Desktop icons move from main screen to extended screen monitor

Anonymous
2013-10-10T13:38:33+00:00

I have been using this setup with my laptop for 18 months so I am familiar with extended screen usage.  Two days ago a problem started.  I have a laptop with 17" screen set to the Main Display plus a 22" not checked to be the Main Display.  Screen Resolution > Multiple Displays = Extend these displays.  Desktop right click > View > Auto Arrange is Not checked.  Sort By options are unchecked.  Personalization > Allow themes to change desktop icons is Not checked.

I have all my desktop icons arranged on the laptop screen which is set to be Main Display.

New Problem: 

When I plug the extended monitor cable into the laptop or when I fresh bootup or if I had changed the Appearance settings from extended to duplicate or to the external 22" to be off and then turn it back to being extended, any of those things, to basically use the 2nd monitor as extended will cause all the desktop icons to move to the extended 22" screen space.  They are supposed to stay anchored to the laptop Main screen since that is how it is allocated.  This worked fine until two days ago and I was not playing with any settings before it happened.

If I unplug the external monitor or set it to be unused or as a duplicate image then the icons return to the main laptop monitor.

I use a freeware IconRestorer to save and restore the last saved desktop layout.  Since this problem started it restores to the extended monitor not back to the laptop main screen like it had previously.  I have killed IconRestorer from the background to see if it was causing the problem and it had no affect.

With the icons showing on the extended 22" monitor and I unplug the video cable for it the icons move to the laptop screen however they are rearranged.  Each time I try that the icons form a different layout and order on the laptop screen. 

I can then run IconRestorer with the 22" still unplugged from the laptop and all the icons will be restored properly.  So I conclude IconRestorer is working fine.  The problem seems to be that Win 7 thinks the Laptop screen is not the main screen even though it is checked as to be the main screen.

Once only while repeating these various steps, after the icons are restored with the 2nd monitor unplugged, then plug it back in all looks fine but if I do the IconRestorer restore all the icons again get placed to the extended 22" screen.  Usually plugging the extended monitor back in causes the icons to jump to that monitor.

Note that when the laptop is checked to be the Main screen the taskbar is located on the laptop monitor so it only partially thinks the extended screen should be the main screen.  If I set the extended 22" as the Main screen then the task bar jumps to the extended screen and all the desktop icons come back to the laptop screen.

It never worked like that before.  I also am running win 7 on desktop with 4 monitors and all icons being on main screen at far left and that still works fine including the use of IconRestorer.

***Post moved by the moderator to the appropriate forum category.***

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Files, folders, and storage

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  1. Anonymous
    2020-06-17T23:02:56+00:00

    Themes->Manage desktop Icons ->untick recycle bin. Apply. -> tick recycle bin. apply. Fixed mine instantly.

    wow. this actually worked for me!

    thanks a lot.

    windows 10 64bit

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  2. Anonymous
    2021-03-14T19:13:51+00:00

    This was an issue in 2013 and it's still an issue with 20H2 in 2021. I'm resigned to the fact that multiple monitors and Microsoft thinking its automation is smarter than its users is a problem that will never be resolved, and we're stuck with a company that only cares about profits rather than resolving issues which have been a problem for more than 10 years.

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  3. Anonymous
    2020-04-14T04:31:41+00:00

    CONGRATS!

    Your solution succeeded where so many others failed.

    Win 10 64Bit

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  4. Anonymous
    2019-10-04T16:54:22+00:00

    Finally found a solution that worked for me!!!

    I noticed that when I moved ALL the icons from the second screen into the main screen, the system would automatically re-arrange them on restart. But when I left even one file on the second screen, everything stayed the same!

    So just create an empty text file and keep it on the second monitor, and move everything that you need on the main screen.

    Hope this helps!!

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  5. Anonymous
    2016-02-01T00:20:21+00:00

    Hi there

    It happened to me too, today actually. Been trying to reset and restore and all, nothing works.

    All of my icons go from 1 screen to 2 screen. I wonder if it is because 1 screen is on the right and 2 screen is on the left and the icons are logically placing themselves closer to the far left as they are used to automatically be since the first windows.

    Anyways, I tried a bunch of things and nothing worked.

    I too, run Windows 10 on a Tower PC with two screens.

    Thanks to anyone that dares to answer this... : )

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