How to Add or Remove Default Desktop Icons in Windows 11

Windows 11 lets you add or remove default desktop icons like ‘This PC’ and ‘Recycle Bin’ to clean up your screen or keep important shortcuts handy.

Desktop icons are small pictures that act as shortcuts to programs, files, or system tools. In Windows 11, you can control which built-in icons appear right on your desktop, not just the ones you put there yourself.

By default, Windows 11 often shows the Recycle Bin icon. You can easily choose to display or hide icons like ‘This PC’, ‘Network’, and your ‘User’s Files’ through the system settings.

Showing or hiding these icons helps make your desktop look less cluttered and makes accessing things you use often much quicker.

Open Desktop Icon Settings

You can open the settings to change your Windows 11 desktop icons by going to Personalization and then clicking on Themes. A quicker method involves pressing the Windows key + I, typing ‘Themes’ into the search bar, and then selecting ‘Themes & related settings’. This brings you to the right place to manage which icons appear on your screen.

In the Settings window, find and click on Personalization. After that, select Themes.

Choose Your Icons

You can choose which icons appear on your Windows 11 desktop by clicking ‘Desktop icon settings’ from the Themes menu. This opens a window listing common icons like ‘This PC’, ‘User’s Files’, ‘Network’, and ‘Recycle Bin’. Check the boxes next to the icons you want to display on your desktop, and uncheck any you don’t want to see.

The Windows settings window shows a list of common desktop icons, including “This PC,” “User’s Files,” “Network,” and “Recycle Bin.” Checkboxes next to each icon let you pick which ones appear on the desktop.

To add an icon, simply check its box. To remove one, uncheck it.

Confirm Your Choices

After you have picked the icons you want, click the OK button at the bottom of the Desktop icon settings window.

Your desktop will update immediately to show only the icons you selected.

A Note About Themes

Windows 11 themes sometimes automatically change your desktop icons to match the theme. To keep your chosen icons, you can prevent this by unchecking a specific setting within the theme options. This ensures your personalized desktop icon setup remains unchanged, even after switching themes.

If you switch your desktop theme later, Windows might automatically revert your main desktop icons to match the new theme’s defaults.

If you prefer your selected icons to remain unchanged, consider unchecking this box. This way, your icon setup won’t change when you switch themes.

Summary

Making your Windows 11 desktop personal with the icons you use most can make your computer feel more efficient and enjoyable.