Desktop icons move- multiple monitors

Anonymous
2010-04-12T12:20:13+00:00

I am using Windows 7 64-bit on a laptop that I connect to an external monitor each day at work. Because the external monitor is higher resolution, the desktop extends beyond the area of the laptop monitor. When I arrange my icons on the external monitor desktop, and then later restart my computer without the external monitor, my icons get completely jumbled around. When I then plug in the external again, I have to spend 5 minutes rearranging my desktop. This is getting very aggravating. The only partially successful solution I've found so far is to hit F8 to change the monitor selection and then put the computer to sleep, rather than shutting down. This works sometimes, but is not optimal and occasionally fails. What I want to do is lock the icons in place so they don't move around when I change monitors. Any suggestions?

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Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Accessibility

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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Anonymous
2010-04-13T12:10:07+00:00

Hi Genefreak,

This issue might occur if the “Auto Arrange Icons” option has been checked.

Step 1: Let’s try to uncheck this option first and then arrange the icons by grid and check if the issue persists.

Follow this step to do the same.

1.     Right click on an empty space on the Desktop-> Click on View.

2.     Uncheck the option “Auto Arrange Icons”.

3.     Check the option for “Align the icons to grid”.

Check if the issue persists now. 

Step 2: Also I would suggest you to reduce the resolution of the monitor so that it will not extend beyond the display area.

Change your screen resolution

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Change-your-screen-resolution

Additional reference on:

Work and play better with multiple monitors

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/work-and-play-better-with-multiple-monitors

Regards,

Divya R – Microsoft Support.

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  1. Anonymous
    2015-08-12T13:37:37+00:00

    Why does the answer with 5 upvotes come before the answer with 18? Just because its a Microsoft rep doesn't mean its a good solution.

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  2. Anonymous
    2015-08-12T13:26:46+00:00

    This issue occurs for me on a Windows 7 64-bit laptop with the "auto-arrange icons" option disabled. This is an old problem that I've had on every version of Windows to date. I hope they fix this for Windows 10. If you arrange your icons in such a way that they fit onto the lower resolution screen, then you should be able to move back and forth between higher and lower resolution screens without having your desktop icons scattered all over the place. I don't see why they can't make it so that your desktop icon arrangement is saved as a grid, and that grid arrangement is respected on every different screen, provided there is space for it. 

    It is frustrating to get an answer like "reduce your screen resolution" (i.e. make your giant expensive monitor into a piece of junk) from a Microsoft rep - this is not a solution, this is reducing functionality in order to prevent a problem doesn't need to be occurring. I would rather hear from a Microsoft rep: "Yes, this is an embarrassing shortcoming of Windows 7 for which there is no acceptable solution", than "reduce the performance of your hardware so that Windows won't get confused and screw things up."

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  3. Anonymous
    2015-06-22T17:39:54+00:00

    Neither of these resolve the issue.

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  4. Anonymous
    2015-06-09T19:54:56+00:00

    I read this thread and have tried just about everything.  I tried this program I found searching for this issue with Windows 8.1 and I found this that has worked for me ever since.  My icons don't move and it allows you to save it and restore.  http://www.softwareok.com/?seite=Freeware/DesktopOK

    It's not necessarily an application but it is an executable.  It's called DesktopOK_x64.  You just launch it after you've arranged your icons how you want them and it will stay that way or at least it has for me.  I attached to a secondary monitor at work everyday and now when I do, my icons stay. 

    Hope this helps.

    Thanks,

    Lisa

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