Hiding Your Desktop Icons on Windows 10

Microsoft Windows Operating System, commonly called Windows, is a group of graphical operating systems for a range of computers, which are developed and marketed by Microsoft. Windows is a closed-source operating system that was initially released in 1985 in response to a growing interest in a graphical user interface at the time. The solution provided by Microsoft was well received and Windows became the dominant operating system for PCs at the time, with a market share of about 90%, overtaking Mac OS which was developed and launched in 1984 by Apple. Till date, windows remains the most popular operating system for PCs.

Windows has been released in versions, the first been version 1.0 in 1985. The top latest versions of windows for PC are Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8 and 8.1, and the latest which is Windows 10.

Windows 10 Features

Windows 10 receives new builds on an ongoing basis, which are available at no additional cost to users. Windows 10 supports universal apps, which is an expansion of the Metro-style apps first introduced in Windows 8. Universal applications are those that are designed to be used across multiple Microsoft product families – PCs, tablets, smartphones, embedded systems, Xbox One, Surface Hub, and Mixed Reality. Other features that come with Windows 10 include a revised user interface which can handle transitions between a mouse-oriented and a touchscreen-optimized interface. It also comes with Microsoft Edge Web browser, a virtual desktop system, a window and desktop management feature called task view, support for fingerprint and face recognition login.

The windows operating system is designed with a desktop view. This is the default view of the operating system when no other applications are displayed. It is the home view. Applications that are meant for regular use have their icons on the desktop. Icons are small images that are used to represent an application on a PC. For example, a tiny image of a waste bin is used to represent the recycle bin of the computer. The recycle bin is a storage center for the things that are deleted from the computer. The deleted items are held there temporarily until the recycle bin is filled and the oldest items are permanently deleted. While the items are yet to be permanently deleted from the recycle bin, deleted items can be restored to the original destination from which the file was deleted.

Hiding Your Desktop Icons

Sometimes, the number of icons on the desktop is much and the desktop view is no longer attractive. Too many icons make the desktop look messy. Also, when looking for an icon, it might become a nightmare going through the icons to locate the particular one you need. One way to reduce the number of icons available on the desktop is to create a folder and move the icons there. The folder can also be on the desktop for easy access. The folder option is best suited when the issue is a large number of icons on the desktop.

However, the problem might be that the presence of icons on the desktop is no longer wanted. Microsoft provides a means to hide the icons on the desktop without having to delete them entirely. Note that if an icon of an application is deleted, one can still access the application by searching for it in the search menu, or by visiting the installation folder of the application and starting the application from there.

Hiding the icons on the desktop is very easy and can be done in three steps.

Step One

Go to the desktop view of your computer. Alternatively, use the shortcut Windows Key + D.

Step Two

At the desktop view, right-click on a space. A pop-out will show with different options. Go to View. View is the first option on the pop-out. Hover the mouse on the view option and another pop-out will show displaying different view options.

Step Three

Scroll down to show desktop icons. It is located at the bottom of the new pop-out. For icons to show on your desktop, show desktop icons must have been ticked. To hide the desktop icons, click on it again to untick it. All the icons on the desktop will no longer be visible. However, icons that are pinned on the taskbar will still be visible.

You have now learnt how to hide all icons on the desktop. I have used it a lot when I want to present something to my boss and I don’t want him to see how messed up my desktop was, or during a presentation when you have to navigate to a new folder. You will not want the audience seeing everything on your desktop.