[Answered] How to Remove Shortcuts from Desktop?

Part 1. How to remove desktop shortcuts?

Shortcuts can quickly help users locate frequently used folders. However, your desktop can quickly become cluttered if too many newly installed programs exist.

At the moment, plenty of users are likely to remove shortcut from desktop to keep their desktops organized. Moreover, this removal has no impact on your original folders or the linked program.

If you’re among those users who’re wondering how to remove shortcuts from desktop, maybe this post is your treatment.

Solution 1. Remove shortcut from desktop directly

How to delete shortcuts from desktop directly? Let’s show how it works.

 If you cannot remove shortcut from desktop, it might be the program was created with administrator privileges. You need to delete desktop icons as an admin.

Step 1. On your desktop, right-click on your selected shortcut icon.

Step 2. In the drop-down menu, select the “Delete” option to remove shortcuts. You can also drag the icon to the Recycle Bin directly.

Solution 2. Add/remove shortcut from desktop in Desktop icon settings

How to remove desktop shortcuts? Under the guidance of the following steps, you can create shortcuts or remove icons as you prefer.

Step 1. Press “Win + I” to open Windows Settings and click the “Personalization” button.

Step 2. Select the “Themes” option.

Step 3. Click “Desktop icon settings” and find your Recycle Bin icon.

Step 4. In this case, don’t tick the "Recycle Bin" icon and “Apply” it. Remember to click “OK” to close the window.

On the contrary, if the Computer and Recycle Bin icons disappearing from desktop, you can tick the corresponding boxes to restore desktop icons.

Part 2. How to recover deleted shortcuts from desktop?

Sometimes, there will be regrets after deletion because some users cannot quick access their frequently used applications/folders.

So how to recover deleted shortcuts from desktop if you fail to find your original utility/ files? After your first deletion, you can generally recover recently deleted files from the Recycle Bin. 

If there’s no sign of your desired shortcut icon in this temporary storage place, you need to restore desktop icons Windows 10 from backups or use professional data recovery software.

Restore desktop icons/files in Windows 10 using data recovery software

Before restoring desktop icons/files, you’re supposed not to add new data to your desktop because any newly added files could overwrite the deleted shortcut icons/files.

Committed to file recovery, MyRecover is good at desktop data recovery because of its powerful features and intimate design. 

★Tips:   

Recover the deleted/lost Word documents, Excel, PPT, PDF, photos, videos, audio, folders, and other 200+ types of data from HDD, USB, SD cards, and other storage devices.

Judge the deleted files based on their original path, filenames, and format.   

During Quick Scan and Deep Scan, enter filenames in the search bar to access your desired shortcuts/files or wait to find all the deleted and other lost files on your PCs. 

Support NTFS, exFAT, FAT32, and ReFS file systems.

Want to restore desktop icons/files? Now download MyRecover on your Windows 7, 8, 10, 11, or Windows Server computers!

Step 1. After loading the disk, hover the mouse over the drive saved deleted files before, and click Scan.

Step 2. Search or wait to view all the deleted and other missing files as you prefer.

Step 3. Go to the Deleted Files/Other Missing Files folder, and click “Recover x files” to get your selected desktop icons/folders back. After recovery, please save them in a new location.

Relevant Q&A about desktop file recovery

The above two parts describe how to remove shortcuts from desktop and how to recover deleted shortcuts from desktop. Please refer to the corresponding part to get solutions.

At the same time, there’re some relevant desktop file recovery tips for your reference.