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Why can’t I delete an icon from my Windows 8 computer?

May 26, 2014 by Wayne Small 2 Comments

I’ve recently installed a few more programs on my Windows 8 computer, and during the install the program has placed icons on my desktop.  I’ve been unable to delete them to tidy up my desktop.  When I try to delete them, they just don’t go away.  I got tired of it and today finally figured out how to delete them.

When I installed the programs they asked me if I wanted to install them for All Users or just me – I always install them for all users, so this is the option I selected.

To delete the icons here’s what I did.

  1. Start a Command Prompt as Administrator
  2. Change Directory to the C:\Users\Public\Desktop folder (using CD \Users\Public\Desktop command)
  3. Use DIR to locate the icon you want to delete
  4. Use DEL iconidontwant.*
  5. It’s gone Smile

This process also works on Windows 7 as well as Windows 8 / 8.1.  Hope that helps.

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Filed Under: FAQs Tagged With: Windows 7, Windows 8

About The Author

Wayne has been working with Microsoft Server products in the SMB market for over 20 years. He has a passion for technology and been a Microsoft MVP for over 15 years. Read More…

Comments

  1. Frank says

    August 19, 2014 at 6:10 pm

    I had problem with an icon i could not delete so what i did was run system restore a few days before the problem after that it was gone .

    Reply
  2. Stefan says

    March 14, 2017 at 9:21 pm

    “The file is no longer at given location..”
    even from cmd is not able to delete it out from desktop, not able to move it to another folder or similar.
    After restart the icon “New folder” still there. Tested with antivirus, nothing. The folder obviously isn´t really there but icon yes. 😀

    Reply

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