Unlock Icons On Desktop Windows 7

  1. I have just installed Windows 10 from Windows 7. No checks on Auto arrange or Align Icons to Grid. I also use the program Fences to arrange some of my unable to unlock icons on my Desktop - Windows 10 Forums.
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  3. Here’s the problem, you have a locked folder in Windows 7. Regardless of whether you can access it or not it has a lock icon. This can cause some confusion, but if you aren’t someone who does.

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A weird thing happened last day on my Windows system. Suddenly all of the icons placed on my computer desktop were disappeared. No suspicious app was installed that could change the visibility of icons. I didn’t right-click on the desktop to hide the icons accidentally. So, what exactly happened?

Let’s Find Out!

Why My Desktop Icons Are Not Showing?

Majority of users are considering it as a bug, but it’s not. This can happen to anyone while modifying some settings unknowingly. Not many people know but Windows 10 comes with two built-in modes for user’s facilitation: Desktop & Tablet.

So, there might be a probability that you have activated the Tablet Mode which is leading to Desktop Icons Missing Error. To check whether you have accidentally enabled the Tablet Mode or not: Go to the Start menu > Settings > System > Choose Tablet Mode from the left panel & make sure that the respective mode is toggled off.

If this isn’t the case, you can try some other fixes as well to make Desktop Icons appear again!

How To Fix Desktop Icons Not Showing Issue?

Desktop Icons not showing is quite a common error in Windows 10, 8, 7 PC try some tricks & hacks to fix the issue:

Unlock Icons On Desktop Windows 7 Windows 10

METHOD 1- Run eplorer.exe

This is a temporary patch rather than a solution. Restarting Windows Explorer (explorer.exe) can help you refresh your desktop & get back your icons quickly. However, this is not a permanent fix, but you can always give it a try:

  1. On your desktop (no icons screen) > press CTRL + ALT + Delete key altogether to launch Task Manager.
  2. In Task Manager Windows, go to the Processes tab & locate Explorer.exe from the list & click on End process.
  3. Next, go to the File menu and click on new task (Run) option > In the next box, type explorer.exe & hit Enter.

Your Desktop icons should now pop-up back. If it doesn’t help, then it might be some random software behaving badly on your system.

METHOD 2- Maybe You’re Running A Dubious Software

Think about all the recently downloaded software, maybe a Photo Editor, Antivirus Program or any other software that might have created this absurd issue. If you locate any of the suspicious applications running on your system, uninstall it immediately & observe if this fixes the problem.

You can even try running a PC Virus Scan using a reliable utility, just to check if there’s a malware causing the issue.

METHOD 3- Update Device Drivers

You must already be familiar with the thing that every device on your system has a software driver behind it. When they aren’t optimal, you have to update them. Because a missing, damaged or outdated graphics driver can stop items from appearing properly on your system.

Unlock Icons On Desktop Windows 7

So, make sure every device driver is up-to-date on your PC. Basically, there are two methods to update drivers on Windows: Manually and Automatically.

How To Update Device Drivers Manually?

To update Windows 8, 8.1,10 device drivers, follow the steps below:

  1. Head towards Search bar and locate Device Manager.
  2. In Device Manager Window, start selecting each item and right-click to Update them.
  3. Next click on Browse my Computer for driver software option.
  4. Click on ‘Let me pick from a list of available drivers on my computer’ to let your system find the drivers for you.
  5. If Windows couldn’t detect the best drivers for you, try looking for one on the device manufacturer’s website & follow their instructions to update drivers.

Finding and updating device drivers manually can be a complicated & time-consuming task. Moreover, if by any chance the process is done incorrectly, it could lead to various system issues.

If you don’t have that significant computer skills or time, try to update your drivers using a third-party dedicated tool. For the purpose, you can use Advanced Driver Updater, which would get the job done for you in a few clicks!

Unlock Icons On Desktop Windows 7

How To Update Device Drivers Automatically?

To make the task of updating device drivers straightforward & easy, take the help of Advanced Driver Updater. The driver utility works efficiently to scan & fix missed, outdated, damaged & faulty drivers in just a few clicks. Features an intuitive interface, Advanced Driver Updater can be used to automatically find and install the most compatible and latest updates for your system.

How To Use Advanced Driver Updater?

Setting & using the driver updater utility is damn simple, just follow the straightforward steps below:

Windows
  1. Install Advanced Driver Updater.
  2. Once installed, click on Start Scan Now button on the main interface.
  3. The tool would take just a few moments to list all the faulty drivers on your PC.
  4. Once all the missing, damaged and incompatible drivers are categorized, click on Update All button to fix them.

All the latest drivers would be installed properly, and you can observe a noticeable performance boost on your system.

This method would surely solve your Desktop Icons not showing issue on Windows 10, 8, 7 PC. If you have already tried Advanced Driver Updater software, kindly share your experience in the comment section below!

You Might Like To Watch The Tutorial: How To Update Outdated Device Drivers

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Tweakui was once the most popular in customization program through windows 98 to windows xp registry, it was too easy to use and apply. In that time, the tool provides a very simple design for performing tasks that is usually can be done only by administrators and geeks.

[Icon registry settings] Let’s study how it’s made and create a similar program using winbubble or regdevelop…

Adding Icons to Desktop from Tweakui option and WinBubble functions: Download here (4/21/2012)

Using Tweakui, you could add those icons easily at desktop. I’m going to share the registry values created by tweakui as shown below.

Registry Values

Desktop Icons (All registry entries works with Windows XP only)
Registry Key Path HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerHideDesktopIconsNewStartPanel

Configuration forValue NameValue Data
Internet Explorer Desktop Icon {871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30309D}0
My Computer Desktop Icon{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}0
My Documents Desktop Icon{450D8FBA-AD25-11D0-98A8-0800361B1103}0
My Network Places Desktop Icon{208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D}0
Recycle Bin Icon {645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}0

Originally, these registry settings doesn’t exist. When the registry value name “{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}” was created and it’s value data is 0 then, My Computer Icon will appear at desktop, same situation with the other values.

My Computer Window (XP only)
HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerHideMyComputerIcons
Control Panel - {21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D} is 0

Adding those tweakui functions to WinBubble

Next, Let’s try to create “adding icons function to desktop” using WinBubble (designed for Vista and Windows 7). Open the tool and go to Tools Tab.

Desktop Icons For Windows 7/Vista
Registry Key Path HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerHideDesktopIconsNewStartPanel

Configuration forValue NameValue DataInitial
My Computer Desktop Icon{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}0doesn’t exist
Homegroup Desktop Icon{B4FB3F98-C1EA-428d-A78A-D1F5659CBA93}0doesn’t exist
User Desktop Icon{59031a47-3f72-44a7-89c5-5595fe6b30ee}0doesn’t exist
Control Panel Desktop Icon{5399E694-6CE5-4D6C-8FCE-1D8870FDCBA0}0doesn’t exist
Library Folder Icon at Desktop{031E4825-7B94-4dc3-B131-E946B44C8DD5}0doesn’t exist
Network Desktop Icon{F02C1A0D-BE21-4350-88B0-7367FC96EF3C}0existing, data value of 1

Write the description or configuration name of the tweaks as shown below and click “Create my Tweaker”.

Just follow all the configuration above (Registry Values for Vista and Windows 7), input that to WinBubble and remember that initially some registry settings doesn’t exist at windows registry that’s why the Unchecked value of the CheckBox is “Delete the Set Value”. The Checked Value corresponds to the Registry Path, Value Name and Value Data, and use the type “DWORD” for all the functions as shown below.

For “Network” Desktop Icon, the initial values are existing - {F02C1A0D-BE21-4350-88B0-7367FC96EF3C} value data is 1. Just unchecked “delete the set value” and it will automatically fill-up the values and adjust, as shown below.

That’s it! you have now your own tweaker added to WinBubble – just click-to-check any configuration and “Apply my Tweak”.

Creating TweakUI and WinBubble Tweak functions using RegDevelop for Windows XP/Vista/7

Regdevelop is a rapid application development tool that let’s you create your own tool like tweakui of microsoft. You just need to learn all procedure above and you’ll have an idea about the development tool.

Unlock Icons On Desktop Windows 7 Desktop

You can try the created program here: Download

For Windows XP, if an error message occur, try to install microsoft .net to fix the problem.

Drag and drop the Picturebox, CheckBox and Label Control to the Form Designer and configure all options in the right portion as shown.

make sure that the Pattern for image file location is the same below (inside the regdevelop folder then tools[create a folder here] for the images needed). Because there is a bug at some Windows XP installation of .net 2.0, to fix: just follow the file path pattern.

Unlock Icons On Desktop Windows 7

Configuring the checkbox options is very related to WinBubble, you just need to input the Registry Path, Value name, Value Data and it’s Value Type. If the initial configuration of Values are not existing, “DeleteWhenUnchecked” is True and if False, it will automatically fill-up the values same with WinBubble.

Great?! You have now created your own tweakui tool, you can expand by adding more options. Thanks for reading the article!