How to Restore Desktop Icons in Windows 10, 7 and XP
When you install Windows on your PC, you only get the Recycle Bin icon on the desktop. So, you need to restore other desktop icons for easy access to system resources in Windows 10, 8, 7, or XP.
It’s not very difficult to restore desktop icons in Windows, you just need to know the right settings. But desktop icon settings differ slightly for every version of Windows. So, in this tutorial, we will show you how to get back or restore desktop icons in Windows 10, 8, 7, and XP.
SEE ALSO: How to Empty Recycle Bin Automatically in Windows 10?
A) Restore Desktop Icons in Windows 10 and 8
The process of restoring desktop icons in Windows 10 and 8 is quite similar. So, we are going to explain the process for Windows 10. You can take hints for Windows 8 from here. Let’s check the steps.
Step 1: Open Personalization Settings in Windows 10
First of all, right-click on the blank space on the desktop and select Personalize to open Personalization settings.
SEE ALSO: How to Make an Invisible Folder in Windows?
Step 2: Open Desktop Icons Settings
In the Personalization setting, select Themes from the left pane and click on the “Desktop icon settings” link under Related Settings.
Step 3: Restore Desktop Icons
Now, in the Desktop Icons Settings window, select the desktop icons that you want to show on the desktop and click Apply then OK.
Step 4: Verify Icons on Windows 10 Desktop
Now, go to the desktop to check if the changes we made have been applied or not. If you followed the steps correctly, you will see the icons selected in the previous step on your Windows 10 PC’s desktop.
SEE ALSO:
1. How to Clean Install Windows 10?
2. How to Upgrade your Windows 7 or 8 to Windows 10?
B) Add or Restore Desktop Icons in Windows 7
After Windows 10, it’s time to check the settings for Windows 10. The steps are quite similar but there is a good difference in GUI. So, let’s check the steps for Windows 7.
Step 1: Open Personalization Settings in Windows 7
Right-click on the blank space on the desktop and choose “Personalize” from the context menu of Windows 7. Make sure you click on the blank space on your desktop otherwise, you will get a different context menu. Choose “Personalize” from the context menu to go to Windows 7 Personalization settings.
Step 2: Click the Change Desktop Icons in Windows 7
In Windows 7 Personalization screen, click on “Change desktop icons” from the left pane. It will open the desktop icon settings.
Step 3: Add Desktop Icons in Windows 7
Choose the desktop icons you want to show on your desktop and press OK. You can skip the icons that you don’t want to show on the Windows 7 desktop.
SEE ALSO: How to Recover Permanently Deleted Files in Windows 10 or 11?
Step 4: Verify Desktop Icons
Selected icons will be displayed on your Windows 7 desktop. You have successfully restored desktop icons in Windows 7.
SEE ALSO:
1. How to Clean Install Windows 7?
2. How to Change Login Screen Background in Windows 10 and 11?
C) Get back or Restore Desktop icons in Windows XP
Finally, it’s time to check the process of restoring desktop icons for Windows XP. The process is a little different compared to Windows 10 and 7. Let’s check the steps.
Step 1: Open Desktop Properties in Windows XP
Right-click on the blank space on your Windows XP desktop. Make sure you click on the blank space otherwise, you will get a different context menu. From the right-click context menu, choose Properties.
Step 2: Click ‘Customize Desktop’
In the Properties window, select Desktop Tab if not selected already. Next, click on the Customize Desktop button to change desktop icon settings.
Step 3: Choose Icons to Display on Desktop in Windows XP
Now select the icons that you want to display on your Windows XP desktop and click OK.
Step 4: Check Restored Icons
Now, go to your desktop and all your selected icons will show up there. The Recycle Bin is already there by default.
SEE ALSO: How to Install Windows XP on your PC?
Get Back Deleted Icons in Windows 10, 8, 7, or XP
Displaying desktop icons is quite easy if you know the right settings. The process for Windows 10, 7, and Windows XP is a bit different. But you can easily follow the process using the steps shown above.
Using this tutorial, you can easily restore desktop icons (deleted accidentally or unintentionally) in Windows. Hope you found this post useful.