Windows 11 Desktop icons rearrange and re-sort themselves

Anonymous
2023-07-21T01:09:08+00:00

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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  1. Anonymous
    2023-10-06T14:22:56+00:00

    Problem finally resolved on my PC, Windows 10. After trying all the above, including resetting my computer to a previous date (which didn't work), I finally looked at my apps. There it was... a new microsoft app was installed in late September 2023... MICROSOFT 3D VIEWER. It was either automatically installed with an update, or I selected it as an optional app that I made the mistake of saying "install."

    Anyway...i deleted it and now everything is back to normal on my desktop icons.

    Hope this works for you guys.

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  2. Anonymous
    2023-07-28T03:38:12+00:00

    Hi

    Thanks for your reply.

    Creating an account helps analyze whether your current account configuration is wrong and the ICONS are randomly sorted. This can be used to narrow down the problem.

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  3. Anonymous
    2023-07-27T14:56:52+00:00

    This is overkill for what would seem a simple problem to fix my desktop icons from rearranging themselves.

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  4. Anonymous
    2023-07-27T02:37:00+00:00

    Hi

    Welcome to Microsoft community.

    In order to better narrow down your problem, if you create a new local administrator account, do the same problems still exist?

    If the problem persists in your new account, use the Windows image to fix your current Windows system configuration. This is a system repair process that will not affect your data and files, please rest assured.

    Disclaimer: Let’s try performing an in-place install or in-place upgrade which will refresh your Windows files and operating system without removing files or applications. That being said, we always recommend that if you have important data, you should back it up before making large system changes. If you want to back up your data first, please do so.

    Wait until the repair is complete and check again to see if the problem is gone.

    Please feel free to let me know if you have any further updates, thanks.

    Best regards

    Derrick Qian | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

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  5. Anonymous
    2023-07-23T03:27:33+00:00

    Deleting IconCache does not fix the problem. I deleted the Icon Cache yesterday. Earlier this evening, I shut off the computer, and later started it again.

    The problem returned, less than 24 hours after deleting the IconCache.

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