Forum Discussion
How to Restore Missing Arrows from Desktop Shortcut Icons
My Windows 11 desktop has shortcut icons, the little arrows of which have all disappeared. Shortcut icons appearing elsewhere (other than the desktop) display correctly, with the arrow identifying them as shortcuts. I want to restore the desktop shortcut icons so that they appear correctly, with the small arrow identifying them as shortcuts, as opposed to files or folders. How can I do this? Thanks!
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Copy and paste the following text exactly into a new Notepad file. This script will remove the current settings, forcing Windows to restore the default ones.
Echo off taskkill /f /im explorer.exe reg delete "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Icons" /v 29 /f reg delete "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Icons" /v 29 /f reg delete "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\lnkfile" /v IsShortcut /f reg delete "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\piffile" /v IsShortcut /f start explorer.exe echo Done! Please restart your computer.Save the file on your desktop. In the "Save as type" dropdown, select All Files. Name the file Fix_Shortcut_Arrows.bat. The .bat extension is crucial.
Right-click on the newly created Fix_Shortcut_Arrows.bat file and choose "Run as administrator".
A black command prompt window will flash and close. After it's done, restart your computer. This is a critical step for the changes to take full effect.
After the restart, check your desktop. The arrows should be back on your shortcuts.
Check Registry for Shortcut Arrow Settings
- Open Registry Editor:
- Press Win + R, type regedit, and hit Enter.
- Navigate to this key:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Icons
- Look for a value named 29:
- If it exists and points to an empty icon file (often used to remove arrows), delete the 29 value.
- Restart your PC.
- Open Registry Editor:
