Shortcut Arrow Icon - Change, Remove, or Restore in Windows 10  

Marilyn123 said:

Your solution worked, but the arrows disappear once the screen is refreshed, never to be seen again.

Do you have any 3rd party tweaking type programs installed that could be affecting the shortcut arrows?

I have used Ultimate Windows Tweaker for a number of years, both on Windows 10 and 7, very easy to remove the shortcut arrow and do a whole lot of other stuff if needed..

Ultimate Windows Tweaker 4 for Windows 10

Marilyn123 said:

I have my Desktop in my Dropbox folder so that it gets backed up. I think this may be why all files on my desktop show the shortcut arrow even when they are not shortcuts.

That could be why. If you like, post a screenshot showing what you see to help confirm.

Marilyn123 said:

Thanks! Here's a screenshot. One is a file on the desktop, so it shouldn't have an arrow. The other is a shortcut to a file in one of my folders, so it should have an arrow.

Ah, ok. Yep, these are not shortcut arrows on the icons. These are from Dropbox indicating they have been synced.

MoabUtah said:

Transparent_outline_shortcut_overlay.reg

That worked a treat for me .. I am a happy person now.
Thank you. 

@Brink, or anyone that my offer help.

This Reg Edit/hack does not seem to work correctly for me.


Currently running... Windows 10 Pro 64-bit 21H2 19044.1586


I applied the Reg Edit, and at first it looked great, but upon looking closer, I could see remnants of the 'arrows' beneath my desktop icons.


I have my icons set to 'Small'


Enlarge the screenshot, to view what I'm writhing of...

Show Us Your Desktop [11]


Determined to find a solution, I reversed/removed the hack, and rebooted. At which time the 'Arrows' were back in full view, like this shot...

Show Us Your Desktop [11]


I again, reversed the hack, rebooted, applied the hack again, and had 'Black Squares' over my icons. (Sorry, I did not get a screenshot of that. But rest assured they were little black boxes.

Still determined to find a solution, I repeated the entire pross again. Remove hack, restore hack, rebooted, and finally got this...

Show Us Your Desktop [11]


So, thinking all was finally well, I shutdown the PC and went for a walk. Upon returning, I turn on the PC, only to find 'Black Squares', in place of icons, again.


One last time, I reversed everything (removed the hack), rebooted, and all is good... EXCEPT... I have the 'Arrows' that I so wanted to rid myself of.

I can certainly live with it, but is there a viable way to remove them, keep the gone, and not have the ''Black squares' appear every time I boot my PC? If I apply the hack again.



Sorry for the long post guys. Forgive my use of the word 'Hack', you guys know what I mean. I'm just at a loss here, and would appreciate any help you care to offer.


Thank you, for your patience in reading this. Any advice, would be greatly appreciated, as well.