Problem with displaying shortcuts. Recovering missing folders and shortcuts from the Windows desktop Shortcuts disappear and appear on the desktop

The main area that is involved when using a computer. Here users can place folders, shortcuts and program icons. Some services are also displayed on the desktop. For example, "My Computer" and "Trash". But what if you don't see any icons on your desktop? How to fix the situation?

Removing shortcuts

Let's start from the very beginning simple option- this is a banal deletion of previously placed folders and shortcuts on the desktop. This often happens when multiple people use a PC.

To verify this scenario, the user will need:

Right-click on any free space on the desktop.
Select the "Create" line.
Create a shortcut or folder.

If the resulting object is located on the computer, it’s okay. Icons are not showing on the desktop because someone has deleted them.

You can correct the situation in different ways:

create shortcuts and folders again;
restore them from the trash.

In the second case, you will have to open the "Trash", and then select the necessary objects and click on the "Restore" button.

Viruses

The second option in which icons do not appear on the desktop is viral infection. Ideally, the user needs to carry out a complete computer diagnostics using different antiviruses. After this, the operating system must be disinfected and documents that cannot be removed must be deleted.

Call "Task Manager". For example, using hotkeys. In Windows it is Ctrl, Alt, Del.
Switch to the "File" tab.
Click on the "New task" option.
In the line that appears, type explorer.exe.
Press the control called "Enter" on the keyboard or click on the inscription "OK" on the screen.

After the actions taken, the user will restore the shortcuts. Didn't it help? Then you will have to act differently.

Absent on PC

The thing is that viruses can sometimes damage or completely delete files on your computer. This is a fairly common occurrence.

If the steps above for restoring your desktop did not help, it is likely that explorer.exe is missing from your PC.

Find a user with a similar system or find a trusted data source on the Internet.
Download document explorer.exe to your computer.
Upload document to system folder"Windows".
Launch it following the instructions above.

If everything is done correctly, the computer's functionality will be restored. Fast, simple and very convenient.

Registry and its values

Why aren't my desktop icons showing? Maybe the system registry is to blame. It is necessary to make adjustments to its values.

In order to cope with the task, you need:

Press Win + R.
In the line that appears, type the command regedit.
Confirm the operation.
Look along the path indicated in point a.
In the Shell value set "explorer.ese" (to English).
In the Userinit block, indicate the inscription specified in point b.
Travel to the section - see point c below.
Remove subitems that have the word explorer in their names. There must be 2 documents.

Here are the sections and addresses you need to go to:

Now everything should work. All that remains is to send the computer to reboot. We found out what to do if work icons are not displayed Windows desktop 7 and more.

Disabling shortcuts

But that's not all. Starting with Windows XP, new add-ons for the desktop were available to users. With their help, users can hide and change the size of shortcuts. System errors may cause related settings to fail.

The user will need to act like this to correct the situation:

Right-click on the desktop.
Open the "View" menu item. The screen will appear additional list.
Place a check mark next to the "Display icons..." item. It is advisable to check the box next to the "Display gadgets..." section.

If everything is done correctly, the shortcuts will appear. As practice shows, the problem under study causes a minimum of trouble. Especially if you follow the suggested instructions.

Service shortcuts

Sometimes users complain that their desktop icons "My Computer" and "Trash" do not appear. Most likely, the reasons lie in broken system settings.

The guide for restoring system service shortcuts is as follows:

Click RMB on the desktop.
Select the "Personalization" option.
Follow the hyperlink "Customize shortcuts...". She's on the left top corner.
Check the boxes of the services whose shortcuts you want to see on your desktop.
Click on "Ok".

At one “wonderful” moment it can happen like this: you turn on the computer, it boots operating system, and you immediately realize that something is wrong, namely, the shortcuts from the desktop have disappeared. This could happen by various reasons, this article will describe the most likely of them, and will also tell you how to deal with this problem.

Below we will consider three reasons why shortcuts could disappear from the desktop. Two of them are completely banal and can be resolved in a couple of seconds, but the third is more serious and will take much longer to solve.

Reason #1

First, let's look at the most common reason for shortcuts missing from the desktop. Perhaps someone simply deleted them (if several people work at the computer, then this option is very likely). It's very easy to check this, create some element on your desktop, for example a folder, shortcut, empty document, etc. If the object is successfully created and it is displayed on the desktop, then the issue is closed, someone simply deleted all the shortcuts.

If the object was created, but it never appeared on the desktop, then the reason is different.

Reason #2

Let's move on to the second banal reason. Perhaps someone (accidentally or on purpose) set an option in the settings, thanks to which icons disappeared from the desktop (in fact, they are there, they just are not displayed).

You need to check the following:

For Windows XP

Right-click on the desktop (on an empty space, although in this situation this clarification is very irrelevant :)).
Hover your cursor over “Arrange icons.”
Pay attention to the “Display desktop icons” item; if the checkbox is not checked, check it.

For Windows 7

If this item was already checked, then this is not your case, let’s move on to the next reason.

Reason #3

And finally, we move on to the third reason for the disappearance of shortcuts from the desktop, and as a rule, it is associated with the activity of malicious software.

For greater accuracy, we will denote this reason with a new subtitle.

Desktop and start menu disappeared

This is very important point, earlier we only talked about the desktop and the icons that disappear from it, but not a word about the taskbar and the start menu.

If, along with your desktop, the taskbar has also disappeared, and therefore there is no access to the Start menu, then most likely this is due to the explorer.exe process (it is not running). Since for Windows Explorer(including the taskbar, start menu, and desktop icons) it is the explorer.exe process that is responsible.

To solve this problem we do the following:

1) First, let's try to manually start the explorer.exe process, to do this we do the following:

A) Launch the task manager using:

For Windows XP – “Ctrl+Alt+Del”.
For Windows 7 – “Ctrl+Shift+Esc”.

b) In the task manager menu, select “File”, and then “New task (Run...)”.

V) In the window that opens, write explorer.exe and click Ok.

If Explorer starts and the taskbar and desktop icons appear, then the explorer.exe file is still present on your computer. If after the above operations there is no result, the explorer.exe file may be damaged and will have to be restored. Alternatively, you can copy it from a computer on which exactly the same OS is installed, in most cases this helps. But it’s better, of course, to use your own, native one, from the installation disk.

2) You need to check your computer for viruses. After all, if the cause of what happened is a virus, then it is useless to do anything until it is found and destroyed.

4) If the problem is not solved after a system rollback, you can look into . If you have not previously worked with the system registry, I advise you to follow the link given above and familiarize yourself with the basics of security when editing the system registry.

A) Launch the task manager, go to the menu: File\Run, write “regedit”, and click OK.

b) Go to the following address:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon

Check the following settings:

Shell – the value should be “explorer.exe”.

Userinit – the value should be “C:\Windows\system32\userinit.exe,”.

If your values differ from the above, correct them.

V) Go to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options

If you find a subkey “explorer.exe” or “iexplorer.exe” here, delete them.

P.S. The subsection is the one in the left column, in in this case in the Image File Execution Options attachment.

After the above operations, the computer must be restarted.

After this, the desktop and taskbar should launch normally.

Many PC users are once faced with the fact that shortcuts disappear from the Windows 7 desktop. Many immediately fall into a stupor and do not understand what to do, but nothing terrible happened and now you will understand that in reality this problem easily solved.

Fixing the problem with Windows 7 shortcuts disappearing

There are few reasons why this happened: perhaps the shortcut display function was deactivated, or perhaps the explorer.exe process crashed. You should also not forget about viruses.

Activate the function

If you don't see desktop icons, do the following:

Right-click on a free area of the desktop.
Displayed context menu, where you should hover your mouse over the “View” section and select “Display desktop icons” and “Display desktop gadgets” from the drop-down list.

Next, icons and folders should appear on the desktop, if this does not help, use another method.

Starting the explorer.exe process

If icons have disappeared from the Windows 7 desktop, the explorer.exe process that is responsible for them may be to blame. To fix this:

Press the Win+R key combination to launch the command interpreter.
In its window, specify the command explorer.exe and press Enter.

The icons should appear, if not, proceed to the next method.

Registry Editor

Perhaps the reason that all the icons on the desktop have disappeared is a problem with system registry. To restore shortcuts on your desktop you need to:

Launch Editor Windows registry. To do this, press the Win+R key combination and enter the regedit command in the window that appears.
In the editor that opens, you need to expand the main branch “Computer” and then go to “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE” - “SOFTWARE” -"Microsoft" - "WindowsNT" - "CurrentVersion" - "Image File Execution Options".
There you need to look for subsections iexplorer.exe or explorer.exe.
If they are found, you should select them, right-click and select delete.

The bottom line is that these subsections should not exist in this thread, so if they are present, you need to make them disappear. Then restart your computer and the problem should be resolved.

If it didn't work:

In the Registry Editor, go to"HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE" - "SOFTWARE" -"Microsoft" - "WindowsNT" - "CurrentVersion".
We find the “Winlogon” section there, and in the right window select “Shell” and open the parameter.
Check that the value in the field is explorer.exe; if not, write it that way.

Conclusion

Now you know how to restore desktop icons. Use the methods we present and the problem will be solved.

When working on a computer running Windows 7, it happens that for some unknown reason the desktop remains without shortcuts. The reasons and necessary actions in such situations will be discussed below. Sometimes all icons from the Windows 7 desktop may disappear when loading the OS. Although there were precedents when running application or the game was causing icons to disappear. All this happened due to a crash, and after that the OS went to a blank screen. In order for the icons to appear again, you should use the key combination CTRL+ALT+DEL and close all execution open applications in the OS. Next, we test the PC with an antivirus program and in the settings display shortcuts on the desktop and check for checkboxes.

Second method

If the icons could not be returned to their place, then by pressing CTRL+ALT+DEL, go to the Task Manager, where we go to Applications - New task. Then in the dialog box click on “explorer.exe” and OK. The actions taken should return the icons to their place and make sure that they do not disappear. If they are gone and the icons have not returned, you should go to Start-Control Panel-Recovery-Run System Restore, and this is guaranteed to return all the icons to the desktop. By the way, when restoring, you should take as a reference the date when everything was still normal, and this will return the icons that disappear to their places.

Another option

If you have a disk with your Windows, everything becomes much simpler, since in order to get the icons back, you will have to copy the explorer.exe file and replace it with the damaged one. This file is located in the Windows folder by default. On the installation disk it is located in the folder 1386 with the name EXPLORER.EX_, but after replacement it will need to be renamed to EXPLORER.EXE. However, in order for the icons to appear on the desktop, this operation must be carried out in safe mode. And then you can be sure that the desktop icons will definitely appear. You will just need to remove the damaged one old file, instead of which install a new one from the Windows installation disk.

True, there are cases when such actions do not lead to the desired result and desktop shortcuts never appear. This means that it is time to examine the registry for various bugs. To resume the desktop, you need to start a new task using the Task Manager. To do this we dial regedit and OK, then HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/WindowsNT/ CurrentVersion/Image File Execution Options/ and go into it. Let's check if it's there explorer.exe or iexplorer.exe and if there are any, we delete them. Next in the process, go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/WindowsNT/CurrentVersion/Winlogon/ , pay attention to the inscriptions on the right side, and go to “Shell”, which should contain explorer.exe. If there is no such thing, we create it, give it a name, and then reboot the PC. After this, desktop shortcuts will definitely appear.

Characteristic is the fact that icons from the desktop disappear precisely for Windows users 7. This is explained by the fact that here in Windows the desktop is periodically automatically cleared of “unnecessary” characters, which are shortcuts. Practice shows that similar situations in Windows quite often occur with shortcuts network folders or devices on the network. To fix this and its appearance and to prevent them from disappearing further on Mondays, you need to go to the control panel, switch to “Icons” and select “Troubleshoot”. In the left panel, select “Settings”, which will return the shortcuts.

7 or 8, all shortcuts, icons, even the start menu and taskbar disappeared on the desktop. This could also happen due to viruses, or accidental deletion system files or registry data. In this article, we have collected the main ways to solve the problem of restoring the display of shortcuts on the desktop.

Solution:

The file explorer.exe is missing

The fact is that the explorer.exe process is responsible for external display in Windows, and if you press CTRL+ALT+DEL, or CTRL+SHIFT+ESC to launch the task manager, it is missing in the “processes” tab. This could happen due to the action of viruses. If you try to start the task manager, but no response occurs, try restarting the computer in safe mode (F8 key during Windows boot) and try again.

To solve the problem, the first step is to determine whether the explorer.exe file remains on the system at all so that it can be launched. This can be done without Explorer, using the command line.

In the task manager, click “File - New task” and enter “cmd” there; Enter the command there:

C:\Windows\explorer.exe

if your OS is installed on another drive, then instead of C:\ enter the drive on which you have the system installed).

If you don’t know what disk the system is installed on, then command line enter:

in this case, the system itself will substitute the required disk on which it is installed.

If, as a result, all desktop icons and the taskbar appear, then the explorer.exe file has not been deleted from the computer and most likely you will only need to correct a few registry files.

If you see an error message that such a file does not exist, then you will need to copy the explorer.exe file to the system Windows folder on one's own. If explorer.exe itself generated the error, then delete it:

DEL C:\Windows\explorer.exe

Check icon display function

Let's start with the simplest. You need to check the option that disables the display of icons on the desktop:

For Windows 2000

In the menu that opens, select “Work Active table Desktop";

For Windows XP

Right-click on the desktop;
In the menu that opens, select “Arrange icons”;
In the expanded submenu, next to the item “Display desktop icons” there should be a checkmark. If there is no checkmark, then click on this item.

For Windows Vista and 7

Right-click on the desktop;
In the menu that opens, select “View”;
In the expanded submenu, next to the item “Display desktop icons” there should be a checkmark. If there is no checkmark, then click on this item.

There is an explorer.exe file on the computer

To launch the Registry Editor, click “file->new task” in the task manager again and enter the “regedit” command. Next you need to do the following:

In the Registry Editor, select: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon. Then look at the right panel. The Shell parameter value must be Explorer.exe. If it is not, change it to Explorer.exe.
We are trying to find: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options. If there is a subsection explorer.exe or iexplorer.exe, delete it (right-click -> Delete).

After this, restart your computer. If this still does not help, then perhaps explorer.exe is damaged and should still be replaced.

The file explorer.exe was not found on the computer

If you have installation disk your Windows, then you can find the explorer.ex_ file right there in the i386 folder, rename it to explorer.exe and use it. You can rename in any file manager, or you can go to the control panel, select folder properties -> view there, and uncheck the box next to “hide file extensions”. If not, then you will have to find a computer with the same Windows as yours and copy the file from there from the Windows folder.

We copy the resulting file, for example, to the root directory of your flash drive and insert it into the broken computer. Run the command line on it again cmd line. We consider what kind of media the inserted flash drive is (this will be the last available disk). There we enter the command “E:”, or “F:”, or another... (depending on what kind of disk the flash drive is). Next, if explorer.exe is in the root folder, enter the command:

copy explorer.exe C:\Windows

copy explorer.exe %WINDIR%

As a result, it should be written that 1 file was successfully copied.

Restart your computer and everything should work.

These are the most basic simple ways to solve this problem. If that doesn’t work, you can also try to restore the system, but the most effective way is, of course, to reinstall Windows.

5. System Restore

If in method No. 2 an error appears that the explorer.exe file was not found or the problem remains after a reboot, then you should try to perform a system restore:

In the “Start” menu, open sequentially: “Programs” - “Accessories” - “System Tools”
In the "Utilities" menu, click on "System Restore". Note. If there is no such item, then follow these steps: in the “Start” menu, select “Run”. In the open field, type the command %SystemRoot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe and click “OK”;
In the “System Restore” window, on the right side of the window, select “Restore your computer to an earlier state” and click the “Next” button;
In the calendar, select the day in which there is a checkpoint, such days are highlighted in bold. Choose a day on which your computer worked normally, i.e. if you remember that three days ago the computer started normally, then select a point that was three days ago. If there are no control points, then most likely you have disabled the option to create control points and you will have to proceed to method No. 4.
Having selected the day, click the “Next” button;
We listen to the advice written in the window (written in red) and click the “Next” button;
We are waiting for the process to complete;

6. Registry fix

If system restore does not help, then you will have to go into the system registry:

On your keyboard, press and hold the Ctrl+Alt+Delete buttons;
In the Manager window Windows tasks", go to the "Applications" tab;
On this tab, click the “New task...” button;
In the “Create a new task” window, in the “Open” field, type the regedit command and click the “OK” button;
In the “Registry Editor” window on the left side, sequentially expand the registry keys to the “Image File Execution Options” section: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/WindowsNT/CurrentVersion/Image File Execution Options/
Expand the “Image File Execution Options” section and look for the “explorer.exe” and “iexplorer.exe” subsections. If any of the subsections are found, then it must be deleted.
Right-click on the subsection and in the menu that opens, select “Delete”;
When asked to confirm deletion, click the “Yes” button;
Now let’s check the launch parameters of explorer.exe; to do this, expand the registry keys to the “Winlogon” section: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/WindowsNT/CurrentVersion/Winlogon/
Left-click on the “Winlogon” section and in the right part of the Registry Editor window we find the “Shell” parameter;
Right-click on this parameter and select the “Change” menu item;
In the “Change string parameter” window, the value field should say explorer.exe and nothing else, if this is not the case, then correct it;
Click OK, close all windows and restart your computer

7. Recovering hidden shortcuts on the desktop

The “hidden” attribute may have been set on all folders and files on the desktop. To check whether this is true or not, go to “Start -> Control Panel -> Folder Options”, open the “View” tab, go to the end of the list of options and set the “Hidden files and folders” switch to the “Show” position hidden files and folders."

If after this the contents of the desktop begin to be displayed, then to restore the display of your shortcuts, files and folders, you need to remove the “hidden” attribute from them. This can be done as follows:

We go to “Start -> Run”, write “cmd” there and click “Ok” - the command line should start.

Remove the “hidden” attribute from all files and folders on a shared desktop with this command (you may need administrator rights for this):

attrib /D /S -h “%ALLUSERSPROFILE%/Desktop/*”

Now make all files and folders on your desktop unhidden with this command:

attrib /D /S -h “%USERPROFILE%/Desktop/*”

Just in case, click on an empty space on the desktop and press F5 to refresh the desktop.

If previously missing icons, files and folders from the desktop are no longer faded in color, then they are no longer hidden and you can set “Do not show hidden files and folders” in the “Folder Options” window.