How to Clear Your Desktop Clutter in Five Minutes or Less; Your desktop can quickly become cluttered with shortcuts to documents, programs, and other files that you need to access regularly, or ones that you’re saving to revisit later.
While this is helpful in some respects, it can also make finding the right file or program more difficult if you have too many on your desktop. If your desktop is looking more like a paperweight than the streamlined hub of productivity it once was, follow these simple steps to clear the clutter in just five minutes or less.
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What Is A Desktop Icon
Desktop icons, often referred to as shortcuts, are meant to make it easier for users of your computer system to access files and programs they need. These shortcuts act as short-cuts so you don’t have to go digging around on your hard drive trying find the file you need. They are placed on the desktop by either dragging them there or copying them there.
What is a Shortcut
What are shortcuts? Shortcuts are desktop icons that allow you to quickly access documents, folders, and programs by clicking on the icon. When you create a shortcut for a document, folder, or program on your computer’s desktop, the shortcut is copied into your user account and then placed on the desktop. You can also drag any item from anywhere on your computer onto the desktop, which creates a shortcut of that item.
You can move these shortcuts around to arrange them how you like, or delete them if they’re no longer needed. Deleting them removes the icon from the desktop but leaves the original file intact elsewhere on your computer – so don’t worry about permanently deleting anything!
Steps to to Clear Your Desktop Clutter in Five Minutes or Less
Wondering how to clear your desktop clutter? Start by minimizing all open windows and windows that are open but not being used, such as the Mail window. Hit Alt+Tab on your keyboard to switch between these windows if necessary.
- Right-click a blank area of the desktop and select New > Shortcut. Name it anything you want (no spaces) like Unused Apps or Unused Windows. Click Next.
- In the location field, type %AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs. Press Enter. Double-click on any shortcut folder to see what’s inside it. Delete any shortcuts you don’t need anymore by highlighting them and pressing Delete on your keyboard or right-clicking them and selecting Delete from the context menu. Close this window when finished clearing out old files.
- Right-click any files you want to delete from your desktop. Select Delete from their context menu. Repeat this process for each file until there is nothing left on your desktop. When you’re done with this part, minimize the unneeded windows and then click OK to save the changes to your system.
Wrap Up
Clearing your desktop will free up space on your computer and make it easier for you to find what you’re looking for. In just five minutes, you can have a clean desktop read this blog post to finding all you need to do this
