Desktop Icons Have Disappeared

Yuller2 said:

Update to my previous post,

While messing around settings, I duplicated my earlier predicament when I changed the tablet mode to make windows more touch friendly. I did this by going into settings, click system, click tablet mode, then turned on the button that said to make windows more touch friendly. So I went back and turned the button off and it seemed to fix the problem.

If I am correct, that button does not make windows more touch friendly. I hope this works for rest of you.

This is the solution that worked for me. How a laptop ends up in tablet mode, I don't know.

Thanks for this reply!

Chass
ct

boboDOTsexy said:

i just right click on the empty desktop, then randomly create a file
oh , bling ....
all those stuff appear suddenly

tks
gd luck

THIS WORKED FOR ME!!! Thank you SO much!!

deshdg said:

Dear friend ,
I was experiencing the same problem of disappearing of desktop icons since I upgraded to windows 10 last week but fortunately I got its resolution from some gentleman's post and now I have no problem. Go to SETTINGS > SYSTEM > TABLET MODE. Here set both the buttons ie Make windows more touch friendly & Hide icons to ON position. Then slide them both back to OFF setting. Now return to your homescreen and hopefully you will find your matter resolved

it works! thanks alot

Karan said:

Thanks "TheSmokey76" . It solved my problem. My Desktop Icons have appeared now.

This works as well. Also an issue from switching back and forth from tablet mode on a laptop with that type of capability.
Right click the desktop and check mark "auto arrange icons" instead of grid.

I assume this also works from connecting to a monitor and moving icons to the other screen.

craigm said:

Well, I did something, but cannot find out what it was I dis or how to rectify it. This AM when starting Windows 10 Home, I had no icons on the desktop. Using the file explorer>desktop, they are there, so i did not delete them. Somehow I have hidden them from view. The normal app that controls the default icons does not have a hide/unhide, so I am at a loss. Suggestions as to where to look would be appreciated.

I know this thread is one year old, but in case it helps someone - I went to a local file directory and changed the file properties of THAT folder, subfolder and files in it to "Unhide". It proceeded to unhide so many Gigabytes worth of files that I freaked out and cancelled the operation.

Subsequently my cluttered desktop was cleared of all files, even the Recycle Bin icon! Right-clicking on the desktop didn't help either. Finally what worked was going into File Explorer (where the files didn't show up either), right-clicking Desktop and Properties and checking the "Hide" button (which has no reason - i think- to have hidden itself since what I had checked earlier was a folder on the local Temp C: drive. Then again, I'm no computer expert and I may have inadvertently done something silly. All I can say is that i'm glad my files are back!!

Yuller2 said:

Update to my previous post,

While messing around settings, I duplicated my earlier predicament when I changed the tablet mode to make windows more touch friendly. I did this by going into settings, click system, click tablet mode, then turned on the button that said to make windows more touch friendly. So I went back and turned the button off and it seemed to fix the problem.

If I am correct, that button does not make windows more touch friendly. I hope this works for rest of you.

This procedure worked perfectly to restore my desktop and icons back into view.
I clicked the windows Start icon (lower left) typed TABLET MODE. Right Clicked on the popup and UNselected, the more touch friendly switch. Thank you. It was about the second procedure I tried so you post saved me a lot of time that others have spent looking for the solution.

Had the same problem & finally figured out "Tablet Mode" had been turned on. I turned this off & voila there was my desktop & all my icons.

Yuller2 said:

Update to my previous post,

While messing around settings, I duplicated my earlier predicament when I changed the tablet mode to make windows more touch friendly. I did this by going into settings, click system, click tablet mode, then turned on the button that said to make windows more touch friendly. So I went back and turned the button off and it seemed to fix the problem.

If I am correct, that button does not make windows more touch friendly. I hope this works for rest of you.

Thanks Yuller this worked for me. My desktop was frozen in the tablet mode. It seems that MS has not ironed out all the chinks in the Windows touch functionality.

If you look at your Action Centre settings and uncheck Tablet Mode the original Desktop with its icons returns. When you let your cursor slip bottom right corner a click brings up the Action Centre and a lazy click to close it may just clip the Tablet Mode box. I've made this error a couple of times.

Meatball Paul said:

The same thing happens to me periodically. Monkey is right when he says that it happens when a second display is used. I have learned that you can fix it by right clicking on the desktop, selecting "sort by" then "name". It will restore your icons back to the first screen!

Eureka! This is the solution that just worked instantly for me! Thank you, Meatball Paul! I have been plagued by this recurring problem for six months since switching to Windows 10. I went through so many other "solutions" to no avail until this oh-so-simple fix. Just Great. Thanks again.