Icons have disappeared from the desktop or from the taskbar, what should I do in this case? Icons have disappeared from the desktop or from the taskbar, what should I do in this case? Images of Windows 10 shortcuts have disappeared

Hardware

The Windows 10 operating system has an unresolved problem that can affect any user - icons disappearing from the “Desktop” or icons from the “Taskbar”. This often happens when updating the system, but there are other, rare, reasons for the disappearance of icons. To restore the familiar appearance of the desktop, users have developed and used several simple methods.

Reasons why desktop icons may disappear

Program icons or user-created shortcuts on the Desktop, as well as icons from the Taskbar, may disappear for various reasons. We can roughly divide them into basic and rare ones.

The main ones include:

Automatic system update failed. In this case, you need to remove the latest updates and return the system to its original state. The second option is to reinstall the video adapter driver, which is often important for outdated computers.

Penetration of malware into the system from the Internet or from an external device such as a flash drive, tablet or smartphone. You need to use an antivirus program to search for and remove viruses.

System error in Windows 10 files. You can try to fix system failures using special programs such as Glary Utilites or Wise Care 365. The second option is to roll back to its original state using a system restore point.

Basic registry settings have been damaged or changed. You need to check the values in the registry branches and make changes if necessary.

Rarely encountered ones include:

Accidental activation of “Tablet Mode”. In this mode, a number of system properties can be changed. You just need to disable hiding icons in “Tablet Mode” in the system settings.
Self-disabling of the Explorer.exe procedure, which is responsible for displaying pictograms and icons. This procedure must be restarted.
The second monitor is incorrectly connected or disconnected when working in dual-screen mode. You need to change your video adapter or display settings.
The option to display icons in the Desktop properties is disabled. You need to turn it on.

Basic ways to solve the problem

To restore icons on the “Desktop” and icons in the “Taskbar”, various methods are used. It all depends on the reason that caused their disappearance.

Canceling an incorrectly performed system update

If icons and shortcuts disappear on the “Desktop” after installing system updates, these updates must be deleted. You need to do the following:

Double-click on the “Control Panel” icon on the “Desktop”.
On the "Desktop" double-click on the "Control Panel" icon
In the All Control Panel Items window, click the Programs and Features icon.
Select Programs and Features
On the left side of the Programs and Features panel, click on View installed updates.
On the left side of the panel, click on the line “View installed updates”
Highlight the most recent updates that caused the crash.
Select the required updates to remove them
Click on the “Uninstall a program” line on the left side of the panel.
Restart your computer for the changes to take effect.

Video: how to remove incorrectly installed updates

Removing virus programs

Some virus programs can block desktop icons and prevent them from appearing on the display. You need to do the following:

Run antivirus software installed on your computer, such as 360 Total Security.
Click on the “Scan” button to launch an extraordinary full scan for viruses
Wait for the full system scan to complete.
Wait for the scan to finish
Remove detected viruses and fix problems.
Click the “Fix” button to remove detected virus programs and fix errors
After removing the viruses and fixing the errors, the antivirus program screen will show that there are no problems. You need to check the appearance of icons on the “Desktop”. A system reboot may be required.
After fixing the system, check the appearance of icons on the “Desktop”

Video: how to use 360 Total Security antivirus program

In addition to 360 Total Security, any antivirus program can be installed on your computer: Avira, Kaspersky Internet Security, ESET NOD32, Avast Free and others. Run the program you have installed in full scan mode and remove any detected violations.

Fixing a software crash in system files

To fix a problem in system files, you need to use one of the utilities designed to fix system errors. For example, the Wise Care 365 utility has proven itself well. You need to perform the following steps:

Launch Wise Care 365.
Double-click on the Wise Care 365 icon to launch the program
Perform a full system scan.
Click on the green “Check” button
Wait until the utility detects all existing failures and errors.
Wait for the full scan to complete
When the check is complete, click on the “Fix” button.
Click on the "Fix" button
After correcting the errors, check the appearance of icons on the “Desktop”.
Check the appearance of icons and shortcuts on the “Desktop”

Video: How to fix system crashes using Wise Care 365

Utilities designed to fix system errors include, in addition to Wise Care 365, also Glary Utilities, CCleaner, Norton Utilities and many others.

Fixing the system registry

If after installation of a new program or driver, the icons disappeared from the “Desktop”, then, The system registry settings have probably been changed or damaged. To check and return them to their original state, you must perform the following steps:

Right-click on the “Start” button.
In the pop-up menu, click on the “Run” line.
In the menu, click on the “Run” line
In the panel that opens, enter the regedit command.
In the "Open" field, enter the command regedit and click OK to launch the registry editor
Click on the OK button.
Go through the system registry branches to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon.
View the contents of two names:
Go through the system registry branches to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options.
If there are explorer.exe or iexplorer.exe directories in the root directory, then delete them.
Delete the explorer.exe or iexplorer.exe subkeys
Restart your computer for the changes to take effect.

Additional solutions to the problem

There are several ways to return icons to the Desktop in cases where they disappear for rare reasons.

Transferring from “Tablet Mode” to Personal Computer Mode

Accidentally switching the computer to “Tablet Mode” sometimes leads to the disappearance of icons on the “Desktop”. To disable this mode, you need to:

Left-click on the “Start” button.
In the pop-up menu, click on the “Options” icon.
In the menu, click on the “Options” icon
In the “Settings” window that opens, click on the “System” icon.
Click on the “System” icon
In the “System” subsection of the “Settings” panel, click on the “Tablet Mode” icon and on the right side of the panel, move the “Hide application icons on the taskbar in tablet mode” switch to the “Disable” position.
Slide the switch for “Hide app icons on the taskbar in tablet mode” to the “Off” position.
If the switch has already been turned off, turn it on and off again.
To restart a computer.
Check the appearance of icons on the “Desktop”.

Video: how to restore desktop icons missing due to tablet mode

As a rule, the computer goes into “Tablet Mode” due to the user’s inattention. A system failure leading to such consequences is extremely rare.

Restoring image settings in screen and video adapter properties

In the event that icons and icons disappear after activating or deactivating the second display, you need to change the screen settings. To do this you need:

Right-click on an empty space on the Desktop.
In the drop-down menu, click on the “Display Options” option.
Click on the "Display Options" option
Deactivate the second display.
Activate second display.
Change display settings and screen resolution.
Change the screen settings by setting the correct parameter values
If this does not help, then change all the valid properties of the graphics adapter, apply them, and then change them to the original values.
Open your graphics adapter properties and change them
If this does not lead to the desired result, then change not only the properties of the graphics adapter, but also the parameters of both screens, apply, and then change again to the original settings.
Change graphics adapter properties and settings for both screens
Check the appearance of icons on the “Desktop”.

Restoring the option to display icons in the Desktop properties

To check the permission to display icons on the “Desktop”, you need to do the following:

Video: How to restore the “Show desktop icons” option

The option to show icons is usually disabled when you click on it with the mouse. Often this happens by accident.

Restoring icons when creating a new icon on the “Desktop”

This is the easiest way to return your Desktop settings to their original state. It doesn't always work, but most of the time. To use it, you need:

Restoring the taskbar

After installing Windows 10 on your computer, icons appear on the right side of the Taskbar that show the status of various built-in elements. As a rule, these are icons for a sound device, Wi-Fi network access, battery charge level, network connection, antivirus, Bluetooth, and possibly other automatically launched programs. It happens that these icons on the “Taskbar” disappear. To restore them you need to do the following:

Check the “Taskbar” settings:
Add icons to the “Taskbar” manually:

Video: how to restore missing icons on the “Taskbar”

Restoring missing icons on the “Taskbar” is used quite rarely in practice. This error most often occurs when using “pirated” copies of the Windows 10 distribution. After the new edition of the system introduced the ability to restore Windows from Microsoft servers, the use of “pirated” copies has decreased significantly.

Restart explorer.exe

The explorer.exe utility directly controls the functioning of the Explorer program, which, in turn, determines whether icons are displayed correctly on the Desktop. The icon display process may be disabled due to glitches or errors in system files. To restore a working state, the utility must be restarted manually. To do this, do the following:

In the “Open” field, write the command explorer.exe

Click on the OK button.
Explorer will be launched again, and icons on the “Desktop” should appear.
If the process is already running, then you need to find the “Explorer” line in the main list of processes in the Task Manager, highlight it and click on the “Restart” button.
Click on the "Restart" button to restart the Explorer program.
Icons should appear on the “Desktop”.

Video: how to restart the explorer process

If icons on the “Desktop” or icons in the “Taskbar” disappear, you do not need to immediately try to restore or reinstall the system. You should calmly assess the situation and consistently apply the methods discussed in this article to eliminate the problem. As a rule, they give the desired result. Please also note that when installing a large update package, Windows 10 may independently replace video adapter and IDE hard drive drivers that were released five to six years ago. In such a case, it is advisable to have distribution kits of these drivers and copy them to your hard drive in advance. This will help avoid unnecessary problems with returning the Desktop interface to its previous state.

If all the icons and icons have disappeared from your desktop for an unknown reason, then most likely it is not a virus or some kind of system failure - they are simply hidden or the display mode is set to tablet mode. This is more relevant for Windows 8 and 10.

Most easy way, which is worth checking first - right-click on a free field of the desktop to bring up the menu. There you need to choose View, and check the box opposite - Show desktop icons. This way you simply activate their display.

If this checkbox is checked, but there are still no icons, you can try to create a folder or text document on the table, in the same menu select Create. Perhaps after such actions other icons will return to their place.

If the document or folder you created shows up but the rest of the icons haven't returned, then they were probably just deleted by another user PC manually. In this case, they will have to be created again.

Another simplest way is try rebooting by holding down the power button, and not through the Start menu. The next time you turn it on, the icons should be restored.

The next method is disable/enable tablet mode. To do this, click the message icon in the lower right corner and select “All options.”

In the settings window, go to the " System", where we find the item " Tablet mode».

Select when logging in - use the appropriate mode for the equipment, then move the slider responsible for hiding application icons to the off position.

If only system icons are missing, the snap-in " Personalization" in the window "".

Menu item " Themes»—desktop icon settings.

We check the boxes next to the icons that we need.

The next method is start the console on behalf of the administrator. Run the following commands:

After quite a long process of checking to fix system files – restart your computer. The crash associated with the lack of icons on the desktop can be resolved.

If the above methods do not resolve the problem, then the reasons may be more serious, including the impact of malware on the system.

If not only the icons have disappeared, but also the taskbar and the Start button, that is, a completely empty desktop - it’s possible exp process completedlorer. exe.

To launch it, you need to open the task manager (combination Ctrl+Alt+Del). Next “File” - launch a new task.

In the task creation window, enter " explorer. exe", confirm by pressing OK, check the box " Create a task with administrator rights" Restart your PC after this.

If this process does not start, then most likely it was deleted by a virus.

Conduct a full system scan for viruses with a reliable antivirus.

If you have the automatic periodically creating points recovery, then a good solution would be to roll back the system to a period of full functionality, when there were no problems with icons and icons. Or restore the system image if you have performed a backup in the recent past.

No matter how much Windows developers strive to create a perfect and ideal operating system, the number of errors does not decrease. This is due to the complexity of the system and, it seems, to errors in the original kernel. One of these strange problems is the situation when the icons from the Windows 10 desktop are missing. You boot your computer, and the screen is blank, as if a reinstallation had just happened. But even after installation we see some shortcuts. But in our case there is nothing.

Shortcuts have disappeared from the Windows 10 desktop - what is the reason?

There may be several sources of the problem why all the icons disappeared from the desktop:

Change screen resolution.
Folders and files have become “hidden”.
Display settings are lost.

If some program has set its own resolution on your computer, then some icons will not be visible. But this is only in the case of partial loss - it is unlikely that absolutely all the contents will not be visible.

If only folders and not shortcuts have disappeared from the desktop, look for the “View” option in the Explorer settings. In it you can specify the display of hidden elements.

Just check the box and all hidden folders will appear, including on the screen.

Icons have disappeared from the Windows 10 desktop: what to do?

Both previous cases will only help when some elements are simply not visible or not displayed. But if there is nothing on the screen at all, then you should understand the settings. First of all, check whether the display of icons and generally the contents of the main screen is disabled. To do this, right-click (RMB) on the free space of the screen and select the “View” command. The display option must be selected (there is a checkmark next to the corresponding item).

If an accidental failure occurs, creating a folder or other element will help return everything to its place. To do this, use RMB to select the “Create” action and then click on any element you like. It is not necessary to enter a name; it will be set by default.

After this, the missing icons may appear.

If it doesn’t help, then use the settings. Click "Start" and click on the gear.

Select "System".

And click on the “Tablet Mode” section. Windows removes all unnecessary elements in this display. Move the sliders to the “Off” state.

My computer shortcut disappeared from the desktop: how to restore it

Even after installing Windows 10, many are faced with the fact that the My Computer icon has disappeared from the desktop. It must be forced onto the screen. Right-click on an empty space on the screen and select “Personalization”.

Then go to the topic and look for “Desktop icon settings”.

Here you can return all the usual icons if they are missing.

Check the boxes in the top area. If you are interested in setting your own pictures, then click on the element in the middle part and select the “Change icon” option.

After clicking “OK”, the items you installed will appear on the Windows 10 desktop.

Problems with Explorer

The explorer system file is responsible for displaying shortcuts, folders and icons. If it malfunctions, you will see empty space instead of the usual tools. The easiest way is to try opening “My Computer” and then restart the process. RMB on start and select task manager.

Right-click again, this time on Explorer, and restart.

Also try running this file.

If it is not found at all, either restore the system, or copy explorer.exe from the Windows folder on your working PC and move it to your computer in a similar folder.

So, we have told you how to restore your computer screen to normal. We hope this helps you work smoothly.

Have a great day!

Quite often, Windows 10 users encounter such a problem as icons disappearing from the computer’s home screen. This situation usually occurs as a result of the next system update, system failures and other unknown reasons, for example, after rebooting the PC.

Microsoft representatives could not name the exact cause of the problem and can only recommend several effective ways to solve it. We will try to consider all options in as much detail as possible and help you return your desktop to its previous state.

Icon visualization

If desktop icons have disappeared on your computer after updating Windows 10 or a normal reboot, then most likely the system settings have gone wrong. They should be checked first and changed if necessary. It is possible that icon visualization is simply turned off in the settings.

To check this you need:

If the checkbox is checked, try removing it and checking it again. In order for the desktop to change according to the settings, update it using the “Refresh” context menu or the F5 key.

Creating a new element

If the first method does not help, then you can restore the desktop by creating a new element. This helps in cases where the cause is a system glitch.

To do this we do the following:

In some situations, this fairly simple algorithm can quickly fix the problem. If this does not help and the shortcuts are still not displayed, then the object we created needs to be deleted and proceed to the next step.

Settings failure

The new menu that appeared in Windows 10 has a huge number of settings, many of which even an experienced user may not know about. And one of them is a special “tablet mode” - full-screen mode, most likely all your files from the desktop disappeared precisely because of it, and quick access tiles appeared instead. Usually it turns on automatically, for example, after upgrading from an older Windows 7/8 to 10tk.

Disabling this mode is quite simple:

After this, its state should return to its previous state and your PC will be ready for full operation again.

Desktop completely disappeared on Windows 10

Also, icons (icons, shortcuts) may disappear from the desktop as a result of various system failures, one of which makes itself felt after an incorrect shutdown of Windows 10. This usually happens after the light blinks, when the computer suddenly turns off. As a result, some system settings may change.

All you need to do is change them back:

This way, you will return the desktop to its previous state, with all the missing icons and shortcuts.

Incorrect conductor operation

Most people who still use old Windows XP are familiar with this method and some of them have probably tried it before. If before this “Explorer” constantly had to be restarted due to the invasion of viruses, today such a scenario is less likely, but still has a right to exist.

Let's solve this problem and get our missing desktop back:

This way, you can launch Explorer, which was turned off for some reason, and restore the familiar classic desktop on your laptop.

File "explorer.exe"

If a message appears that the file was not found or the tool is unavailable, then it’s time to scan the operating system for viruses and make sure that the file that is responsible for the Windows 10 window interface is not damaged.

The action plan is as follows:

If this does not help restore shortcuts (icons) on the desktop, be sure to try the following:

I would like to pay special attention to the first point, which is why we will analyze it in detail below.

Registry errors

If you have reached this point, it means that the previous methods did not help you, and this in turn indicates that your desktop has disappeared due to errors in the registry. First, let's briefly talk about what it is. The registry is a kind of database of the Windows 10 operating system. It stores all system settings, settings for programs, applications and connected equipment (printers, scanners, etc.). And even small errors can disrupt the correct operation of the OS.

Therefore it should also be checked:

After changing the settings, a black screen usually appears, which goes away after a few seconds.

Additionally, it should be checked using the Reg Organizer utility. She will find and correct all errors.

Restore the system to a restore point

Another way to return all the icons and icons back to the desktop is to roll back all changes in the system to the point when all the icons and shortcuts were displayed. This is an effective method that will certainly solve the problem even if none of the above methods brought the desired result.

To complete this task you need:

Enter the classic “Control Panel” by pressing “Win + X” or through Start.
In the search bar (you can find it in the upper right corner) you must enter the query “Recovery”.
The search results will display the section we need, go to it.
We launch system recovery by clicking on the appropriate item.
The “Recovery” wizard will open. To roll back and return to the normal appearance of the desktop, you just need to click “Next” and follow the instructions on the screen.
An important step is to select a suitable restore point to which the rollback should be made.
Select a point from those available in the list and click “Next”. If you do not know what to do in this case and which point to select, then you should use the “Search for affected programs” option. To do this, select a point and press this button.
A window will appear on the screen with a list of utilities that will be affected during a system rollback. In the top list you will see applications that will be deleted, and in the bottom list you will see those that will be restored.
Having selected a restore point, click “Finish”.

After this, the process will be launched and Windows 10 will roll back to the restore point you need.

Based on the available data, we can summarize that returning an old desktop is not difficult, and no specialized knowledge or skills in the computer field are required, since we have explained each method in as much detail as possible.

One of the problems that can arise with Windows 10 is the sudden disappearance of all icons from the desktop. This can happen at any time, including when installing an update and restarting the computer. The interesting thing is that the reason for this phenomenon is not yet known exactly, and developers and programmers have so far only recommended several ways to solve it.
The simplest method for returning icons
The first and most logical way to solve the problem is to simply check the display of icons on the desktop in the parameters of the OS itself. This is done using the context menu. In its first paragraph there should be a mark next to the parameter about displaying desktop icons. If it is, then you need to remove and return this mark using the mouse, and then update the desktop using the F5 key or by selecting the corresponding item in the context menu.
Option No. 2
Another method available to every user, regardless of skill, is to create a new shortcut on the desktop. This can be done by selecting the appropriate item in the desktop context menu. Most often this is enough to solve the problem. If this does not happen, then the created object must be deleted.

Display options

Even users with extensive PC experience often do not know all the options that the Windows 10 menu provides.

In the Start menu or using the Win+I key combination, select OS Settings.
Select "System".
Select the shortcut that enables the tablet modification (Tablet Mode), and then carry out the “turn on/off” procedure with both switching icons.
After this, you should close the Settings menu and use the above methods to update the desktop.

Problems with the Explorer program

Many users of other Microsoft operating systems most likely already know about this method of solving the problem and have tried it. This method is associated with a small probability of infection of Explorer by certain types of viruses that were previously very widely used, but now most anti-virus programs successfully block them.

Use special key combinations to open the Task Manager. This can be done using Ctrl+Alt+Esc, as well as Ctrl+Alt+Del, as well as using the Start menu.
In an open program, in a separate tab, find the Explorer process.
After finding the process, using the right mouse button, a menu is called up in which the restart option is selected.
You can also highlight a File Explorer process by pressing a button. This step will lead to an automatic restart of the process, after which the likelihood of eliminating violations in the OS will be quite high.
If the Start menu cannot be called up, and the Explorer process is not in the list of active ones, you can perform the following sequence of actions:
- Click on the “File” section and select “Run” or “New task”. Another way to launch this window is to press “Win+R” at the same time
- In the context window that appears, enter the name of the command “explorer” or “explorer.exe” (these are the same thing), and then press the “enter” button

This will launch the Explorer program, for some reason (virus attack, etc.) it did not work properly.
Problems with “explorer.exe”
If suddenly a message pops up that the file was not found or the tool is unavailable, it’s time to check the system with the latest antivirus and make sure the integrity of the file that is responsible for the windowed interface of Windows 10. We check the system disk and RAM for malware, then run the command “sfc / scannow" via the Run window or Task Manager.
If a message appears about the absence or inaccessibility of a file, you should first of all conduct a full system scan using an antivirus. This is necessary in order to detect possible problems with the file that is responsible for the appearance of the desktop and the display of icons in Windows 10. After checking the RAM and hard drives for viruses, you should run the command “sfc /scannow” using the Order Manager or using program entry windows.
The general status of the file responsible for graphics and desktop display can be checked by entering the program:

To check only the status of the file responsible for the graphical shell, run:
sfc /scanfile=C:\Windows\explorer.exe
Additional ways to solve the problem (if the above did not work):

Use the path described above to check the status of the explorer.exe file. If it is missing, you should return Windows;
If the problem does not appear when you start in Safe Mode, then the source is a problem with applications running in the background when Windows 10 starts;
Restart your computer using the last appropriate settings. It is possible that this will help fix the problem.
use a copy of explorer.exe, which you can download from the Internet or copy it from another user of a similar version of Windows 10.

You must first create an archive with the original program and close Explorer.