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
    2023-07-28T03:38:12+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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  2. 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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  3. Anonymous
    2023-10-06T15:49:15+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.

    Thanks for the reply, happy that worked for you.

    However, I don't have Microsoft 3D Viewer installed, so the problem still remains...

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  4. Anonymous
    2023-10-06T17:22:43+00:00

    I would suggest that you try to remember when the problem started and look for any microsoft application that came as part of a windows update or a new game that you installed. From what I've read, anything that runs in the background and messes with the screen resolution, has the capability of causing this issue.

    Good luck and let me know if you find another possible application that caused your issue.

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  5. Anonymous
    2023-10-19T14:39:30+00:00

    Here is the simple answer you deserved rather than all the ridiculous MS support gymnastics:

    Uncheck Allow themes to change desktop icons at the following location:

    Settings (app)->Personalization->Themes->Desktop icon settings

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    300+ people found this answer helpful.
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