If you are sharing with your family or children, you may want to hide some application icons from your Windows PC. You don’t want anyone to open up your work applications and programs and mess around. Well, hiding app icons is a solution that sounds good. We will tell you two methods to hide and show some desktop icons in Windows 10.
Unfortunately, you cannot hide multiple Windows 10 desktop icons in one click. You will have to hide or show icons for each app separately. We also covered how to hide or show system icons from the desktop.
Let’s check two methods to hide and show some desktop icons in Windows 10.
Fly: You can hide icons by putting them in a folder on your desktop. Use an ambiguous name for such a folder.
Method 1: Delete Shortcut
The first method is simple and involves deleting the shortcut from your desktop. Deleting the shortcut does not completely uninstall or remove the app. You are simply deleting the shortcut, thus hiding the desktop icon. You can still access it from the Start Menu, search or folder using File Explorer.
Go to desktop. Use the Windows key + D keyboard shortcut to open the Windows desktop. Right-click the icon you want to hide and select Delete from the menu. A confirmation popup will appear. Click OK to confirm.
How to Reveal Deleted Icons on Desktop
To re-show or unhide the deleted icon, minimize all open windows to show only the desktop. Then open the Start Menu from the lower left corner. Alternatively, press the Windows key to open the Start Menu. Look for the deleted icon from the list of apps. Drag and drop the application from the Start Menu to the desktop. Its shortcut will be created on the desktop so that the icon will show on the desktop again.
If that doesn’t work or you run into any problems, open Windows search and type the name of the app. Right click on it and select Open file location.
The File Explorer window will open. Right-click the hidden app icon and select Send > Desktop (create shortcut).
Fly: Check out 4 ways to put Sticky Notes on the desktop.
Method 2: Use the Incognito Feature
Another way to hide desktop icons is to change the Attributes property to Hidden. Here are the steps:
Stage 1: Go to your Windows 10 desktop.
Fly: Press the Show desktop icon on the taskbar to minimize all open windows.
Step 2: Right-click the icon you want to hide and select Properties.
Stage 3: In the Properties window, go to the General tab. Check the box next to Hidden. Click Apply and then OK.
The icon will disappear from the desktop. If the icon is still visible but appears translucent or light compared to other icons, it means that hidden icons are allowed on your computer. You will need to disable it as shown in the next step.
Step 4: Open File Explorer on your Windows 10 PC. Click the Top View tab. Uncheck the box next to Hidden items.
Now if you go to the desktop, you will notice that the icons for which you have enabled the Hidden feature will no longer be shown.
Fly: Check out 5 hidden Windows 10 features you might have missed.
How to Show Hidden Icons
Since hidden icons are no longer visible on the desktop, you cannot show them directly. You will need to show hidden files first, then disable the Hidden attribute as shown below.
Stage 1: Open File Explorer by pressing the Windows key + E shortcut or using any other path of your choice. Go to the View tab at the top and check the box next to Hidden items.
Step 2: Now go to the desktop. Here you will find the translucent hidden item. Right click on it and select Properties.
Stage 3: Click on the General tab at the top. Uncheck the box next to Hidden. Click Apply and OK.
Step 4: Repeat steps 2 and 3 for all the icons you want to show on the desktop. To stop showing hidden files, perform step 1 and uncheck the box next to Hidden.
Hide or Show System Icons
On Desktop This PC, Recycle Pin, Control Panel etc. If you want to hide or show system icons, you will have to use another method.
Stage 1: Open Settings on your Windows 10 PC. Go to Personalization.
step 2: Click Themes. Depending on the size of the window, click on Desktop icon settings on the right or under Related settings at the bottom.
Stage 3: A pop-up window will open. Check the box next to the icons you want to show on the desktop. Uncheck items to hide them. Click Apply and OK to save the changes.
Fly: Learn how to access legacy Add or Remove Programs in Windows 10.
Customize Windows 10
Hiding some or all desktop icons is one way to customize your Windows 10 PC. Apart from that, you can also customize the Start Menu, Action Center, and folders and files. Check out other ways to customize your Windows 10 PC.
