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?

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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.

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  1. Anonymous
    2011-04-22T11:22:31+00:00

    question: how do you do something in Windows.

    answer: we know how to do it but we're not going to tell you because we don't think you should be doing it.

    what the **** kind of help forum is this? all these replies, the arrogance in them is unbelievable, they all come from a place of assuming the person asking the question is an idiot for wanting to do it in the first place.

    does it not occur to you that the OP might have a good reason for wanting to do this, that might have been just too convoluted to go into? no, he MUST just be a naive computer illiterate who just doesn't understand what you geniuses do.

    "the arrows are important and are there to let you know that something is a shortcut..." - well no **** Einstein!

    we KNOW what they're there for, we're asking about how to get rid of them, because we're not, as you seem to think, so brain stupid as to put ourselves in a position were we could accidentally delete important files as opposed to their shortcuts.

     I don't pretend to know what the OP's reason is, but I'm not arrogant enough to assume he or she doesn't have one just because I can't think of it. I on the other hand want to know how to remove the arrows, because I want to remove them from my desktop icons, and nothing else - and in case you masterminds haven't noticed, the microsoft default desktop shortcuts such as IE don't have arrows anyway - and I've yet to meet anyone who has deleted important files or ran into problems because of this.

    as a piece of advice, next time someone asks you a question you know the answer to - just answer it, don't turn into an arrogant, pissy little child and try to show them up by explaining to them like they're stupid why they SHOULDN'T be doing it - if they didn't have a good reason for doing it, then they wouldn't be asking, and it just makes YOU look like an a$s.

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  2. Anonymous
    2011-02-10T22:05:01+00:00

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

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  3. Anonymous
    2011-01-18T23:06:36+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)

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  4. Anonymous
    2011-01-18T17:04:43+00:00

    Why? 

    The arrow is the difference between a shortcut to a program and a program itself (no arrow).  If you remove the arrow you won't be able to tell the difference and that can matter.

    Colin Barnhorst

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