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SOS: Necessary shortcuts and notification area icons have disappeared from the desktop. Looking for loss

Many PC users are once faced with the fact that shortcuts disappear from the Windows 7 desktop. Many immediately fall into a stupor and do not understand what to do, but nothing terrible has happened and now you will understand what is really this problem easily solved.

We fix the problem with the disappearance of shortcuts in Windows 7

There are few reasons why this happened: perhaps the shortcut display function was deactivated, or maybe the explorer.exe process crashed. Don't forget about viruses either.

Activate the function

If the desktop icons are not displayed, proceed as follows:

Right-click in an empty area of the desktop.
A context menu will appear where you should hover over the “View” section and select “Show desktop icons” and “Display desktop gadgets” from the drop-down list.

Next, icons and folders should appear on the desktop, if it doesn’t help, use another method.

Starting the explorer.exe process

If the icons from the Windows 7 desktop disappeared, the explorer.exe process, which is responsible for them, is probably to blame. To fix this:

press the key combination Win + R, the command interpreter will start.
In its window, specify the explorer.exe command and press Enter.

The icons should be displayed, if not, go to the next method.

Registry Editor

Perhaps the reason that all the icons on the desktop disappeared is a problem in system registry. To restore desktop shortcuts:

Launch Editor Windows registry. To do this, press the key combination Win + R and enter the regedit command in the window that appears.
In the editor that opens, you need to expand the main branch “Computer”, then go to “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE” - “SOFTWARE” -"Microsoft" - "Windows NT" - "CurrentVersion" - "Image File Execution Options".
There you need to look for subsections iexplorer.exe or explorer.exe.
If they are found, you should select, right-click and select delete.

The bottom line is that there should be no subsections in this data thread, so if they are present, you need to make them disappear. Then restart your computer and the problem should be solved.

If it didn't work:

In the registry editor, go to"HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE" - "SOFTWARE" -"Microsoft" - "Windows NT" - "CurrentVersion".
We find the “Winlogon” section there, and in the right window select “Shell” and open the parameter.
Check that the field value is explorer.exe, if not, write it that way.

Conclusion

Now you know how to restore desktop icons. Use the methods presented by us and the problem will be solved.

As a rule, we have the most frequently used documents, telephone, and other accessories on our desk. The same is true when working with a computer - for the convenience of opening the most frequently used programs, labels, icons and badges are on the desktop. They make life easier for us, eliminating the need to rummage through disk directories in search of desired program. Our actions, at times, are brought to automatism and it’s scary to imagine what to do when the desktop icons suddenly disappear. Unfortunately, this does happen. The main thing in this situation is not to panic, but to perform a series of simple actions.

Instruction:

To begin with, consider the option when you yourself accidentally deleted one or more shortcuts. Perform a right-click on empty space on the desktop. Since it is already empty, it will be difficult to miss. From the menu that appears, select the command "Undo deletion". If several icons were removed at once, then open "Basket", select the desired icons and after clicking right click mouse over one of them, from the context menu select the command "Restore" (of course, this is only possible if the "Basket" has not yet been emptied).
If the standard desktop icon is missing (" network”, “My Documents”, “My Computer”) and they are not in the “Recycle Bin” - in the menu, after clicking on an empty area, select the command "Properties" . In the window that appears, find the "Desktop" section and click: "Desktop settings" - "General”, mark the icons necessary for the desktop and click “OK”.
If the first method did not bring results, then the problem is deeper or you have become the object of someone's joke. Perhaps you have been changed desktop settings . To return to the original view, click again on the empty space, select the menu items - "Arrange icons" - "Show desktop icons". If there is no check mark next to this item, check it.
The second method did not help and the shortcuts did not appear? Do not despair. There might be an error in the process explorer.exe , which is also responsible for the icons for the desktop. All it takes is to run it again. To do this, simultaneously press the keys on the keyboard. "Ctrl", "Delete" and "Alt" . In the window that appears, we are interested in the "Applications" tab. Click the "New Task" button, enter explorer.exe in the "Open" line and click "OK". You may need to restart your computer.
But how to restore desktop icons if the taskbar and start button disappeared ? This often happens after the installation of malware (virus infection) and is corrected through the registry. Naturally, you need to perform the following steps only after removing the virus. So, again press "Alt" + "Ctrl" + "Delete" to call the "Windows Task Manager", and follow the 3rd step until the window with the line "Open" appears. We print in the field regedit and confirm the command (Enter). In a new window "Registry Editor", move through the folders (they are correctly called - Keys) until we find "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE". In this folder, select: "SOFTWARE" - "Microsoft" - "WindowsNT" - "CurrentVersion" and the last key Image File Execution Options . If this folder contains the “explorer.exe” or “iexplorer.exe” sections, delete it. Continuing to navigate through the registry keys, select the folder "Winlogon" . We find the line "Shell" in the line on the right and look at the rightmost column. If something other than “explorer.exe” is written there, right-click on this line, select “Change” and erase the excess in the “Value” line.
We restart the computer and admire the result.

Sooner or later, most users are faced with a situation where icons have disappeared from the desktop on Windows 7.

And the question immediately arises, what to do? First, let's figure out why the icons disappeared. Obviously, the answer is not unambiguous. The disappearance of shortcuts, icons and the Start panel can be caused by the following factors:

Built-in OS tools will return the icons!

In order to return shortcuts and icons that have disappeared from the desktop, we will use the simplest, but sometimes effective method.

Activate the icon display function

Manual launch of explorer.exe

This method can be used if the desktop is missing from Windows Explorer 7, and now about what to do step by step.

The situation will have to change and everything will return to its original positions. If it doesn't help, move on.

Editing the registry or how to get icons back

This method will help in all the above situations, as well as if the recycle bin is missing from the Windows 7 desktop.

Method 1: If the Start bar is available

Method 2: If the Start panel disappeared

You need to restart your computer / laptop and boot into safe mode with the support command line, for this:

Having reached the registry, we go through the tree to view and, if necessary, make changes to executable file. Recall that the instructions are given taking into account the fact that everything is gone from the desktop on a laptop with Windows 7 or a regular PC.

After that, a reboot is required and the system should restore everything, if it doesn’t help, move on.

Third party software

All the instructions did not help, and the icons are not displayed so far, we will fight viruses and malware. If your watch and other gadgets have disappeared from your desktop on Windows 7, AVZ antivirus will come to the rescue.

We always recommend downloading installation packages from official resources, and this time is no exception. Follow the link to download the antivirus.

Antivirus does not require installation, absolutely free and Russified.

After successful download, unzip the files into a separate folder. Recall that the antivirus will help if the background (picture) of the desktop disappears on Windows 7, icons and shortcuts, gadgets and the Start panel are gone.

For changes to take effect after completion AVZ works a reboot is required. Are you still missing your desktop wallpaper on Windows 7 and the panel icons are not showing up? In this case, we recommend rolling back the OS to the last successful configuration or reinstalling operating system.

Error-free work explorer "a!

Have a great day!

Shortcuts and icons of the notification area that have suddenly disappeared from the desktop can cause a lot of inconvenience, because looking for required files manually - a difficult, and sometimes even impossible task. Sometimes missing shortcuts are the result of viruses or a serious system failure. But usually everything is much simpler, and the unconscious actions of the users themselves are to blame. In this case, everything can be easily fixed.

Missing shortcuts due to user negligence

If all the icons have disappeared at once, the first thing to do is to check if the “Display Desktop Icons” option is turned off. To do this, right-click on the screen, hover over the "View" menu section and check the box to confirm the display of labels, if it is not available.

Sign in with a different account

Another simple reason to change appearance desktop. If, instead of starting the system as an administrator, you log in as a guest, a good half of the shortcuts may disappear.

In Windows 7, the current username is displayed at the top when you click the Start button, and can be changed by clicking Start/Shutdown/Change User
In Windows 8, 10, to change the user, press Start and in the window that opens with a tile, click on the user icon in the upper corner, as a result, a list containing all existing accounts drops out

Randomly moving shortcuts to another folder or deleting them in the Trash

V Windows shortcuts can be freely dragged with the mouse. This is a very handy feature, it allows you to arrange the desktop at your discretion, but it is also possible to accidentally drag shortcuts to any open or visible folder, including the Recycle Bin. To move, just select one or more shortcuts, then right-click to drag them into the window or onto the folder icon and select the “Move” option.

Similarly, you can send several shortcuts to another directory at once, or even all of them, by holding down any mouse button and selecting an arbitrary area of the screen with it. It's unlikely, but it's still possible to accidentally move using keyboard shortcuts, for example, Ctrl + A (Select All), and then dragging or pressing Delete (Delete). There are several methods at once that allow you to find and return the disappeared icons and files to their place.

Immediately after an incorrect action, you can press Ctrl + Z (Cancel) and the files will reappear in their old places
If the exact name of at least one of the files is known, it will be found through the search. To do this, the name is written in the search field of the "Computer" window, if you add the .lnk extension to the name (typical for all shortcuts), then there will be much less unnecessary results
Another effective method is to search by date. last change. In field Windows Search you can specify the time of change with an accuracy of one day. V Total Commander and others file managers search by time with an accuracy of up to a minute is possible.

Shortcuts remain, but are opened by another program or do not open at all

When it comes to file shortcuts: documents Microsoft Office, videos, digital books, etc., it has probably been installed new program, which now opens such files by default. For example, before all the books in PDF format opened Adobe Reader, but after installing the Yandex browser, the icons changed and the books began to open through it. In order for everything to become as before, it is necessary to restore the association with old program. To do this, go to the file properties and in this menu select Open with / Choose a program, after that you should specify the old application and check the box "Use for files of this type".

If the shortcut doesn't open at all, there are two options:

The object it refers to has been deleted or moved. You can try to find it through the search, and if successful, create a new shortcut. For this in context menu select Send to/Desktop (create shortcut)
There is no program installed on the computer to work with files of this type. To determine which program is missing, you should copy the extension (the value in the name after the dot), and then enter a query like: “How to open .djvu files” in an Internet search engine and download the desired application.

If a shortcut does not open that itself refers to the program (a file with the .exe extension), it probably needs to be reinstalled or, alternatively, the entire system should be rolled back to its previous working state.

Disappearing shortcuts in case of system failure

On all versions of Windows visual design user interface answers system program windows explorer. And if it turns off or starts to fail, the user is usually left with a bare desktop with a background image, without any controls whatsoever.

Disabling the explorer.exe process through the Task Manager

To launch the dispatcher, press Ctrl+Alt+Delete at the same time. In the window that appears, go to the "Processes" tab and look for system process explorer.exe. If the process is running, but the visual elements are not displayed, disable it by pressing the right button and selecting the “End Process” item, if there is no process, skip this step.

Starting Windows Explorer manually

To start it Windows program Explorer, in the Task Manager menu, select File / New Task (Run ...).

Click the "Browse" button, go to the C: / Windows folder and find the explorer.exe program there.

As a result, all visual elements should return to their places. If this does not happen, it means that the system Windows files and required from backup or using the installation disc.

Disappearance of shortcuts due to viruses

There are a huge number of malicious programs that delete or alter files in one way or another. Some of them, when trying to open a shortcut, redirect the user to their site, others make files hidden, and others, when trying to open them, create a huge number of copies, thereby clogging HDD unnecessary information. And if there are viruses on the computer, in any case, they should be removed first, and after that, file recovery should be done.

How to find labels hidden by a virus?

Many Trojans do not delete user information, but simply make it "invisible" by assigning the "Hidden" and "System" attributes to files. To see them again, you need to go to the Control Panel / Folder Options, then go to the "View" tab, check the box next to "Show hidden files and folders" and uncheck the box next to "Hide system files».

If the volume icon or other items in the notification area have disappeared

The area of the desktop that displays language, volume, clock, and other buttons is also called the system tray. It is configured at the request of the user, to get into the tray settings you need to right-click in this zone and select "Properties" in the context menu. You can open the same window through the Control Panel by selecting the "Small icons" view mode and the "Notification area icons" item.

If on the settings tab system elements click the link "Notification area icons", the settings window for all possible tray elements will open, including applications installed by the user.

Program icons are swapped when dragged with the mouse and are added to and removed from the hidden area in the same way.

Enabling the hidden Language Bar

The display of the language bar is configured through the control panel. The path to this setting page is quite long: Control Panel/Regional and Languages/Language and Keyboard/Change Keyboard.../ Language bar.

In the same settings window, on the General tab, there are options for adding new and deleting unused languages, and in the Keyboard Switching section, keyboard shortcuts for changing input languages are indicated.

The language bar can be minimized to tray or displayed on top of other windows in an arbitrary place on the desktop, switching between these modes is possible through the context menu.

Removing programs from the notification area through the startup menu

Most program icons appear in the notification area by themselves after being turned on and refer to applications that start automatically. It often happens that one of these programs is not used often and its launch only in vain increases the boot time of the OS. To remove applications from startup, you need to click Start / Run ... and write the word "msconfig" in the search bar. The "Computer Configuration" window will open, on its "Startup" tab there is a list of programs that start automatically.

In the example in the screenshot, there is a PicPick program that allows you to take screenshots while scrolling the page. However, it is used infrequently, so it can be excluded from startup, while the program itself will remain on the computer and can be started manually.

How to display an icon for Yandex or any other site on the desktop

To create a shortcut for Yandex, right-click on an empty area of the screen and select Create/Shortcut. A shortcut window will open where you need to copy the link to the Yandex page from the address bar.

After that, a Yandex shortcut will appear, when clicked, the main page of the site opens. Similarly, shortcuts to any pages from the Internet are created, for example, if you write in the location field, a shortcut will appear that opens home page this site.

Desktop decoration with unique labels

The icon shows the logo Google Chrome, your default browser, you can replace it with any .ico image stored on your computer. Icon sets for every taste are also available for download on the Internet, you can simply find the icon through the search engine, right-click on it, select "Save image as ..." and specify the download folder. After that, go to the properties of the shortcut, go to the "Internet Document" tab, click the "Change Icon" button and find the image you downloaded earlier.

Your own custom label is ready!

Windows element settings can be tricky to figure out at first. But having learned how to use them, you can create a unique desktop convenient for a particular user.

Missing shortcuts on desktop Windows desktop 7 - one of the signs of a computer infection with malware, in which the system file responsible for the functioning of the graphical shell of the OS has been damaged, or it has not started correctly. To correct this situation, you must either restore the corrupted data, or correctly specify the path to them in the registry.

Ways to restore icons on the desktop

In Windows 7, the explorer.exe program, located on the C drive in Windows folder. If you change its parameters, the executable file will be read incorrectly, which can lead to the loss of not only all icons on the desktop, but also the taskbar.

You can restore all shortcuts using both standard applications built into the OS, and additional software. The choice of one method or another depends on the severity of the damage and the availability of data required for resuscitation on the computer.

Activating the icon display function

If all the icons on the Windows 7 desktop have disappeared, but the taskbar is working normally, then this may indicate that the shortcut display function is disabled. If this is true, then in the "Desktop" or Desktop folder, which is located on system drive, all icons must be present.

To restart this function, you must:

If there are no icons in the Desktop directory, then they were removed from the system due to the functioning of malware or rash user actions. In this case, the above recovery method will not work.

Manual launch of explorer.exe

If the missing icons from the desktop windows desktop 7 is not related to damage to the explorer.exe application, it can be started manually from the Start menu or Task Manager. In the first case, you need to enter the "Start" and in the "Run" tab type explorer.exe.

If the taskbar disappeared along with all the icons, then to run the above file you need to:

If, when you try to enter the Task Manager, the system blocks your actions, which can be observed when a computer is infected with a virus, then you will not be able to restore icons using this method.

Using the Registry

The file responsible for displaying shortcuts and visualizing the desktop is activated through a specific registry branch. When a computer is infected, it may happen that instead of launching explorer.exe, a virus program is opened. To fix this problem and, accordingly, restore the missing icons, you need to do the following:

After exiting the registry and restarting the PC, all icons on the desktop should be restored.

Applications of additional software

If shortcuts have disappeared on your PC, and for some reason you cannot enter the registry or run the explorer.exe command, you can try to restore the desktop using special software.

Such a program is the universal antivirus AVZ. Its positive quality is that it can not only calculate and clean the system of viruses, but also restore Windows system files, unlock access to the Task Manager, reanimate desktop icons, and much more.

The procedure for working with this utility will be as follows: