), and ran the projectors at movie theaters because it was fun. An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. press "Windows Logo + I" shortcut keys to open Settings app. Then Right Click on the Shell Icon folder that we made or in the empty space inside the folder. That is what the desktop should be used for not just for a pretty picture. I do that in a roundabout way install CCleaner and pin that to your taskbar. Right-click Explorer on the left of the Registry Editor to select New . For Windows 8, youll need UWT 3. I'm glad I thought to go back and check the comments Should've checked before messing with my registry. there is no icon so nothing wrong with it like with the way shown on the article. Steps to Remove shortcut arrows by editing the Registry manually:-. After a short adjustment period you'll be happy you did. This is how you can disable shortcut icon arrows with ShortcutArrow Changer. Download and Install the application from the link below. His interests include Windows, laptops, next-gen computing, and for some reason, watches. Very strange, especially because both systems have near identical settings. The action you just performed triggered the security solution. If you ever change your mind, open the Registry Editor, go to the below location and delete the 29 value. Seeing program shortcuts with or without the error is "YUCK". 8. 14. A crack is meant to bypass security. I just never knew you could change something so miniscule as the arrow on an icon. By using our site, you agree to our. Extract the BlankIcon folder to the root of the C drive. This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Darlene Antonelli, MA. Posted via the Windows Central App for Android. So, download this zip file, open it, and extract the folder in it to the root of your C drive. Icons on the desktop are like putting your cloths in the living room. I use the arrows to differentiate a shortcut from an actual file. Daniel, He's also written hundreds of white papers, articles, user manuals, and courseware over the years. And any programs go on the taskbar or are accessed in the start menu. If you are stuck in the process and need any help, comment below, and I will try to help as much as possible. However, this big box was removed with a small icon in Windows 11 to keep the interface clean. If you are not comfortable editing the registry, you can automate things with a .reg file. All Rights Reserved. The good news is you can move the Start Menu back to its traditional place on the left side of the screen. Using the Registry It's the easiest way to get rid of the arrow overlay. In Two methods we can remove the Shortcut Arrow in Windows 10. Answer yes When prompted Do you want to. I wish I could keep my desktop clean. Just leave that box empty. Press the folder icon on the taskbar to bring up Explorer. Thank you very much. Double-click "[bti soft] shortcutarrow changer setup" to open the installers window. Enter shortcut arrow icon in that websites search box to find more. Extract the four files including Shortcut Arrow Icon - Remove.reg, Shortcut Arrow Icon - Restore.reg, and blank.ico. This is a simple hack that anyone can do, as long as you stick to the instructions. * like for example groove Music or VLC fom store wont play any song and in error i clearly stated something wrong with registry. For now, if you want a purer desktop with less clutter, just take the five minutes and make this registry change! I mean, the whole reason for the start menu to return is habit. Completely Uninstall Riot Games (Vanguard and the Riot Games Client), How to Change the Screen Brightness in Windows 10: A Quick Guide, Turn Off Microsoft Defender in Windows 10: Temporarily or Permanently, How to Use Function Keys Without Pressing Fn on Windows 10, How to Delete Temporary Files in Windows 10: A Quick Guide, How to Eject the CD/DVD Tray on a Windows 10 PC, 2 Quick Ways to Log In as Administrator in Windows 10, https://windowsloop.com/remove-shortcut-arrow-on-shortcuts/, Remover as Flechinhas de Atalhos da rea de Trabalho. I'm guessing you're Jamaican? To do that, Tap on File and select Export. The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. This easy step by step guide shows you how to get rid of them! Back to arrows though, i'm gonna try a third party program like they mention at the beginning that way it's just an uninstall, i hope, job if theres a problem rather than wondering how to go back and fix what I didn't undersand in the first place as i just followed instructions lol. I have tried what you advise, however it just makes the wwhole icon disapear. Now I'm on Windows 10 and the only things I have on the desktop is the Recycle Bin and GodMode. The button will now be named "Restore Shortcut Arrows To Shortcut Icons." That's all it takes! With the value entered in the step, there was a blank square in the lower left hand corner of the icons. I'm with you here. The icons include those arrows to highlight that theyre shortcuts for software and files. Get the best of Windows Central in your inbox, every day! Lol at chacka chacka. Double-click the 29 entry to modify it. There was a problem. 1) Delete the 29 string value in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Icons key. Here is how. Double click to bring up value data. To remove arrows from shortcut icons with Ultimate Windows Tweaker, choose the Customization section on the left, click the File Explorer tab, and then click "Remove Shortcut Arrows From Shortcut Icons." To put them back, follow the same process. After the restart, youll notice the shortcut icons on your desktop dont have arrows on them. Everything worked just fine but after a second shut down it just shows a blank black space instead. 7. -- jim. Does it creates any problem? Hi Daniel, Thanks for amazing tip it was working great but right after 8 hour now my shortcut icon are invisible. . Incorrect. Make sure you watch what you say. To remove BlackBox squares from icons. Time to use this technique to remedy that! As most of the icons on your desktop will likely be shortcuts, however, those arrows are hardly essential. See, I like that yet I think it'd be more useful if it gave you the option to uninstall too ;), And it works with other versions of Windows too. Yeah I can agree. Yea,actually this tweak is not like in other builds of Win7 and Xp. I hate desktop icons so much that I just remove them completely. Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page. This caused my destop icons to start showing up all black!!! I was looking for how to do this. Its pretty quick and easy to remove the icon arrows with either of the methods above. To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. Double click on 29, make sure the value is empty (it should still be, even if you're having a bug), and hit 'Okay'. Just createthe string valuename it 29 and leave the value datablank. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. Some of our partners may process your data as a part of their legitimate business interest without asking for consent. Press Windows + R keys to open Run. The tiny black squares remain. Join 425,000 subscribers and get a daily digest of news, geek trivia, and our feature articles. what this article teaches is a shameless hack. Navigate to and open the folder that includes the ShortcutArrow Changer setup file. with no value data. Step 5: Click again on the "Edit" menu, on "New", then on "String Value". I used to have the Recycle Bin on there, but I now turn that off as well. Posted via the Windows Central App for Android. Download 'Remove Shortcut Arrow in Windows 10 & 11.' Extract the four files including Shortcut Arrow Icon - Remove.reg, Shortcut Arrow Icon - Restore.reg [.i], and blank.ico. Remove Shortcut Arrow Overlay on Windows 10 1. In case you do not know what I am referring to let me explain. He writes about things he believes are actually helpful in some way to the user. I had to undo everything and cope with the tiny "arrows" for now. As I mentioned, there are plenty of apps that do this. Also can't quit skype from the task bar. So names on options may differ.. 2 Press the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog, type regedit into Run, and click/tap on OK to open Registry Editor. To do that double click on 29. In the right pane of Shell Icons, right click on an empty area, and click/tap on New and String Value. It should be noted that those little arrows actually have a purpose; they differentiate shortcuts (which can safely be deleted) with the app itself (which will make you sad if deleted). ok, I agree it's nice to have the freedom to tweak the system as you desire, and I did a lot of it back in the 98/XP, but since the smartphone boom most new users are too "user" to do this safely. If you would like to change your settings or withdraw consent at any time, the link to do so is in our privacy policy accessible from our home page.. Your license key has been corrupted'. Haha. Open the start menu, search for Registry Editor, and click the result to open the Registry Editor. I've heard, but have never seen for myself issue from doing this. Cloudflare Ray ID: 7a11d3581c7c1f55 For stuff I use frequently I put on the taskbar and for stuff I use less (or has live tiles) goes in the start menu. Choose one of the four options from the list and click Apply. Had shortcuts everywhere (in an organized way, mind you). Windows Central is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Did anyone experience this? So, right-click on the Explorer folder and select the New -> Key option. Last time when i changed the registry for dark theme, Apps were not accepting data from hard drives*.so i wont change it this time again and there is no defaults for registry as well. I am not sure where this registry trick falls into, but shortcut arrows on the desktop drive me crazy. He's written hundreds of articles for How-To Geek and edited thousands. You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked. i did this. One thing you have to know is that the names of options may differ, I'm using Skype in Spanish so I translated them to english.. Step 3: Right-click on the Explorer Registry Key. Too bad MS dosen't have a current version of the MS Powertoy Tweak UI for W10 to expidite this process. This is very helpful to restore the registry to the original state. thx, This stumped me for a while, go to step 4 and simply delete the 29 file leaving the default one. Now, if they could just fix that annoying "Unspecified Error" in Explorer.exe - I'd be extremely happy! To remove the shortcut arrow icon overlay, we need to edit the registry. NY 10036. If youve never worked with it before, consider reading about how to use the Registry Editor before you get started. Performance & security by Cloudflare. Same thing happened to me. However, I think it behooves people to learn what they can do on their own. Editorial Director for How-To Geek and its sister sites. I mean after editing the registry setting will it create a problem such as i need to restore my pc,,Cuzz i installed windows 10 on my pc. You can also type it in the search bar at the top. Command Prompt looks more impressive without the stupid arrow haha. One hack removes the arrows, one replaces them with large arrows, and one restores them to the default style. FYI, you'll have to restart the computer after making the change, as this setting is in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE registry hive. No matter what method you use, you should be able to get exactly the icons you want with minimal fuss. Of course, you could go more advanced and define your own shortcut arrows or even change your system icons, but that is for another day. I've just used this method yesterday and it worked out fine. Just to update, the solution with the folder AVG only works if you have AVG on your computer. Same thing happened to me. Please update the article with this information! Click OK to bring up the Registry Editor. You can also do it manually through the Task Manager. I downloaded an old program I had used in Windows 7 that allowed me to control the Content Menu. You can show/hide the assorted system icons on the desktop from the Control Panel. When you make a purchase using links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Have to admitlost a bit of respect for DRubino seeing him use desktop shortcuts for launching apps. I removed all the icons on my desktop and put some of my favorite apps on the taskbar. Solution????? How to Remove Shortcut Arrows from Windows Shortcuts. Theyre huge and kind of ugly, but there would be no mistaking which icons were shortcuts. Navigate Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer 3. It has consistently beenone of the first things I would change on an XP (or newer) installation. I am so glad we have a start menu so i can pin my apps, they are so much better to look at. I'm leaving my work incomplete! So I leave em. 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Your IP: Now it looks like some robot took a square bite out of my icon :/ My icon sizes are larger if that makes any differences. In fact, rows of icons just reminds me of iPhones and iPads now. Step 4: Name the new subkey "Shell Icons". We had no complaints, actually. I had that initally and then it turned transparent, incuding part of the icon. I hate those arrows. Control Panel (or Settings) -> type "icons desktop" in the search box -> click/tap Show or hide command icons on the desktop. Keeps it nice and clean. When you are . Hey Rubi Rubino. It also happens to be free and its a portable tool, so theres nothing to install. Just double-click the one you want to use, click through the prompts, and then restart your computer (or log off and back on). So, to go back, I just need to delete that reg key? He's authored or co-authored over 30 computer-related books in more than a dozen languages for publishers like Microsoft Press, O'Reilly, and Osborne/McGraw-Hill. but other users have difficulties, you know haha. Thanks. Type regedit and click OK. These methods should work in Windows 7, 8, and 10. Howdy do and a big THANK YOU! The desktop is for housing running applications. Step 7: Then double click on the key 29. I think doing a system backup is more effort. Once again thanks for the tip. You can remove shortcut icon arrows by adding a new Shell Icons key to the registry. It is, therefore, NOT a hack. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Icons 29 REG_SZ Click to reveal Instead, we are going to show you how to do it the nitty gritty way through the registry. Open Start Menu and search for Registry Editor. He has more than 30 years of experience in the computer industry and over. Its the easiest way to get rid of the arrow overlay. Some users might prefer to remove those arrows from desktop shortcut icons. Scroll all the way down to Windows Explorer. RECOMMEND THAT YOU DO NOT DO THIS REGISTRY CHANGE. I hope its not like death pixels ones you notice them its Impossible not to see them ;-) and they bug you to death! To Change, Remove, or Restore Shortcut Arrow in Registry Editor 1 Download and merge the .reg file in step 3 of OPTION ONE above to reset the registry back to default before getting started below. And uncheck "Keep Skype on the taskbar While i'm connected".. Use it to try out great new products and services nationwide without paying full pricewine, food delivery, clothing and more. The backup helps you restore the system if anything terrible happens. Darlene has experience teaching college courses, writing technology-related articles, and working hands-on in the technology field. Now well change the value. It's mostly just a legacy from the days when Windows had a useful desktop metaphor, where real-world objects represented computer functions. Both ways will work fluently. Click OK to bring up the Registry Editor. But it sure didn't sound like a joke no hard feelings, I know I can be harsh sometimes, I was just emphasising (maybe too much) how I think this kind of cosmetic changes, like the settings' dark theme, shouldn't need an registry editing. Are they the black squares I'm also experiencing right now? Does anyone else have a problem with a giant black box on each of their icons? Drag Modern apps from the app list to the desktop for a surprise. the registry is like a huge list where the OS stores all it's constants' values, so if you change anything the system will assume that new value as true and trust it, even if it ends up being rubbish, so you can do a good mess if you want. how to remove shortcut arrow from desktop iconssteps1-Open Start. That is it. Like I said, everyone has their thing that bugs them. Everything can be taken wrongly if it's through text. That's it. Enter Shell Icons in the new key's text box. Shortcuts are an easy way to open any application quickly. Honestly, it's not any work either, I just put a lot of detail so no one makes a mistake ;). {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/0\/02\/Remove-Shortcut-Arrows-Step-1.jpg\/v4-460px-Remove-Shortcut-Arrows-Step-1.jpg","bigUrl":"\/images\/thumb\/0\/02\/Remove-Shortcut-Arrows-Step-1.jpg\/aid11836538-v4-728px-Remove-Shortcut-Arrows-Step-1.jpg","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":344,"bigWidth":728,"bigHeight":545,"licensing":"