Desktop is usually a convenient place to save files and program shortcuts, but it might get messy fast. Here is how you can tidy your Windows desktop to quickly find everything as well as make it nice and organized.
Hide All Desktop Icons
If you don’t use your desktop much, but programs still keep dropping shortcuts on it, then you should hide everything to get a clean desktop.
To turn on/off desktop icons, simply right-click on your desktop and choose View > Show Desktop Icons and your desktop will then be empty.
If you want to see your desktop icons again, simply click on the “Show Desktop Icons” option or open a File Explorer or Windows Explorer window > choose “Desktop” folder to see the contents of your desktop.
That’s the nuclear option. If you want to save files and program shortcuts on your desktop, you don’t have to hide them all.
Sort Your Desktop Icons
To get a quick organization, you simply right-click on your desktop and choose an option in the “Sort By” menu. For instance, you choose “Name” option to sort files alphabetically or select “Date Modified” option to sort chronologically.
There are also other options under the “View” menu to select the size of your desktop icons. If you uncheck “Auto Arrange Icons” option, you can then drag and drop icons to anywhere you like. Once the option is enabled, icons will then be grouped, one after the other.
Organize Files and Shortcuts Into Folders
You can use folders for keeping your desktop organized.
- To do so, from your desktop, right-click on the desktop, choose New > Folder, give it a name.
- Next, drag and drop items from the desktop into that folder. You can also double-click a folder to open it, so you need a few clicks to open your files. However, they’re easy to find.
For example, you can create separate folders for your photos, video, and documents, or keep related files in your own folder. You can drag and drop shortcuts into folders, too.
If you want to quickly clean up your desktop, simply select everything on your desktop and then drag them into a folder. You can also move the items back onto your desktop again when you need.
Also read: How to Disable “Low Disk Space” Warning on Windows
Use your Desktop as a Working Area
The desktop can work well as a workspace, which is also a convenient place for you to store files that you are currently working. For example, you can store your spreadsheets that you’re working on, or documents you’ve scanned, or things you just downloaded onto your desktop.
In order to keep your desktop useful for this task as well as prevent it from getting cluttered. You can try store files on your desktop for a long time as long as you still need them. When you are done with a task, you can move the associated files to other folders like Documents or Video folder.
Here are tips you can do to customize the messy desktop on your Windows computer. If you know other tips, let’s know in the comment below.