Create a Shortcut or Hotkey to Turn the Desktop Icons On or Off
After the article last week about creating a shortcut to quickly access the desktop folder, one of our readers asked for a shortcut or hotkey to simply hide or show the desktop icons. This seemed like a great idea, so I've come up with the best way to do exactly that.
The solution comes through a small utility written by one of the Desktop Sidebar programmers (an alternate sidebar with loads of modules). Just so we're clear, this utility does the same thing as a right-click on the desktop and toggling the "Show Desktop Icons" item.
Setting Up the Shortcut
The first thing you'll need to do is download the HideDesktopIcons application and save it somewhere other than the desktop, preferably somewhere where it won't be deleted.
Now you need to create a shortcut to the executable, and put it somewhere like the Quick Launch bar, which you can quickly access by typing the following into the location bar:
shell:Quick Launch
Now you have a shortcut that can be used for quick access…
To assign a hotkey, right-click on the shortcut and choose Properties to assign a hotkey (I use Ctrl+Alt+D since it's easy to remember).
Now you can access the desktop icons through a shortcut icon or shortcut key.
Note: It's been brought to my attention that the shortcut keys don't work if the shortcut is in the Quick Launch bar. In this case you'd need to make another shortcut for the start menu or (ironically) the desktop that contains the shortcut key. If you put the shortcut into the start menu you might have to logout and back in for it to work.
Supporting Files (If Needed)
If you get an error when you try to run this application, you probably need to have the Microsoft C++ runtime installed, which you can get get from the following link:
Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Redistributable Package (x86)
Download Application
Note: I'm also posting a local mirror copy here because the Desktop Sidebar forums were down while trying to write this article.
Download HideDesktopIcons Application (Desktop Sidebar Forums - Original Copy)
Download HideDesktopIcons Application (How-To Geek Mirror Copy)
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Oh! This is simpler
I prefer to put all of my shortcuts into a folder on the desktop and then create a toolbar that references that folder. Then I move that toolbar either to the side or top of my screen and set it to auto-hide. If you want to create a lot of folders you can potentially be incredibly organized with shortcuts this way.
Nice simple tool.
It works fine with me and so far no problem using the shortcuts.
I love your desktop wallpaper, and need it. Please help!
This is great, but I'd just like to note that in order for the app to work you have to change the "Start In" field of the shortcut to your desktop (atleast, in my case I did). I put the HideDesktop.exe file in my program files folder and because it started there as default I had to change it to make it work. Not sure if its just me, but I'll put it out there in case anyone else runs into the same problem (:
Here is a one line autohotkey.com script that toggles the desktop icons on/off. Compile it and make a hotkey to the .exe and voila:
PostMessage, 0×111, 28755,,, ahk_class Progman
Nice how. The wallpaper seems to be nice. do you know where to find it?
I got the desktop wallpaper from here: http://www.desktopgaming.com
Hello. So I'm trying to create the shortcut.. How do I create it? I right clicked the desktop and clicked new shortcut and wrote shell:Quick Launch in the location… it said it didn't find the location?
Geek you did well. Exactly what I had in mind, it's the illusion of cleanliness with little inconvenience. The app works even when other windows are maximized so I can drag desktop icons into my open windows.
The AutoHotkey script is cool, but it does something strange on my system. I have dual monitors and I have a large wallpaper file that's tiled across both displays. When I run the AutoHotkey script, the images on the monitors swap positions! Also, it takes much longer than the utility the Geek gave us, although the wallpaper switching may be what's slowing it down.
I actually added a shortcut to the HideDesktopIcons application into my regular AutoHotkeys script. I "overloaded" the Winkey+D function so that pressing it once shows the desktop as usual, but pressing it quickly twice in a row toggles the visibility of my icons. Here's the code for that if anyone is interested:
#d::Gosub, WinDLauncher ;Desktop & Desktop Icon controls
;SUBROUTINES
WinDLauncher:
KeyWait, d ;wait for the d key to be released
KeyWait, d, D T0.6 ;wait 0.6 seconds to see if d key is pressed again
if ErrorLevel ;if d wasn't pressed again
Send #d ;echo back the Win+D key combination
else
Run, %ProgramFiles%\HideDesktopIcons\HideDesktopIcons.exe ;otherwise, show/hide the desktop icons
Return
Of course you don't need to do it as a subroutine, but I like to have all my hotkeys as single lines so they're easier to manage.
Have fun!
I just dragged the program down to the quick launch.
So now win+8 = hide icons.
I did this a few weeks back but I don't want it now - is there a way to turn it off? Everytime I turn my laptop off my icons are hidden and I have to go into Quicklaunch to unhide them so would I be able to cancel this?
Thanks
It worked for me for like 15 minutes then it just refused to work :S
Im running Windows Vista Ultimate 32-bit… any ideas?
Col67
I did this a few weeks back but I don't want it now - is there a way to turn it off? Everytime I turn my laptop off my icons are hidden and I have to go into Quicklaunch to unhide them so would I be able to cancel this?
Thanks
Shred the file using a secure shredder such as the one in spybot or vcom system suites. Reboot your pc and then delete the folder.
You can simply right-click on the desktop and chose to show the icons, which should stick after reboots.
@Najkiie
It gets messed up if you also have pressed "Show Desktop". Somehow gets thrown out of sync. Press show desktop again and then the shortcut to get it back working.
@Liam
oh it worked, thnx alot dude