At some point the user operating system Windows may notice that all icons or shortcuts, as they are also called, have disappeared on the computer desktop. There may be many reasons for this. In this article, we will try to figure out how to restore shortcuts on a computer. As a result, four different methods will be presented to resolve the problem.
Method 1: How to recover a deleted shortcut?
Perhaps this the simplest way recovery of desktop icons, however, it may not be effective in all cases, but only if they were deleted directly by the user. So, here's what you need to do for this:
- Open the "Trash". If its shortcut has also disappeared from the desktop, then you can do it like this: press Win+R, enter the command shell:RecycleBinFolder in the window that appears, click OK.
- In the window that appears, you should find all the deleted shortcuts. Select all the elements necessary for restoration.
- Click the “Restore selected objects” button on the top panel.
After that, they should appear again on the desktop. If they are not in the “Trash” folder, then move on to the next method on how to restore shortcuts on the desktop.
Method 2: Show Icons feature
It happens that there is no problem at all. This happens when the user simply turned off the display of icons on the main screen. It turns out that they all remained in place, they simply became invisible. By the way, you can check this by trying to select an area of the desktop by holding LMB and dragging with the mouse. If the selection area does not appear, then this is the reason. In this case, here's what you need to do:
- Right-click anywhere on the screen.
- In the menu, hover over the “View” item.
- IN additional menu select Show Icons.
After that they should appear. This was the second way to restore shortcuts on the desktop, and it also can’t always help, so let’s move on to the next one.
Method 3: Run explorer.exe
Icons may also be missing due to the termination of the explorer.exe process, which is necessary to display almost all interface elements. To correct the situation, you need to do the following:
- Open the Task Manager window by pressing Ctrl+Shift+Esc on your keyboard.
- In the window that opens, click the “File” button and context menu Click on “New task”.
- In the window that appears, enter explorer.exe.
- Click on the OK button.
The process will be launched, and accordingly, all desktop elements, including shortcuts, will be displayed. This method of how to restore a shortcut on the desktop is also not considered 100% effective, but it’s still worth a try.
Method 4: Making changes to the registry
Using the previous method, it is not always possible to restore work. In this case, it is necessary to resort to making adjustments to the system Windows registry.
- Open the registry by pressing Win+R and running regedit.
- In the folder tree on the left, open HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and go to SOFTWARE.
- In the folder that opens, go to the Microsoft directory and then to WindowsNT.
- In it, open CurrentVersion, and then Image File Execution Options.
- Find explorer.exe or iexplorer.exe in the directory tree that opens and delete them. To do this, right-click on the name and select the appropriate item in the menu.
After this, you will need to restart your computer for all changes to take effect. Thus, after starting the desktop, elements that were previously missing should appear on it. So you have learned the fourth method of how to restore program shortcuts. If this does not help you, then there are only two options left: check your computer for viruses, perhaps they are preventing the icons from displaying, or roll back the system to a time when the problem had not yet appeared.
We hope this article helped you resolve problems that arose while working in the operating room. Windows system. If none of the methods help, we recommend that you think about reinstalling the system.
After starting the system, icons disappeared from the Windows 7, 8 desktop, a fairly common situation. Depending on the situation, the shortcuts disappear partially or completely. The ways to solve problems are multifaceted. You may observe the following situations:
- Some shortcuts have disappeared from the desktop, but the rest are still there.
- All icons are gone, but you can see the taskbar.
- Icons and other elements are not displayed (only or a black screen is visible).
In the first case, they mostly disappear system icons, such as the recycle bin, my computer and others, read more about restoring system shortcuts for the “recycle bin”, for “my computer”. All other cases of icons disappearing can be attributed to the shortcut display settings and problems with launching the file GUI.
Enable display of desktop shortcuts
If all the shortcuts on the desktop have disappeared, but the icon is displayed and functioning, check for the presence of icons in the user's Desktop folder. Launch “My Computer” from Start or from the taskbar. On the left, select “desktop”, if all the icons are there, then the problem is over.
Click right click(where there are no icons) on the desktop, in the menu, hover over “view”, select the option to show desktop icons so that they appear again. The folks at Microsoft came up with this clever idea to clean up your desktop.
If there are no shortcuts in the Desktop directory and the display option is enabled, then the icons have been moved or deleted due to user actions or a virus attack. The first option is unlikely, although the second is more common. Do a system restore, scan your PC for viruses so that this situation does not happen in the future.
Troubleshooting Explorer.exe file issues
The file explorer.exe, which is located in Windows folder. If, after starting your PC, your Windows 7, 8 desktop has disappeared, it means that the graphical interface file did not start with the system. Most likely the effect of a virus is observed. To resolve problems, follow one or a set of steps below.
1. You can manually make the explorer.exe process work. , click "file" in top menu, then “new task (execute)”. In the input field, enter explorer.exe, click OK. This way you can restore your Windows 7, 8 desktop within this session to easily troubleshoot problems. After manual start GUI, scan the OS antivirus program With latest update bases
Note: It is not uncommon for malware to block the task manager. The result will be a notification " ".
2. Without starting explorer manually, you can. If the desktop loads completely, it means something is preventing it from functioning normally. Scan Windows with antivirus software.
3. The graphical interface file is launched automatically through the corresponding registry branch. When the system is infected with a virus of a certain type, then the path to the executable file of the virus software (often located in) is written in the registry in place of the explorer.exe value. If Windows 7, 8 shortcuts have disappeared on your desktop, follow the steps below.
You will need , 8 and go to the Winlogon section (see the image below for the full path). IN right side registry, pay attention to the Shell parameter, the value explorer.exe should be set there. If the path to the executable file of the virus is written there, double-click Shell, in the “value” field, delete the unnecessary ones and write explorer.exe. Next, click OK, but take your time to close the registry.
The virus can take root deep into the registry. Select the name of the malware executable file and copy it. Press Ctrl + F and paste the copied name into the “find” field. Check all the options (see screenshot), then click “find next”. If the name of the virus is found, correct it everywhere. Close the registry windows and restart your computer.
4. Sometimes explorer.exe is modified or damaged, to restore the desktop on windows 7, 8 and the GUI command (cmd) check will help system files. You need to enter the command:
5. Perform a system restore. The most popular problem solving tool in Windows, but not always. In difficult situations it may be turned off and not help you in any way.
Now you know why icons disappeared from the Windows 7, 8 desktop and how to restore them. First of all, it is recommended to check the setting for hiding shortcuts. Otherwise, use the methods to solve the problem with loading the graphical interface; as a rule, the methods work in a comprehensive manner.
Computer users store on the Windows desktop (desktop) those icons, folders and shortcuts that are used every day and should always be at hand. The disappearance of all or only part of them may be a consequence of the impact of a virus or other malicious program. Another option is unskilled user actions. These two reasons are the main ones that explain why all the shortcuts disappeared on the desktop. Fortunately, the task of how to restore desktop shortcuts is within the capabilities of a user with basic computer knowledge.
The lack of shortcuts causes inconvenience to the user. You can restore missing shortcuts yourself.
Customizing system icons
After installing Windows 7, the “Trash” system icon is already present on the PC desktop. During the initial setup, as a rule, several others are added to it. Almost always this is the “Computer” icon (in previous versions - “My Computer”), a folder with user files, sometimes the “Network” and “Control Panel” icons. How to restore the shortcut to my computer and others? If shortcuts and folders have disappeared from the desktop, it is easy to get them back by implementing the following sequence of actions.
Why are shortcuts not displayed on the desktop even after these actions? The fact is that displaying Windows desktop icons is included in the functions special file explorer.exe, which is launched when the computer is turned on along with the system. If the computer is seriously infected, the launch of this file is blocked. In this case, checkmarks may be present next to the components, but the icons will not be displayed. How to return all shortcuts to the desktop? To solve the problem, you will need to restore the normal launch of the explorer.exe file.
Rollback to previous state
By default, Windows provides the ability to return (rollback) to the previous state. During operation, the current state is periodically remembered unnoticed by the user. Such “snapshots” of the system are called its restore points. If necessary, the entire PC can be returned to the stored state. If shortcuts have disappeared from your desktop, the easiest way to get them back is to roll back to the date when they were displayed normally. To do this, you will need to follow several steps.
IMPORTANT. After this, you need to try not to repeat the actions, otherwise the icons may disappear again or disappear periodically. In particular, you should not ignore browser warnings about the potential dangers of visiting certain sites. You may need to install more advanced antivirus protection.
Unfortunately, on some computers the very convenient rollback feature is disabled to save disk space. Sometimes this disservice to customers is provided even during the pre-sale preparation of the PC.
Editing the Windows Registry
On a PC with the rollback function disabled, in order to run the special explorer.exe file normally, you will have to edit the Windows registry. It is a huge database with hierarchically grouped parameters and operating system settings.
IMPORTANT. Editing should be done very carefully. If done incorrectly, an inexperienced user can seriously damage the system.
IN Windows registry You will need to edit the largest of its five sections - HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE. To do this, you need to perform a number of actions.
Above we discussed the restoration of shortcuts on the desktop Windows desktop 7. If shortcuts have disappeared from the desktop not of Windows 7, but of other modern versions - 8 and 10, then similar actions should be taken. There are minor differences in the names of the icons. For example, if shortcuts from the Windows 10 desktop have disappeared, then after restoration the user will see not “My Computer”, but “This Computer”.
After starting the system, icons disappeared from the Windows 7, 8 desktop, a fairly common situation. Depending on the situation, the shortcuts disappear partially or completely. The ways to solve problems are multifaceted. You may observe the following situations:
- Some shortcuts have disappeared from the desktop, but the rest are still there.
- All icons are gone, but you can see the taskbar.
- Icons and other elements are not displayed (only the desktop background or black screen is visible).
In the first case, mainly system icons disappear, such as the recycle bin, my computer and others; read more about restoring system shortcuts for the “recycle bin” here, for “my computer” here. All other cases of icons disappearing can be attributed to the shortcut display settings and problems with launching the graphical interface file.
Enable display of desktop shortcuts
If all the shortcuts on the desktop have disappeared, but the taskbar is displayed and functioning, check for the presence of icons in the user's Desktop folder. Launch “My Computer” from Start or from the taskbar. On the left, select “desktop”, if all the icons are there, then the problem is over.
Right-click (where there are no icons) on the desktop, in the menu, hover over “view”, select the option to show desktop icons so that they appear again. The folks at Microsoft came up with this clever idea to clean up your desktop.
If there are no shortcuts in the Desktop directory and the display option is enabled, then the icons have been moved or deleted due to user actions or a virus attack. The first option is unlikely, although the second is more common. Do a system restore, scan your PC for viruses so that this situation does not happen in the future.
Troubleshooting Explorer.exe file issues
The file explorer.exe, which is located in the Windows folder, is responsible for displaying the desktop, taskbar, and start. If, after starting your PC, your Windows 7, 8 desktop has disappeared, it means that the graphical interface file did not start with the system. Most likely the effect of a virus is observed. To resolve problems, follow one or a set of steps below.
1. You can manually make the explorer.exe process work. Open the Windows task manager, click “file” in the top menu, then “new task (run)”. In the input field, enter explorer.exe, click OK. This way you can restore your Windows 7, 8 desktop within this session to easily troubleshoot problems. After manually launching the graphical interface, scan the OS with an antivirus program with the latest database update.
Note: It is not uncommon for malware to block the task manager. The result will be a notification “Task Manager has been disabled by the administrator.”
2. Without starting explorer manually, you can start in safe mode. If the desktop loads completely, it means something is preventing it from functioning normally. Scan Windows with antivirus software.
3. The graphical interface file is launched automatically through the corresponding registry branch. When the system is infected with a virus of a certain type, then the path to the executable file of the virus software (often located in temp folder). If Windows 7, 8 shortcuts have disappeared on your desktop, follow the steps below.
You will need to open the Windows 7, 8 registry and go to the Winlogon section (see the image below for the full path). On the right side of the registry, pay attention to the Shell parameter, the value explorer.exe should be set there. If the path to the executable file of the virus is written there, double-click Shell, in the “value” field, delete the unnecessary ones and write explorer.exe. Next, click OK, but take your time to close the registry.
The virus can take root deep into the registry. Select the name of the malware executable file and copy it. Press Ctrl + F and paste the copied name into the “find” field. Check all the options (see screenshot), then click “find next”. If the name of the virus is found, correct it everywhere. Close the registry windows and restart your computer.
4. Sometimes explorer.exe is modified or damaged, to restore the desktop on Windows 7, 8 and the GUI command (cmd) check system files will help. You need to run cmd with administrator rights, enter the command:
5. Perform a system restore. The most popular problem solving tool in Windows, but not always. In difficult situations it may be turned off and not help you in any way.
Now you know why icons disappeared from the Windows 7, 8 desktop and how to restore them. First of all, it is recommended to check the setting for hiding shortcuts. Otherwise, use the methods to solve the problem with loading the graphical interface; as a rule, the methods work in a comprehensive manner.
Frequent users Windows are faced with the sudden disappearance of shortcuts from the desktop. Let's take a closer look at all the effective methods.
Reasons for missing labels
Built-in virtualization and persistent memory services are responsible for displaying application shortcuts (icons) on the desktop. If at least one of these components fails, problems appear with displaying the contents of the workspace.
Reasons for missing label:
The program has been removed – the most banal but common reason. If several people use one computer at once, misunderstandings may arise with the removal of programs. You could also accidentally delete the application's root folder on your hard drive or uninstall the software and forget about it;
Registry error. Errors in OS registry entries can lead to the disappearance of not only shortcuts, but also program data. The problem can be solved by manually changing the contents of entries;
Deactivating the function display desktop elements. As a result of a system update or personal settings, the option that is responsible for adding and visibility of shortcuts to the workspace may be disabled. Re-enabling the option will help fix the problem;
One-time failure in the conductor's work Windows;
Action malware . can hide the contents of PC memory and replace program shortcuts with setup files with malware.
The program has been uninstalled
If you notice thatshortcut disappeared from desktop, restore object is not always possible. Due to the deletion of a program, the file to launch it automatically disappears from the system. Before attempting to return a shortcut, make sure that required program still installed on your computer:
Click on the system search field and enter “Installation and removal”;
Open the found window. In earlier Windows versions you need to open the Control Panel using the Start menu and find the desired field in the window;
In the window that opens, check the list of applications and find if the required software is not in the list, it has been removed from the system. Re-installation is required, after which the shortcut will appear on the desktop again.
Method to restore shortcut No. 1 – Run command Explorer. EXE
Let's look at the simplest way,how to restore a shortcut. To do this, you need to start the built-in service, which activates the work file manager. In the search enter the word “ Explorer " As a result, the system will find the required command. Run it:
After execution EXE -file, standard explorer will be restarted. If the reason for the missing shortcut was a one-time bug, the object will appear on the desktop again.
To open the Explorer command. EXE in older OS versions Windows, open the "My Computer" window . Then go to drive C, open the directory called " Windows " It contains the required executable file. Launching the application will allowrestore missing shortcuts.
Method 2 – Setting the display mode of desktop elements
A user of any version of Windows OS can customize the desktop: select the size of icons, define grid parameters, hide shortcuts and folders. You may have accidentally deactivated the shortcut display feature, causing them to disappear from the system.
Follow the instructions to find outhow to restore desktop shortcuts W indows using the settings panel:
Right-click on an empty area of the desktop;
In the context menu that appears, select “View”;
Then check the box next to “Display desktop icons.”
Method 3 – Registry Editor
An effective way torestore remote shortcut – manually edit the necessary registry entries.
Follow the instructions:
Open the Run window using a keyboard shortcut Win and R;
In a new window, enter the command Regedit and confirm the action;
As a result, it will open registry editor Open the directory on the left side of the windowLocal Machine-Software-Microsoft-Windows NT-Winlogon.A list of commands will appear on the right side of the window. Click on the object Shell and get it working.
After finishing working with system registry It is recommended to restart your computer. After restarting the operating system, all shortcuts will return to the desktop.
Method 4 – Personalization Settings
On Windows 8/10 A window appeared for setting up and personalizing the desktop. With its help, users can not only choose the design they like, but also set their own options for displaying workspace elements.
Follow the instructions to activate the display of folders and shortcuts in the system:
Right-click on the desktop image and click on “Personalization” in the context menu;
In the new window, find the field to search for options and enter the text “Display desktop elements” into it and click Enter ;
The System Explorer settings window will automatically open. In it, click on the “Restore default settings” button and save the changes;
Restart your computer.
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