How to hide desktop icons on Windows 11 and 10

1. Hide all desktop icons at once

This is the quickest way, and it works the same on Windows 11 and Windows 10.

1. Right-click an empty spot on your desktop.
2. Open View.
3. Click Show desktop icons to clear the tick. Every icon disappears.

To bring them back, do the same thing again. Your files are still in the Desktop folder the whole time: open File Explorer and click Desktop to reach them while they're hidden.

The catch: it's all or nothing. You can't open anything from the desktop until you switch the icons back on, so many people end up toggling it all day.

2. Hide Recycle Bin, This PC and other system icons

If it's the built-in icons that bother you, Windows lets you hide each one separately.

1. Open Settings › Personalization › Themes.
2. Under Related settings, click Desktop icon settings.
3. Clear the boxes for the icons you don't want (Computer, User's Files, Network, Recycle Bin, Control Panel), then click Apply and OK.

Windows 10 has the same Desktop icon settings link under Settings › Personalization › Themes. Hiding Recycle Bin doesn't empty it; you can still open it from File Explorer.

3. Hide only some files or folders

To keep a few icons and hide the rest, mark the ones you want gone as hidden files.

1. Right-click the file or folder and choose Properties.
2. On the General tab, tick Hidden, then click OK.

Hidden items vanish from the desktop as long as File Explorer is set not to show hidden files. To see them again: in Windows 11, open File Explorer › View › Show › Hidden items; in Windows 10, tick Hidden items on the View tab. Clear the Hidden box in Properties to make a file normal again.

Good for a handful of files. For a desktop that fills up again every week, it's a lot of right-clicking.

4. Hide desktop icons with Group Policy

On Windows 11 or 10 Pro, Enterprise and Education you can hide desktop items with a policy. This is mostly useful for shared or work computers. Windows Home doesn't include the Group Policy Editor.

1. Press Win + R, type gpedit.msc and press Enter.
2. Go to User Configuration › Administrative Templates › Desktop.
3. Open Hide and disable all items on the desktop, choose Enabled, click OK, then sign out and back in.

Set it back to Not configured to undo it.

5. Sweep them under a rug

The built-in options all treat hiding as on or off. Desktop Carpet takes a different approach: it lays a real-looking rug over your desktop wallpaper, and your icons go underneath it.

• Lift a corner with the mouse to get to your files, and let go to drop the rug back over them.
• Nothing moves on disk. Your files stay in your Desktop folder; the rug only covers them on screen.
• 321 rugs from around the world, from Persian medallions to Japanese waves, with new packs all the time.

It runs on Windows 10 and 11 and on Macs with macOS 12 or later, and it's free: no card, no account and nothing that runs out.

Questions

Does hiding desktop icons delete them?

No. Every method above only changes what you see. The files stay in your Desktop folder, and you can open them from File Explorer at any time.

Why did all my desktop icons disappear?

Most often Show desktop icons was switched off by accident. Right-click the desktop, open View and click it again (method 1).

Can I hide desktop icons without hiding the files?

Yes. Methods 1, 2 and 5 hide icons from the desktop without touching the files themselves. Only method 3 changes a file's attributes.

Is there a way to keep a clean desktop but still reach my files quickly?

That's what Desktop Carpet is for: the desktop looks tidy, and your files are one corner-lift away. If you'd rather sort icons into boxes, see how it compares with Fences.