remove shortcut arrows on icons windows 10

This is an irrational one to me. 209.236.71.63 So untidy :(. I followed directions to the tee. Helpful tech how-tos delivered to your inbox every week! Double-click the new 29 value and type (or copy and paste) the following into the Value data box to remove arrows from shortcut icons: Click OK and exit Registry Editor. Nevertheless, you can still remove those arrows from desktop shortcut icons in Windows 11/10 with the two alternative methods below. In Two methods we can remove the Shortcut Arrow in Windows 10. You can also use the Registry to bring back the oversized arrow from the Windows Vista days, just in case you like really ugly things. . Here is how. It takes up more than 75% of the icon, It has this giant black box when I first start up my computer, Then after an hour or so themysterious black box shows up again, but it stays there this time. Or if you have any questions, you can always count on our Windows 10 Forums at Windows Central for more help. Many many thanks for the article. I get a white rectangle over some of my icons with this "fix". and is everything ok on your side? Were committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Open Start Menu and search for Registry Editor. Both ways will work fluently. Its the easiest way to get rid of the arrow overlay. Click Explorer then right-click the Explorer folder. In the right pane of Shell Icons, right click on an empty area, and click/tap on New and String Value. 4. Depends. hmmno one made any arrow to the knee joke.. lol, that's too oldalthough, in hindsight, it would have worked well here. I downloaded an old program I had used in Windows 7 that allowed me to control the Content Menu. Click the small right-pointing arrow icon next to "Windows." If you've not done any registry edits since, it should open immediately to the Shell Icons file. Research says that the "fix" may not work in newer versions of Win10. wikiHow is where trusted research and expert knowledge come together. No harm done though everything is perfect now. If you are not comfortable editing the registry, you can automate things with a .reg file. Let's see how to do it. East or West Daniel is the best. i had to clean install windws 8, now i am using windows 8. I have no problem with the arrow, but I dont like too many icons on my desktop. And recently I got one amazing method that can change the arrows on the shortcut icon in the Windows 10. This is the Icon we will use to remove the shortcut arrow icon in Windows 10 and 11. Hi Daniel, Thanks for amazing tip it was working great but right after 8 hour now my shortcut icon are invisible. Drag Modern apps from the app list to the desktop for a surprise. Vaibhav is a broadcast journalist with a keen interest in tech. That's why Windows actually warns you that simply deleting a shortcut won't delete the program. Performance & security by Cloudflare. To hide Skype from the TaskBar, you have to go under Tools->Settings->Advanced. I've just used this method yesterday and it worked out fine. In fact, rows of icons just reminds me of iPhones and iPads now. Go back to the shell icons 29 that you just made. Please signup for the WindowsLoop newsletter by clicking the following link: WindowsLoop Newsletter Signup. I don't have anything on my desktop except the recycle bin. Click once and press restart or reboot the computer or log off and on to complete the task. Enjoy! I tried this and while the initial results were good, after a short amount of time I started getting black blocks on my desktop icons, and icons in my Start menu weren't appearing or only partially appearing - had to remove the reg key to fix it. He's also written hundreds of white papers, articles, user manuals, and courseware over the years. Not everyone wants to go through multiple steps of using a Registry Editor, this is another way you can remove the shortcut overlay. It's a small detail, but a very thoughtful one. This caused my destop icons to start showing up all black!!! This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Darlene Antonelli, MA. Cloudflare Ray ID: 7a11d3581c7c1f55 In Windows, icons for shortcuts have little arrows to remind you that what youre looking at is a shortcut. Give it a name that suits you or add the current date and save. Define "a lot of effort". It is that simple to remove shortcut arrow overlay from shortcut icons. Thats all it takes! Step 1: Press Windows + R keys together to open the Run dialog box. We select and review products independently. Visit our corporate site (opens in new tab). These hacks are really just the Shell Icon key we described above, exported to a .REG file. In case you do not know what I am referring to let me explain. That's a cool trick, although I'm not sure what the point of the desktop icons are when you can pin apps to start, taskbar, or search for them by name without having to minimize all your windows. All MS needs to do is allow pinning small livetiles (at the minimum) to the desktop and we can get rid off all of these hotchpotch, ancient app icons and shortcuts altogether. Heres how to do it. I agree that the indication comes to rescue by differentiating it from the original file but aesthetics, as some would say, is also a real thing. If you don't like using the registry just use, But then how do you know what's a shortcut and what isn't at a glance? Do let me know in the comment section below. how to remove shortcut arrow from desktop iconssteps1-Open Start. Click to reveal To open Run, press its designated Win + R keyboard shortcut. Someone who sees his desktop regularly and hates the little arrows would obviously be making a different calculation. I just did this on Windows server 2008 R2. Using the Registry It's the easiest way to get rid of the arrow overlay. Open the application and scroll to the Shortcut tab from the side panel. Same thing happened to me. The little white arrows on shortcut icons can really mess up your aesthetic. 2. We just do not install apps to the desktop, so I am unsure why I need to be reminded "hey, this is a shortcut, not the real app". Back in the old days that's how you set just about everything. Just createthe string valuename it 29 and leave the value datablank. Most apps that rely on the registry are designed to ignore bad values or use defaults. Using the browser bar on the left, browser to the following path. If you are stuck in the process and need any help, comment below, and I will try to help as much as possible. Yet for me, it's my biggest nuisance. We and our partners use cookies to Store and/or access information on a device. By having to change the registry just to make some cosmetic changes to the OS, I feel that Microsoft don't want people to be able to do that, even though they are not explicitly denying the possibility. And any programs go on the taskbar or are accessed in the start menu. Press the folder icon on the taskbar to bring up Explorer. I have a desktop menu on the task bar. FYI, you'll have to restart the computer after making the change, as this setting is in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE registry hive. Donot define the string value. Step 1: Open Registry Editor on Windows. :), Took two minutes, tops. I mean after editing the registry setting will it create a problem such as i need to restore my pc,,Cuzz i installed windows 10 on my pc. No boxes, no arrows. 2) Download and merge the .reg file for the lnk item in the table in option 2 of the tutorial below. And make win. Fortunately, theyre pretty easy to remove. Look Lenovo's way to find out. After that, double-click on the extracted file. What Is the Windows Registry and How Do I Edit It? Everything worked just fine but after a second shut down it just shows a blank black space instead. You can either shrink the arrow size for the arrow shortcuts or remove them altogether from your icons. Steps of How To Remove Shortcut Arrows In Windows 10 Without Software 1. You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked. But hey, it works for some people. 2. I clean it off once a week or so but I work on so many projects that I just start slapping files on the desktop left and right. When you select that option, the Icons folder shown directly below will open from which you can select different arrows for the icon. I always knew you could edit things in the registry and have done so many times before. 3. The desktop is for housing running applications. you don't need the shell32.dll linething, it's not necessary, onlycreate andname it 29 seems to be fine andenough and better to remove the arrows. There's that app WinAero shortcut editor that does the same. How to Add Icons to the Desktop in Windows 11, MakeUseOf MWC Awards 2023: The Best Tech in Show. Double click to bring up value data. Any idea what i can do. 1. After sucessful registry no shortcut lnk but blank black boxes in that places after sometimeSo everytime i had to restart explorer.exe. In the Value data box enter (or copy and paste): %windir%\System32\shell32.dll,-50 and hit OK when done. Thanks. For more resources, don't forget to check our Windows 10 help, tips, and tricks page. After a short adjustment period you'll be happy you did. Please help and I will be waiting for your kind reply. Steps to Remove shortcut arrows by editing the Registry manually:-. Right click on \Explorer and using the dialog menu choose New > Key and name it Shell Icons. Use Winaero Tweaker instead if thats the case. Tools like this offer lots of tweaking options, so our advice is to go slow. I'd say it's because most users probably don't understand that. So, lets see how to remove the shortcut arrow overlay on Windows. Remove shortcut icons arrow in any windows 10 PC. Its pretty quick and easy to remove the icon arrows with either of the methods above. Then you can select to add your downloaded arrow to shortcut icons with ShortcutArrow Changer. Make a tweak or two at a time andsee how they work, then come back for more. When you make a purchase using links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. I hate icons and since Windows 7 I have removed every icon from the screen. Double click on 29, make sure the value is empty (it should still be, even if you're having a bug), and hit 'Okay'. 10. Press Enter. Paste "%windir%\System32\shell32.dll,-50" in the Value Data field and click OK. Restart your computer. Use the method Daniel describes, not an old classic. Daniel, As most of the icons on your desktop will likely be shortcuts, however, those arrows are hardly essential. A good example is the afoementioned registry procedure. I always hated them, never thought there was something I could do about them. Both systems have windows 10 and are fully up to date. Since you are wanting to restore the default shortcut arrows, see if this below may be able to. Customize your desktop screen easy. But now I have black squares hiding all shortcut icons altogether. before making changes. Saves the convienence of logging in and out or restarting your computer. Somehow no one seems to know this, but any time a change requires you to "log out and in again," you can actually just restart exploer.exe to achieve the same result. Click the small right-pointing arrow icon next to "Microsoft." 7. Also the wallpaper looks so good without all the junc I see some people put on there. And I'm happy, Cool! You can now either reboot the computer or log off and on back again to complete the changes. I only have skype on my desktop so i uninstalled it and then reinstalled it and it worked but then when i shut down and restart the black blank space returns. At least you can now uninstall from the new Start Menu directly. This works! >>>>\System32\shell32.dll,-50 Without the arrow overlay, you will be hard-pressed to find the difference between an actual file and a shortcut. Haha. How to Remove Shortcut Arrow Overlay on Windows 10, How to Center Taskbar Icons in Windows 10, How to Fix Boot Manager Is Missing in Windows 10, How to See Saved Items on Facebook Marketplace, How to Get Microsoft Teams Status Change Notifications. I have tried what you advise, however it just makes the wwhole icon disapear. Name it 29 . Use ICO image file to hide the Arrow: If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. I can't post a picture here Any solution to that? Posted via the Windows Central App for Android. How to Remove Shortcut Arrow Icon in Windows 10 & 11, Download registry file to remove arrow icon. And definitely back up the Registry(and your computer!) 90% of the icons on my desktop are shortcut icons, and now I want to get rid of those arrows. Your IP: Didn't read the article properly! He writes about things he believes are actually helpful in some way to the user. Read also: What Is the Windows Registry and How Do I Edit It? Sometimes a black box, sometimes ticks are placed over the icons. This is the Icon we will use to remove the shortcut arrow icon in Windows 10 and 11. 1) Delete the 29 string value in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Icons key. All you have to do is download and install an application named Winaero Tweaker. If I see the arrow I know I can toast it and not lose an app. It worked for me. These methods should work in Windows 7, 8, and 10. all what i got after following these steps were black empty boxes instead of the arrow shortcuts. But hey that's why options are a good thing right. I want to make my icons bigger but not sure if I should do this thing.. thanks, I had the stupid black box after little bit and using your advice its gone! Your icons should update immediately. As a small thank you, wed like to offer you a $30 gift card (valid at GoNift.com). To do this, go to Settings > Personalization > Taskbar > Taskbar Behaviors.". Click the Start Menu icon and search "Regedit" in the search bar. Sure, lots of it is habit. Cloudflare Ray ID: 7a11d38e9f2dcab5 This is how you can disable shortcut icon arrows with ShortcutArrow Changer. To get this to work on my machine, I had to undo step 7. Also since the days of Windows 95 there have been third-party apps to get rid of these arrows. So going back to the Windows 95 days, I've always used the method of renaming the 'IsShortcut' string value under HKCR\lnkfile. Command Prompt looks more impressive without the stupid arrow haha. I know its just an indicator of the icon being a shortcut but Id rather have a clean looking icon rather than a small overlay. I don't treat my desktop as if it is a folder to store things. That's what my library folders are for documents, music, pictures, etc. If you attempt this method and get either transparent, black, or white boxes, you'll want to restore a backup of the Registry that you made. You should see a blank box called Value data. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. 20 years as a technical writer and editor. :) I don't use the desktop anymore for app shortcuts. Thanks a million Daniel. Game-Changing AI for the DIY Industry: GPT-4 Is Coming, The 8 Most Accurate AI Text Detectors You Can Try, Right-click a space within the right pane to select. what this article teaches is a shameless hack. The button will now be named "Restore Shortcut Arrows To Shortcut Icons." That's all it takes! If you dont feel like diving into the Registry yourself, weve created some downloadable registry hacks you can use. This is not working for me, may it be I am on 64-bit OS? Enter Shell Icons in the new key's text box. Or how do i go back to just having the arrow. He's written hundreds of articles for How-To Geek and edited thousands. This is awesome! For anyone looking for a solution with a simple click, this is the way to go. Open up regedit (1) Type in regedit into the Cortana/search box and (2) select regedit at the top 2. Use ICO icon file to hide the Arrow; Remove the Arrow from Shortcuts using Registry Editor; Let's see the Topics in detail. I go even deeper with my irrational nitpick and remove all icons from my desktop. remove desktop shortcut icons with arrows whenever l install a new application on the computer. Follow the below steps, and you should be good.if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'windowsloop_com-medrectangle-4','ezslot_1',146,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-windowsloop_com-medrectangle-4-0'); Note: Both methods shown below will work in Windows 10 and 11. 13. There are plenty of other things you can do with the application, like adding a custom icon instead of the arrow overlay, using the old classic Windows arrow, change themes, modify start-up sound, etc. CCleaner seems to be having troubles with Edge. It went blank after a day. We all have pet peeves. The location / process for changing this in the registry has not changed since XP either. Heres how it works. If you would like to change your settings or withdraw consent at any time, the link to do so is in our privacy policy accessible from our home page.. Just leave that box empty. Here's how to get rid of them. Nevermind, I found a great reason for not using this method anymore. It no longer works after the Windows 10 Anniversary Update. Do you have something easier? By using our site, you agree to our. but leave it blank. The start menu does it all. Before we move ahead, its important to take a back-up of the registry. Yay! Download Remove the Shortcut Arrow Icon in Windows 10 & 11. Open Start Menu and search for Registry Editor Tap Yes, when prompted " Do you want to allow this app to make changes to your PC? (1) Type in regedit into the Cortana/search box and (2) select regedit at the top, When prompted Do you want to allow this app to make changes to your PC? So, right-click on the Explorer folder and select the New -> Key option. Your IP: Instead, we are going to show you how to do it the nitty gritty way through the registry. Thanks for the tip, Daniel. Wow, so easy to do, Rare footage of Blazblue actually getting a shoutout =) Just follow the steps directly below for editing the registry exactly as specified. But was one of the best ways to force my dad to let me clean install 7(his previous install was full of registry problems he created trying to move software to other drives , not uninstalling properly) for the w10 upgrade, Don't need to log out. I'd love to be able to put the Recycle Bin on the Task Bar instead, but I haven't figured out a way to do that. Same thing happened to me. I did everything detailed in this post. Now go ahead and log off your computer and log . 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