Google how to rebuild desktop icon cache. There is a CMD prompt you use. It worked for me, so good luck.
Windows 11 Desktop icons rearrange and re-sort themselves
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Anonymous
Lately, my Windows desktop icons have periodically and at random rearranged and re-sorted themselves.
It looks like at arbitrary times, This PC and the Recycle Bin, which are traditionally at the top left hand corner of the desktop now shift downwards. The icons re-sort themselves into alphabetical name order. It usually happens after a boot or reboot.
I also have icons spread out randomly over a two-screen desktop. At an arbitrary moment, again associated with a reboot, all icons suddenly snap to the left hand side of the left-hand screen.
There are many posts on the web about the "Autoarrange Icons" and "Align Icons" settings. Changing those settings do not resolve this problem.
This may have something with the ""Sort By" setting. If that is it, the setting does not stay that way for long.
I don't know if this is a new bug that has appeared in a recent build. I use Windows 11 Home, and the current Version is 22H2, and the Build is 22621.1992.
Windows for home | Windows 11 | Settings
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62 answers
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Anonymous
2025-07-03T15:56:00+00:00 -
Anonymous
2025-06-07T22:13:59+00:00 In 2025 its amazing how simple software issues shouldn't even be around. Thank you. I have applied your fix. Lets see...
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Anonymous
2025-04-13T13:20:48+00:00 That is not a fix it is a coverup for the deficiencies in W11. I already found and use that and I should not have to. A stable, useful, system does not need an add-on for basic placement of its icons.
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Anonymous
2025-04-12T19:11:29+00:00 Previous searching led me to this link to a German Cnet app DesktopOK. It will come up in german but just click on the lower left flag list and select the correct flag to download it.
https://download.cnet.com/download/desktopok-64-bit/3000-2072_4-75152737.html?ex=WLS-2202.4
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Anonymous
2025-04-11T19:43:21+00:00 Exactly. They always go to the lazy **** answer of overhauling or reinstalling Windows ... It's such a joke.
They can't fix a specific problem because they don't even know how Windows works. They built upon it & upon it for years ... That it's a layered mess.