the above operations, the computer must be rebooted.
After that, the desktop and taskbar should start normally.