how do you remove shortcut arrow from desktop icon

Anonymous
2011-01-18T14:51:03+00:00

i have win7 pro 64bit .....and i want to remove shortcut arrow from desktop icon....plz can u suggest me how to do it.....which registry have to be deleted?

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Windows update

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.

0 comments
Answer accepted by question author
Anonymous
2012-02-09T17:39:38+00:00

On Tue, 18 Jan 2011 14:51:03 +0000, bigyan adhikari wrote:

i have win7 pro 64bit .....and i want to remove shortcut arrow from desktop icon....plz can u suggest me how to do it.....which registry have to be deleted?

Although it's possible to remove the arrow, my recommendation is that

you do not do this. The arrows serve an important

function--providing quick visual identification of a shortcut. If you

remove the arrows, you run the substantial risk that sooner or later

you will delete something you wanted to keep, thinking that you were

just deleting a shortcut to it. I would leave the arrows as they are.

Ken Blake (MS MVP)

I think there are valid situations for this.  I would like to remove the arrow for shortcuts on the Desktop that I keep to certain folders.  I have file extensions on and don't keep installers on the Desktop, so I don't see the harm in removing the arrow from my "Documents" shortcut.  I won't ever think Documents is actually stored on the Desktop.  And if anything, it would only make me more hesitant to delete a shortcut, not more likely to delete a real folder.  I wouldn't advocate removing the arrow systemwide, but it would be useful for specific Desktop icons.  This is obviously the case, because Microsoft decided to remove the arrow for the "User's Files" folder added through the "Desktop Icon Settings" panel.

Was this answer helpful?

10+ people found this answer helpful.
0 comments

56 additional answers

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2013-01-26T05:17:06+00:00

    So, have you two install the software that makes it possible to remove the arrows or not ?

    There are plenty of options other than the ones already mentioned. It only requires a quick

    search.

    The short-cut arrow is not something new with Win7. It was there with XP and Vista as well,

    and to get rid of it you still needed to either do a registry hack or use a software that does it for you.

    Monopoly$oft is not going to do it. They don't make any big changes once they release an OS.

    Check out all the threads complaining about the inability to disable auto arrange in folders.

    There were so many responses to an early thread they locked it.

    Many unhappy campers complaints falling on the deaf ears of developers in the MS Ivory Tower.

    Keep in mind that responses in these forums are not always directed at the knowledgeable.

    There are a lot of people who read these threads, and posters who will often identify themselves

    as computer illiterate. Others leave it to the people who respond to guess their level of knowledge.

    This is a community forum. There are no Monopoly$oft employees here, so a comparison with a

    car dealership is erroneous.

    btw - I too only use short-cuts w/o arrows on the desktop and pin all my commonly used

    folders to the Windows Explorer icon on the taskbar, but you can bet a lot of people will put

     a folder on the desktop.

    .

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2013-01-26T03:03:54+00:00

    I am totally with you on this.

    If I go to a car dealership and request information on a car. I don't expect to walk away with a push-bike and a lecture. Just answer the question.

    I, like many on here, am completely aware of what the shortcut arrow does and why Microsoft would put it there. The reason I'm here is because I want rid; I've weighed the pro's/con's up and have made a cognitive decision for myself (how very brave) ...Luckily there's an answer on here because the beginning of this really angered me.

    Personally, I put my Files in Folders so everything on my desktop is a shortcut to a program.

    II also think it's pretty daft that Microsoft staff expect most to be stupid enough to map their life as if the Desktop was the "My Documents" folder.

    Heck, lets make the desktop the root for the whole C: drive in that case. Ptsch.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2013-01-24T10:52:16+00:00

    Thanks davidhk129.  The howtogeek.com solution points, for the 64-bit solution, toUltimate Windows Tweaker. Is that what you arepointing me to?  What is the risk you are referring to?

    The risk is :

    If you also have actual files saved in the desktop, you have now both shortcuts and real actual files mingled on the desktop and there are no " arrow " to tell you which are shortcuts.

    If you accidentally delete a shortcut, it is easy to create another one.

    If you accidentally deleted an actual file, say goodbye to the file.

    For the benefits of others looking for answers, please mark the suggestion as Answered if it solves your problem.

    I can't see the icons for the bloody arrows.

    Allowing for the fact that my IT dept won't let me edit the registry or install software. How do I get rid of the ridiculously large arrows?

    NB.  I never put files on the desktop.  Thats what folders are for.

    Incidentally, whatever happened to the recycle bin?

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2012-11-12T15:01:29+00:00

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments