Windows 7 desktop icons keep rearranging themselves

Anonymous
2009-10-07T02:55:22+00:00

Every few days, all the icons on my Win7 desktop rearrange themselves. Usually they move to the left edge of the screen. I laboriously move all the icons back to where I like them, and 3-10 days later, they all shift left again. I've found no pattern or event that might cause this -- but it's very annoying!

I've got Win7 build 7100 running on a Dell Latitude D830 laptop. Totally standard hardware and very little non-Microsoft software. In short, it's a pretty clean system.

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Accessibility

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Anonymous
2009-10-07T17:38:17+00:00

To supplement Reyas.M.I.'s answer, Under View is the option to select the icon size, Auto arrange icons and Align icons to grid.  The Sort by option includes Name, Size, Item type and Date modified.  I suggest you check both View and Sort by.


Corrine, Microsoft MVP (Consumer Security). This posting is provided "AS IS" without warranty, and confers no rights.

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Anonymous
2009-10-07T04:51:35+00:00

Check whether "Auto Arrange" checked. To check this, right click on desktop and select "Arrange icons by".

I hope this helps.


Thanks and Regards, Reyas...

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  1. Anonymous
    2015-08-14T04:25:53+00:00

    I have the same problem and none of these solutions solve the issue.

    Microsoft is Trash, Junk, Garbage.  I've used this useless junk since DOS days and it gets worse and worse.  I don't like Macs either.

    Don't know why the Japanese or Germans don't write software as they would do a much better job than this GARBAGE.

    I've said it before, Bill Gates should be tried for crimes against humanity and hung from his balls in a public square somewhere for ripping people off and wasting so much of our time with this trash.

    I get so frustrated, some days I want to smash my laptop to pieces.  It freezes, it crashes, things stop working on their own.  And YES, I scan for viruses and trojans and everything else.  It is Windows, that is the problem.

    Useless Garbage.

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  2. Anonymous
    2015-10-07T13:28:24+00:00

    When I updated my computers (Dell and Lenovo) to Windows 10 I had the same problem - after every restart icon wandered to the left side of the desktop. For each computer solution to the problem was different:

    DELL - download the latest drivers for the Intel card from the card manufacturer solved the problem.

    Lenovo - here the above solution is not worked. After a long time I ran into another solution:

    1. Start the registry editor (Start-> Run regedit)
    2. Navigate to the key: [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags\1\Desktop]
    3. Change the name of the key Desktop (for example: OldDesktop)
    4. Reboot

    After that the problem goes away.

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  3. Anonymous
    2015-10-16T17:11:07+00:00

    not discussed in this thread - but may be relevant...

    at my office computer, i manually moved all icons to where i would like them to be.

    if i remain only accessing that pc by physically sitting at that computer - and otherwise NOT changing my screen resolution settings. my icons will remain where i leave them (and have done so for years).

    now, when i need to REMOTELY access that same computer via RDP, using a 2nd computer that does NOT have the exact same screen resolution - guess what...  the moment that RDP session begins, due to the screen resolutions NOT matching, the icons get repositioned.  not only are they repositioned during that RDP session...  but when i then go back to the office, the icons are no longer where i originally put them.

    in addition, to answer another users question 'can i force my icons to maintain their position?'

    dont think windows has this feature 'built-in' but there are 3rd party utilities, such as 'DesktopOK' that can do this.  ive never used one of these, so cant recommend one.

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