Top 4 Ways to Fix Missing or Not Showing Mac Desktop Icons

Have you started your Mac and noticed that a few icons or documents are missing from the desktop? This is pretty confusing because you’re pretty sure you didn’t delete them, and they were on the screen the last time you used your Mac. So what do you do to recover the missing desktop icons?

For a start, you can restart the Mac. If the desktop icons still don’t appear, try starting the Mac in Safe Mode. If the affected Mac has multiple users, check if you are signed in to the correct account. If the Mac desktop icon(s) are nowhere to be found after trying these preliminary fixes, skip to the section below. We explain why this happens and list 4 troubleshooting solutions that might help.

1. Force Quit Finder

Finder is an integral component of the Macintosh operating system. When the Finder malfunctions, you can also expect other core system functions and applications to malfunction. During our research we found several Mac users who were able to restore missing desktop icons by forcibly closing the Finder. Yes, the solution could be that simple.

You can’t close it completely because Finder always runs on Mac. However, you can instruct the operating system to restart/refresh the Finder so you can troubleshoot any issues causing the malfunction. As a result, this can also restore icons that are not showing on the desktop. Here’s how to do it.

Stage 1: Tap the Apple logo in the menu bar.

Step 2: Then select Force Quit.

This will immediately launch the ‘Force Quick Application’ window.

Quick tip: You can quickly launch the ‘Force Quit Application’ window by pressing Command + Option + Escape in any application.

Stage 3: Now, select Finder from the list of apps and tap the Restart button.

Step 4: Click Restart at the warning prompt.

2. Change Finder Preferences

If your Mac desktop icons are still missing after restarting the Finder, keep changing the Finder to include items from the desktop hard drive and other connected servers. This can help restore icons not showing on the desktop.

Stage 1: Tap Finder in the menu bar and choose Preferences.

Step 2: In the General section, check the Hard disks and Connected servers boxes.

Stage 3: Close the Finder Preferences window and check if the missing icons are restored to the desktop.

3. Show All Desktop Icons

This is another proven solution that we discovered during research. As suggested by Apple, you can fix the Mac desktop icon not showing the issue by running a specific command line in the Terminal app. What the command does is show all desktop icons.

Stage 1: From the desktop, click Go in the menu bar and select Utilities.

Step 2: Double-click Terminal to launch the application console.

Stage 3: Paste the code below into the Terminal console and press Enter on your keyboard.

defaults write com.apple.finder CreateDesktop true; killall Finder 

Step 4: Close Terminal and check if the missing icons reappear.

4. Check iCloud Drive

iCloud Drive on Mac provides option to backup and sync files/icons located on desktop. If you have “Desktop and Documents Folders” configured in your Mac’s iCloud Drive settings, desktop icons may disappear when deleted on iCloud.com or another device (Mac, iPhone, or iPad) that has access to your iCloud Drive account.

To restore icons, you need to restore them from iCloud Drive. Here’s how.

Stage 1: Sign in to iCloud in your preferred browser.

Step 2: Select iCloud Drive on the iCloud home page.

Stage 3: In the lower-right corner of the iCloud Drive dashboard, tap Recently Deleted.

This will open a sort of recycle bin where you will find desktop icons and files that may have been accidentally deleted. Proceed to the next step to restore the icon.

Note: If you can’t find the missing icon(s) in the Recently Deleted folder, it may have been moved to another folder inside or outside the Desktop folder in iCloud Drive.

Step 4: If you find the missing desktop icon/file in the Recently Deleted folder, select it and click Recover.

If the item was deleted from the Desktop folder of your iCloud Drive, it will be immediately restored to the same location and you should see the icon on your Mac’s desktop in a few seconds.

Bring Them Back Home

Finally, if you know the name of the missing icon, we recommend searching for the file in Bin. You may have accidentally deleted it from the desktop. And if you’ve emptied your Mac’s Bin, you don’t have to worry. Check out our guide to recovering files from an empty trash.

Next: FaceTime calls from your iPhone or iPad not coming to your Mac? See the solutions in the guide linked below to fix the problem.