The icons from the desktop or from the taskbar are gone, what should I do in this case. Missing icons from the desktop or from the taskbar, what to do in this case Restore shortcuts on the windows 10 desktop

One of the problems that can arise with Windows 10 is the sudden disappearance of all icons from the desktop. This can happen at any time, including when installing an update and restarting your computer. It is interesting that the reason for this phenomenon is not yet precisely known, and so far developers and programmers only recommend several ways to solve it.
Simplest method for returning icons
The first and most logical way to solve the problem is to simply check the display of icons on the desktop in the parameters of the OS itself. This is done using the context menu. In its first paragraph, there should be a note next to the parameter about displaying desktop icons. If it is, then you need to remove and return this mark using the mouse, and then update the desktop using the F5 key or by selecting the corresponding item in the context menu.
Option number 2
Another way available to every user, regardless of skill, is to create a new shortcut on the desktop. This can be done by selecting the appropriate item in the context menu of the desktop. Most often, this is enough to solve the problem. If this did not happen, then the created object must be deleted.

Display options

Even users with a lot of PC experience often don't know all the possibilities that Windows 10 menu provides.

  1. In the "Start" menu or using the Win + I key combination, select the "Settings" OS item.
  2. Select "System".
  3. Select the shortcut that includes the tablet modification (Tablet mode), then carry out the "on-off" procedure with both switching icons.
  4. After that, close the Options menu and use the above methods to update the desktop.

Violations of the program "Explorer"

Many users of other operating systems from Microsoft probably already know about this method of solving the problem and have tried it. This method is associated with a small probability of infecting Explorer with some types of viruses that were previously very widely used, but now most antivirus programs successfully block them.

  1. Use special key combinations to call the Task Manager. This can be done using Ctrl + Alt + Esc, as well as Ctrl + Alt + Del, as well as using the Start menu.
  2. In an open program, in a separate tab, find the Explorer process.
  3. After finding the process with the right mouse button, a menu is called up, in which the restart item is selected.
  4. You can also highlight the Explorer process by pressing the button. This step will lead to an automatic restart of the process, after which the likelihood of eliminating violations in the OS will be quite high.
  5. If the "Start" menu cannot be called up, and the "Explorer" process is not listed in the active list, you can perform the following sequence of actions:
    • Click on the "File" section and select "Run" or "New task". Another way to launch this window is to simultaneously press "Win + R"
    • In the context window that appears, enter the name of the command "explorer" or "explorer.exe" (this is the same thing), and then press the button "enter"

This will lead to the launch of the Explorer program, for some reason (virus attack, etc.) it did not work as expected.
Violations in the work of "explorer.exe"
If suddenly a message pops up that the file is not found or the tool is not available, it's time to check the system with the most recent antivirus and make sure the integrity of the file that is responsible for the Windows 10 window interface. We check the system disk and RAM for malware, then run the command "sfc / scannow "through the Run window or Task Manager.
If a message appears about the absence or unavailability of the file, then you should, first of all, carry out a full system scan using antivirus. This is necessary in order to detect possible problems with the file that is responsible for the appearance of the desktop and the display of icons in Windows 10. After checking the RAM and hard drives for viruses, you should run the command "sfc / scannow" using the Order Manager or using program input windows.
The general state of the file responsible for graphics and desktop display can be checked by entering the program:

To check only the state of the file responsible for the graphical shell, run:
sfc /scanfile\u003dC:\\Windows\\explorer.exe
Additional ways to solve the problem (in case the above did not work):

  • Use the path that was described above to check the status of the explorer.exe file. If it is not there, you must return to Windows;
  • If the problem does not appear when starting in safe mode, then the source is the disruption of applications running in the background when Windows 10 starts;
  • restart the computer using the last suitable settings. It is possible that this will help fix the problem.
  • use a copy of explorer.exe, which can be downloaded from the Internet or copied from another user of a similar version of Windows 10.

You must first create an archive with the original program and close the Explorer.

I often have to correct various funny breakdowns and malfunctions for users. One of these is a complaint that shortcuts on the Windows desktop have flown. The word "flew" here means that they do not open the programs that they are supposed to, but launch some one application - notepad, web browser, some editor or player. In this case, you just need to return associations to shortcuts (that is, files with the .lnk extension) after they have been changed either by the user himself or by one of his programs.
In this manual, I want to consider two main ways that will help you restore program shortcuts in Windows 10 on the desktop and in the Start menu.

Restore shortcut association via command line

Right-click on the "Start" button to open the context menu:

We find and select the "Command line (Administrator)" item to launch the Windows 10 console with administrative rights that allow you to make changes to the OS configuration:

Now we enter the command: assoc.lnk \u003d lnkfile and press the "Enter" key for the command to work.
In Windows 10, the assoc system utility allows you to change the associations of shortcuts and other files. By the way, it is often used by various computer pranksters and novice virus writers.

How to return shortcuts to the desktop through the registry

The second way to return shortcut associations in Windows 10 is to edit the system registry. It is suitable if for some reason you do not have access to the command line of the operating system.
To open the registry editor, press the Win + R key combination and enter the command regedit... Press the "OK" button and an editor window appears in front of us:

In it you need to open a branch:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER \\ Software \\ Microsoft \\ Windows \\ CurrentVersion \\ Explorer \\ FileExts \\ .lnk

It will contain several folders, including the folder UserChoice... It must be completely removed. After that close the editor window and restart the computer. After Windows 10 starts, all lnk file associations should be restored!

As the Windows developers do not strive to create a perfect and ideal operating system, the number of errors does not decrease. This is due to the complexity of the system and, as I think, with the errors of the original kernel. One of these weird problems is when icons disappeared from the Windows 10 desktop. You boot your computer and the screen is blank, as if a reinstallation had just happened. But even after the installation, we see some shortcuts. And in our case, there is nothing.

Windows 10 desktop shortcuts are missing - what is the reason?

There may be several sources of the problem, why all icons disappeared from the desktop:

  1. Change screen resolution.
  2. Folders and files have become "hidden".
  3. Display settings lost.

If some program has set its own resolution on your computer, then some icons will not be visible. But this is only in the case of partial disappearance - it is unlikely that absolutely all content will not be visible.

If only folders, and not shortcuts, have disappeared from the desktop, look for the "View" option in the Explorer settings. In it, you can specify the display of hidden elements.

Just check the box and all hidden folders will appear, including on the screen.

Windows 10 desktop icons are missing: what to do?

Both of the previous cases will only help when some elements are simply not visible or not displayed. But if there is nothing on the screen at all, then you should deal with the settings. First of all, check if the display of icons and generally the contents of the main screen is not disabled. To do this, press the right mouse button (RMB) on the free space of the screen and switch to the "View" command. The display option must be selected (there is a check mark next to the corresponding item).


If there is an accidental failure, it will help to return everything to the place of creating a folder or other item. To do this, use the RMB to select the "Create" action and then click on any element that you like. The name is optional, it will be set by default.


After that, the missing icons may appear.

If it doesn't help, then use the settings. Press "Start" and click on the gear.

Choose "System".


And click on the "Tablet Mode" section. Windows removes all unnecessary elements in this display. Move the sliders to the "Off" state.

My computer shortcut from the desktop is missing: how to restore

Even after installing Windows 10, many are faced with the fact that the icon for my computer has disappeared from the desktop. It must be displayed on the screen forcibly. Right-click on the free space of the screen and select "Personalization".

Then go to the topic and look for "Desktop Icon Options".


Here you can restore all the familiar icons if they are missing.

Check the boxes in the upper area. If you are interested in setting your own pictures, then click on the element in the middle part and select the "Change icon" option.

After clicking "OK", the items you installed will appear on the Windows 10 desktop.

Explorer problems

The system file explorer is responsible for displaying shortcuts, folders and icons. A failure in its work will lead to the fact that you will see empty space, instead of the usual tools. The easiest way is to try opening My Computer and then restarting the process. RMB on start and select the task manager.

Right click again, already on the explorer, and restart.


Also try running this file.

If it is not found at all, either restore the system, or copy explorer.exe from the Windows folder on the working PC and move it to your computer in a similar folder.

So, we told you how to restore your computer screen to normal. Hopefully this will help you to work smoothly.

Have a great day!

Recently, users have encountered the problem of disappearing shortcuts from the desktop. If you came to our site, it means that your desktop icons are gone and you do not know why they are not displayed.

In this article we will look at what to do if icons disappeared from the Windows 10 desktop. And you will also learn how to hide shortcuts on the Windows 10 desktop in several ways. We will analyze options for solving the problem using the example of Windows 10, but they will also be relevant on previous operating systems.

The process of returning icons is not difficult at all when you know what to do. To enable desktop icons, open the context menu on the desktop and select the tab View, and then Display desktop icons.

If this option did not help, we try to enable and immediately disable the tablet mode, which you can read more about in our article.

Open the notification center, which contains the button to enable and disable tablet mode.
After turning it on, turn it off and see if the icons appear on the desktop. This method can help in very rare cases.

The most serious way is to fix the problem by making changes to the registry. Before these we recommend that you read the article in order to always be able to roll back the changes.


Hide shortcuts on Windows 10 desktop

Similarly, you can hide shortcuts on the Windows 10 desktop. To hide all shortcuts from unwanted eyes, you can use the same two methods. I think it's not worth talking in more detail about how to hide icons, since the process is really not complicated.

In this article, we did not delve into why the shortcuts on the desktop are not displayed, since there can be several reasons ranging from malicious software to incorrect desktop settings. We just looked at how to fix the situation when the shortcuts from the desktop in Windows 10 are missing.

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