How To Change Which Desktop Icons Appear On Windows 11

by Muhammad Imran Habib · October 7, 2021

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Windows 11 comes with high built-in features, but by default, Windows 11 doesn’t display any particular icons on your PC’s screen like “This PC” or “Recycle Bin,” etc. But nothing to worry about; if you want your Windows 11 display to look classic with special desktop icons on it, you can enable it quite simply.

In this article, we will take a look at how to enable or disable desktop icons on your Windows 11 display screen.

Change Which Desktop Icons Appear On Windows 11

First, right-click an empty place on your Windows 11 desktop and select “Personalize” in the menu that appears.

The Windows Settings panel will open to the Personalization page instantly. In the Personalization section, navigate to the “Themes” on the left sidebar.

Once you get to the Themes section, then scroll down a bit and select “Desktop icon settings” on the right side.

A particular window named “Desktop Icon Settings” will be shown.

Now, using the “Desktop Icons” section near the top of the window, place tick mark beside the specific icons you’d like to appear on your Windows 11 desktop.

For instance, if you’d like to see the Network on your desktop, tick “Network.” Once you’re done, click “OK.”

Now, close the Settings and take a look at your Windows 11 desktop, and you’ll see the newly selected icons that you checked in the “Desktop Icon Settings” window.

Suppose you change your mind and need to hide specific desktop icons; go to Settings > Personalization > Themes > Desktop Icon Settings and untick the icons you no longer want to see on your desktop.