Shell Folder Icons Appear on the Desktop in Windows 11

On some systems, the shell folders such as Music, Pictures, Desktop, Downloads, Videos, and Home icons appear on the desktop after installing Windows 11. These shell folders are not supposed to appear on the desktop by default.

music, pictures, videos, desktop, downloads, home icons appear on desktop - how to hide them

The “Delete” will be missing for those shell folders, and pressing delete on your keyboard doesn’t help. If you can’t figure out how to remove these shell folder icons, this article is for you.

Remove User Shell Folders from Desktop

The specified folders are hidden from desktop by default in a standard Windows 11 installation. Here is a registry fix that hides the five special folders and the “Home” icon from the desktop.

  1. Download hide_shell_folders_on_desktop_windows_11.reg (zipped)
  2. Unzip the archive and run the enclosed registry file. Click Yes to confirm.
  3. Press F5 to refresh the desktop. The extra shell folders should be gone now.

INFO: Contents of the REG file

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 
 
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\NewStartPanel] 
"{1CF1260C-4DD0-4ebb-811F-33C572699FDE}"=dword:00000001
"{374DE290-123F-4565-9164-39C4925E467B}"=dword:00000001
"{3ADD1653-EB32-4cb0-BBD7-DFA0ABB5ACCA}"=dword:00000001
"{A0953C92-50DC-43bf-BE83-3742FED03C9C}"=dword:00000001
"{A8CDFF1C-4878-43be-B5FD-F8091C1C60D0}"=dword:00000001
"{f874310e-b6b7-47dc-bc84-b9e6b38f5903}"=dword:00000001
"{B4BFCC3A-DB2C-424C-B029-7FE99A87C641}"=dword:00000001

What each GUID represents.

GUID Folder
{1CF1260C-4DD0-4ebb-811F-33C572699FDE} Music
{374DE290-123F-4565-9164-39C4925E467B} Downloads
{3ADD1653-EB32-4cb0-BBD7-DFA0ABB5ACCA} Pictures
{A0953C92-50DC-43bf-BE83-3742FED03C9C} Videos
{A8CDFF1C-4878-43be-B5FD-F8091C1C60D0} Documents
{f874310e-b6b7-47dc-bc84-b9e6b38f5903} Home
{B4BFCC3A-DB2C-424C-B029-7FE99A87C641} Desktop
RELATED: How to Add the Folders Group to This PC in Windows 11

Last tested in Windows 11 22H2 OS Build 22621.1928.

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Ramesh Srinivasan is passionate about Microsoft technologies and he has been a consecutive ten-time recipient of the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional award in the Windows Shell/Desktop Experience category, from 2003 to 2012. He loves to troubleshoot and write about Windows. Ramesh founded Winhelponline.com in 2005.

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4 thoughts on “Shell Folder Icons Appear on the Desktop in Windows 11”

  2. Followed your instructions at least four times … didn’t work … latest version 24H2 … it seems these shell folders are untouchable … they can not be hidden or deleted … and they are annoying to say the least … thanks for your effort but …. 0!

    Reply

    • @Joe:

      The registry edit works fine in 24H2 here.

      Can you please post the screenshots of the two registry keys below?

      HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\NewStartPanel

      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\NewStartPanel

  3. Thank you for your effort but it doesn’t work. 24H2 version.

    The GUID for “Gallery” is {E88865EA-0E1C-4E20-9AA6-EDCD0212C87C}. Although not part of the “special” five and “Home”, it is non-the-less annoying.

    These are system files and incapable of being “hidden” or “removed”. Try Again.

    They are soooo intrusive; MS must being using them to gather information. The “Cloud”? Might as well give up your password!

    Reply

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