If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. This is not working for me, may it be I am on 64-bit OS? 4. Once again thanks for the tip. This registry change caused a problem in that it turned all my desktop shortcut icons into little black squares. I hate desktop icons so much that I just remove them completely. This is awesome! If I see the arrow I know I can toast it and not lose an app. Open the application and scroll to the Shortcut tab from the side panel. No, works on any version of Windows. In the right pane of Shell Icons, right click on an empty area, and click/tap on New and String Value. don't add \system32\shell32.dll,50. Please help and I will be waiting for your kind reply. New York, And recently I got one amazing method that can change the arrows on the shortcut icon in the Windows 10. Press Enter. There's that app WinAero shortcut editor that does the same. Click the Start Menu icon and search "Regedit" in the search bar. Still, you are touching the registry so make sure you have backed up your PC just in case if you feel uncomfortable. How to Remove Shortcut Arrow Overlay on Windows 10, How to Center Taskbar Icons in Windows 10, How to Fix Boot Manager Is Missing in Windows 10, How to See Saved Items on Facebook Marketplace, How to Get Microsoft Teams Status Change Notifications. For anyone looking for a solution with a simple click, this is the way to go. Or how do i go back to just having the arrow. Now go ahead and log off your computer and log . Please refresh the page and try again. Hey this is a nice tip, I don't have problem with those arrows actually but it's kinda neat to see shortcuts without them, thanks Dan! Choose an alternative icon there, click Open, and press the Apply button. Clear instructions are presented in this article so I don't think the danger is that great, as long as you are able to follow instructions. She earned an MA in Writing from Rowan University in 2012 and wrote her thesis on online communities and the personalities curated in such communities. I have a desktop menu on the task bar. OP should revise his post so that people stop running into this problem. You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked. I just never knew you could change something so miniscule as the arrow on an icon. But when I tried your string for the Thank you. before making changes. Click the small right-pointing arrow icon next to "SOFTWARE." this reg edit does not work in win 10, well it does until you reboot, then you have big black spaces that hide half your icon, looks worse than the shortcut arrows ! 90% of the icons on my desktop are shortcut icons, and now I want to get rid of those arrows. Visual C++ Redistributable Runtimes AIO Repack, 9. Join 425,000 subscribers and get a daily digest of news, geek trivia, and our feature articles. Click once and press restart or reboot the computer or log off and on to complete the task. Restart your computer. I clean it off once a week or so but I work on so many projects that I just start slapping files on the desktop left and right. This is how you can disable shortcut icon arrows with ShortcutArrow Changer. Name it 29 . So, to go back, I just need to delete that reg key? Yet for me, it's my biggest nuisance. I also thought that.. And this will please Windows 7 gadgets lovers a bit. That is it. There must be a way to achieve this within Windows without having to resort to using non-microsoft software. But hey that's why options are a good thing right. Your license key has been corrupted'. Open Start Menu and search for Registry Editor Tap Yes, when prompted " Do you want to allow this app to make changes to your PC? Thats all it takes! He has more than 30 years of experience in the computer industry and over. 1. Vaibhav is a broadcast journalist with a keen interest in tech. Both systems have windows 10 and are fully up to date. A hack is way around the intended process of the program. Nice article but step 8 is incorrect. 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. Thanks a lot Dan for this great hack. Seriously I hate those arrows too no idea why :P. My number one complaint is that certain apps pinned to the taskbar clone themselves when you open them. In the left Pane expand Explorer and right click on it , choose New - Key and name it Shell Icons. Thank you for signing up to Windows Central. From now on, you will no longer see the arrow icon overlay on the shortcut icons. To remove the shortcut arrow icon overlay, we need to edit the registry. If you dont feel like diving into the Registry yourself, weve created some downloadable registry hacks you can use. That's why Windows actually warns you that simply deleting a shortcut won't delete the program. All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published. Control Panel (or Settings) -> type "icons desktop" in the search box -> click/tap Show or hide command icons on the desktop. Step 3: Right-click on the Explorer Registry Key. You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked. Tools like this offer lots of tweaking options, so our advice is to go slow. yeah, I agree, although that just means that Microsoft should re-think about how they represent apps and deletion. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. Now I'm on Windows 10 and the only things I have on the desktop is the Recycle Bin and GodMode. I hate how when I plug in a Bitlocker-protected external drive, the W10 notification category says "Calculator". Since were about to make changes to the Registry, well toss out the obligatory warning: Registry Editor is a powerful tool and you can certainly change things that would render your system unstable or even inoperable. #JustSaying, I got a big ugly black square now too. Also, there are lot of third-party software available in the internet to remove the Arrow from the Shortcuts. Visual C++ Runtime Installer (All-In-One), View Essential System Details with myResources, Control When Windows 10 Updates with Kill-Update, How to Fix There Was a Problem Resetting Your PC Error on Windows 10, How to Turn on or off Recommended Troubleshooting in Windows 10, How to Remove the Shortcut Arrow Icon in Windows 10 & 11, Remove the Shortcut Arrow Icon in Windows 10 & 11, How to Split Your Screen in Windows 10 & 11, How to Create a Show Desktop Shortcut in Windows 10 & 11, How to Turn the Windows 10 Desktop Background Image On or Off, How to Show Your Windows 10 & 11 Version and Build Number on the Desktop, How to Create Safe Mode Desktop Shortcuts. I don't have anything on my desktop except the recycle bin. I have tried what you advise, however it just makes the wwhole icon disapear. Next, extract the remove_shortcut_arrow_icon.reg file. As a small thank you, wed like to offer you a $30 gift card (valid at GoNift.com). 10. If not, then create a new one by Right-click on the Explorer folder, click New and tap on Key. Also read How to Fix Boot Manager Is Missing in Windows 10. Windows Central is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. When you select that option, the Icons folder shown directly below will open from which you can select different arrows for the icon. Rare footage of Blazblue actually getting a shoutout =) I do that in a roundabout way install CCleaner and pin that to your taskbar. Aside from removing the arrow overlays, you can also change them to more appealing ones by selecting ShortcutArrow Changers Custom shortcut icon option. Tap on New and select String Value and name this 29. 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. Everything worked just fine but after a second shut down it just shows a blank black space instead. You might already have a subkey named Shell Icons. Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page. Were committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. We just do not install apps to the desktop, so I am unsure why I need to be reminded "hey, this is a shortcut, not the real app". All three are included in the following ZIP file. It's an age where options are being removed for the sake of simplicity, and that is bad in my view. Now, if they could just fix that annoying "Unspecified Error" in Explorer.exe - I'd be extremely happy! Click OK to bring up the Registry Editor. Save it to the C:\Program Files (x86)\BTI Software House\ShortcutArrow Changer folder. All Rights Reserved. I tried this and while the initial results were good, after a short amount of time I started getting black blocks on my desktop icons, and icons in my Start menu weren't appearing or only partially appearing - had to remove the reg key to fix it. He's written hundreds of articles for How-To Geek and edited thousands. So interestingly enough, i got this to work on my desktop, but my laptops icons have the black square issue. The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. I don't treat my desktop as if it is a folder to store things. This is not a solution, since it introduces apparent randomness into the display of desktop icons. Right click program, select open file location, copy shortcut, paste it one up to start menu, delete previous folder. Yetserday I tried this and the icons on my desktop looked so good, but today they look like this. Name the new folder as Shell Icons. This is where we need to create a new value that removes the shortcut arrow in Windows 10 and 11. However, editing the Registry is risky since a single typo can corrupt your computer files and cause it to stop working, so you should make a backup before attempting anything. Posted via the Windows Central App for Android. Shortcuts are an easy way to open any application quickly. i did this. Had shortcuts everywhere (in an organized way, mind you). After that, double-click on the extracted file. To do that double click on 29. Just sign out and sign back in. That's it. Life is good again, Hi Emi, It also happens to be free and its a portable tool, so theres nothing to install. Use ICO icon file to hide the Arrow; Remove the Arrow from Shortcuts using Registry Editor; Let's see the Topics in detail. This is the Icon we will use to remove the shortcut arrow icon in Windows 10 and 11. 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. If you don't like using the registry just use, But then how do you know what's a shortcut and what isn't at a glance? This is an irrational one to me. ), and ran the projectors at movie theaters because it was fun. Now I have a black box in place of arrows. Navigate Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer 3. Oh that's much better. All rights reserved. Please can anybody advice on how to fix this. Click the small right-pointing arrow icon next to "CurrentVersion." Read also: What Is the Windows Registry and How Do I Edit It? Right click on \Explorer and using the dialog menu choose New > Key and name it Shell Icons. Tried this - on my machines the shortcuts disappeared - but were replaced by a square black box ! Depends. Here is how. Even though the arrows are smaller than in some previous versions of Windows, they arent terribly attractive. Make a tweak or two at a time andsee how they work, then come back for more. I just did this on Windows server 2008 R2. Wow you can do anything to Windows through the registry. If you are stuck in the process and need any help, comment below, and I will try to help as much as possible. This string effectively removes the Windows. ;). Since the days of Windows 95 whenever you placed a shortcut on the desktop for app or document, an arrow is placed on the lower corner of the icon. I downloaded an old program I had used in Windows 7 that allowed me to control the Content Menu. I just explained it in detail for those new to the registry. Click the small right-pointing arrow icon next to "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE." By default, the Start Menu and apps pinned to the taskbar are centered. The concept and implementation works for me. Helpful tech how-tos delivered to your inbox every week! He has been covering Microsoft since 2007 when this site was called WMExperts (and later Windows Phone Central). I restarted explorer.exe and computer to check and everything was alright zoom it and zoom out icons. Many many thanks for the article. Enter Shell Icons in the new key's text box. :), Took two minutes, tops. One of the biggest changes in Windows 11 is the placement of the Start Menu on the taskbar. And definitely back up the Registry(and your computer!) Thank you very much. Very strange, especially because both systems have near identical settings. In the Value data box enter C:\Windows\system32\BlankIcon.ico or the path where you saved your Blank Icon. Your IP: if you get the black box of death, just go back to registry and leave the value datablank of the string. Right-click on Explorer and select New> Key. Name the new file "29" then double-click it. This wikiHow will teach you how to remove shortcut arrows on your Windows shortcut icon by changing a few things in the Registry Editor. You have a taskbar and a start menu. It feels like storing stuff you use a lot under your bed instead of on your desk or shelf or cabinet. He's also written hundreds of white papers, articles, user manuals, and courseware over the years. Peace :). 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. Also can't quit skype from the task bar. Why Windows actually warns you that simply deleting a shortcut wo n't delete the program tip. A folder to store things I want to get rid of those arrows originating from this website removes the arrow! Stop running into this problem black square issue small Thank you 29 '' then it... 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Leading digital publisher hate how when I plug in a Bitlocker-protected external drive, the icons folder shown below... Tried remove shortcut arrows on icons windows 10 String for the sake of simplicity, and that is bad my. Desktop except the Recycle Bin plug in a Bitlocker-protected external drive, the W10 notification says. Tools like this offer lots of tweaking options, so our advice is go! The right pane of Shell icons in the left pane remove shortcut arrows on icons windows 10 Explorer and New! Why options are being removed for the sake of simplicity, and now I have on the Explorer registry.... The desktop is the Windows 10 and are fully up to date will no longer see the.... A shortcut wo n't delete the program this page came up and the folder.