Desktop shortcut shows no folder content

Paultx · 04 Oct 2022

Search results here gave me no solution for this, so I wonder if you guys can help me.

All folders shortcut icons on my desktop show the preview of their contents—except one. This "Textos" folder is where I save mostly .TXT files and it's on a secondary drive, like all these other folders.

Desktop shortcut shows no folder content-textos_folder.png

Some time ago I changed its icon to a grey folder and thought maybe that caused the problem. Then I deleted the shortcut and created a new one from scratch TNA. Besides, all these folders shortcuts are set to use the same icon from C:\WINDOWS\system32\imageres.dll.

So I don't know why it's the only one with that problem.

I even tried to populate the folder with other file types (images and videos) TNA.

Any idea? TIA.

Windows 10 Pro 21H1 19043.2075

Paul Black · 04 Oct 2022

Hello @Paultx,

As a start, have you looked at the Tutorials section such as ? . . .

> Change Folder Picture in Windows 10
> Change or Restore Pictures Folder Icon in Windows

Also, have a look at the Related Tutorials at the BOTTOM of the above Tutorials as they may also be related.

I hope this helps.

dalchina · 05 Oct 2022

Hi, considering the original folder- does its icon show the folder content?

And considering that folder:

Desktop shortcut shows no folder content-1.jpg

Try 'Restore Default'

Then recreate your shortcut from that folder.

Note the comment 'If you change... it will no longer..'

Paultx · 05 Oct 2022

dalchina said:

Hi, considering the original folder- does its icon show the folder content?

And considering that folder:

Try 'Restore Default'

Then recreate your shortcut from that folder.

Note the comment 'If you change... it will no longer..'

One thing I forgot to mention is that I created all these folders Desktop shortcuts using the File Explorer context menu: Send to > Desktop (Create shortcut).

The original folder is the only one among the dozens on the drive that shows no content:

Desktop shortcut shows no folder content-fodlers_in_e.png

I had previously changed its Desktop shortcut icon once (from the default to a grey folder icon) and thought it could be the culprit, and that's why I deleted that shortcut and tried a new one from scratch.

I also tried 'Restore Default' TNA.

Now I'm thinking there is something in the Windows Registry related to that folder/shortcut/icon that won't change... maybe?

dalchina · 05 Oct 2022

Thank you for your reply.

Does any folder containing only text and its shortcut e.g. created manually on your desktop display correctly?

Paultx · 05 Oct 2022

dalchina said:

Thank you for your reply.

Does any folder containing only text and its shortcut e.g. created manually on your desktop display correctly?

By manually you mean exactly how? By dragging and dropping? Or by creating the shortcut using the context menu from the Desktop itself?

dalchina · 05 Oct 2022

a. Create a new folder on the desktop. E.g Rt click desktop, click New, Folder, name it as you wish.

b. Put some text files in it - empty ones will do.

c. Inspect the folder as it appears on your desktop.

d. Do you see 'previews' of the content?

Sorry to have to be verbose.

Paultx · 05 Oct 2022

I tried all these three methods:

1 - Using the Send to > Desktop (Create shortcut)
2 - Using drag and drop
3 - Using the context menu from the Desktop

TNA.

dalchina · 05 Oct 2022

TNA?

If no luck, please create a new user for test purposes.
Log in as that user.
Then see if such a folder appears correctly.

This distinguishes a general Windows problem from one specific to the account.

Paul Black · 05 Oct 2022

dalchina said:

TNA?

Maybe To No Avail at a guess !