Remove Desktop Shortcuts Vista

Remove Shortcut Arrows from Desktop Icons in Windows. In all versions of Windows, whenever you place a shortcut on the desktop, it will overlay an arrow in the bottom left- hand corner as a visual sign that it’s a shortcut. If you don’t care to have that arrow, you can remove it in a couple of different ways. In this article, I’ll talk about a registry hack and also about a freeware utility that gets the job done. Remove Shortcut Icon via Registry. I mention the registry hack first because it’s the quickest and easiest way to get rid of the arrows without having to install any third- party programs.

It works on Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8 without any issue. You do have to be a little comfortable using the registry, but it’s really straightforward. Click on Start and type in regedit in the search box.

On Windows 8, go to the Start Screen and starting typing regedit. Now navigate to the following key: HKEY. If it’s not there, right- click on Explorer in the left- hand pane and choose New – Key.

A new key will appear in the left- hand menu and you’ll have to give it a name. Now type in Shell Icons with the capitalization shown in the screenshot above. Then click on Shell Icons in the left pane and you’ll see just a key named Default in the right- hand pane. Right- click on any white area in the right- pane and choose New – String. Value. Change the name to the number 2. Enter. Then double- click on the entry to bring up the key editor.

1. Learn how to delete a desktop shortcut in. This is all easy stuff,how do you delete a shortcut in Vista,when the program is already deleted?It keeps saying.
2. This will show you how to create or download a Desktop Icon Settings shortcut to add or remove and restore or change the default icon for the Computer, User's Files.

In the Value Data field, go ahead and copy and paste the following: %windir%\System. Click OK and close out the registry editor. Now just log off and log back in or restart your computer and the arrows should be gone from your desktop icons if done correctly.

This will also work on 3. Windows. Windows Shortcut Arrow Editor. Windows Shortcut Arrow Editor is a nifty little program is my favorite because it not only works on Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 3. Once you download it, just unzip the files and then navigate to the appropriate directory for your OS and platform. There are 3. 2 and 6. Windows 7 & Vista and the same for Windows 8.

To help you work more efficiently, you’ll want to know how to create a desktop shortcut in Windows Vista. Think of your Windows desktop like your physical workspace.

Once you run the EXE file, you’ll get a simple dialog as shown below where you can choose from one of four options. The classic arrow is a smaller arrow than the default one and you can also choose a custom image if you want something other than an arrow to show up on the icon. The nice thing about this program is that you don’t even have to log off for it to work. Once you select the radio button, the desktop is automatically updated and you’ll see the arrows have disappeared. Vista Shortcut Overlay Remover.

Vista Shortcut Overlay Remover basically takes the registry hack and wraps it into a small program. This little freeware application is by no means a stunning piece of software with loads of features, etc, but then again it’s usually the simple applications that everyone loves. The only downside is that it only works on 3. Windows. The program is very simple to use and does it’s one job very well. You can either shrink the arrow size for the arrow shortcuts or remove them altogether from your icons. Choose one of the four options from the list and click Apply. You can also check the box at the bottom, which will remove the word “shortcut” when you create new shortcuts on the desktop.

All shortcut icons in Windows operating system, including Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7, has a small arrow overlay on the icons. The arrow is used to. How to use Remote Desktop; Troubleshoot screen flickering in Windows 10.

Now go ahead and log off your computer and log back on. Your arrows should either be gone or be reduced in size. I also tried to run this program on Windows XP, but it didn’t allow me to. If you want to remove the shortcut arrows from Windows XP desktop icons, you’ll need to check out my post on tweaking Windows XP using Tweak UI for XP.

You can also tweak many other settings using the Tweak UI program.

Remove the “- Shortcut” Text by Editing the Registry Manually. To remove the “- Shortcut” text for any PC running Windows Vista all the way through Windows 10.

How to Delete Desktop Icons. Deleting icons helps keep your Windows desktop as neat as your real one. Stockbyte/Stockbyte/Getty Images.

How to Remove the shortcut arrow. By using this site. Vista Registry - How to Remove Arrows on Shortcuts (Shows Vista, Windows 7 and XP methods). Find those little arrows on the shortcut icon on your desktop irritating? Well here is a simple freeware application that will remove them for you. In Vista/7, if I try to delete a shortcut using the. Batch File - Delete Shortcut From ALLUSERS. This free online Windows Vista tutorial is presented in a question and answer format. So, if you have Windows Vista questions, we've got the answers.

When you install new programs on your computers, they may display a message asking if you like them to store an icon on your desktop. If you move through your installation screens quickly, you may miss this message. Over time, your desktop may contain dozens of icons that make it difficult to work efficiently. When the time comes to clean up your work area and clear the clutter, you can do that quickly using a couple of methods. Delete from Desktop. Minimize all programs so you can see your desktop clearly. Determine the types of icons you would like to delete.

A desktop icon can be a shortcut that points to a file on your hard drive or an icon that represents an actual file, folder or program. If you delete a shortcut icon, you will not delete the file, folder or program associated with that icon. However, if you delete an icon that represents an actual file, you will delete that item. It is important to determine if you want to delete shortcut icons or icons that represent real items. You can identify a shortcut icon by looking for a small blue arrow in the icon's lower- left corner. Right- click the icon you want to delete.

Windows displays a pop- up window that asks if you want to move the shortcut for file to the Recycle Bin. Delete additional icons using the steps.

Delete Using Desktop Folder. Press your “Windows” key and .

You may find it easier to delete multiple icons from your desktop using Windows Explorer. This view allows you to see your icons in a table that contains columns. The Name column displays the names of the icons. Right- click the . The “Type” column: contains the file types of the icons. If you do not see “Shortcut” in the type column, the icon is a files, folder or program. Right- click an icon you would like to delete and click .

To delete multiple icons at once, click one icon, hold down your . After selecting the ones you wish to delete, right- click any of the icons you selected and select . Right- click an empty area on your desktop and then click . This window contains a list of special system icons such as Computer, Network, Control Panel, Recycle Bin and User's Files. Remove the check marks from the icons that you want to remove from your desktop and click . This allows you to see all the shortcut icons in one group and all the other types of icons in another. You may find it easier to identify the ones you’d like to delete this way.

You can also sort them by name by clicking the “Name” column. About the Author. After majoring in physics, Kevin Lee began writing professionally in 1. Johnson Space Center. Today this urban Texas cowboy continues to crank out high- quality software as well as non- technical articles covering a multitude of diverse topics ranging from gaming to current affairs.

Photo Credits. Stockbyte/Stockbyte/Getty Images.