Create a Keyboard Shortcut to Access Hidden Desktop Icons and Files
This is a guest post by Joel Thomas (Mr.Byte) from www.lytebyte.com, where he writes How-to tips about Windows, Office and Internet Applications.
Most of us like me love to keep the icons and some files in the desktop for quick access but ironically I love a clean desktop too. But there is a simple tweak without any additional tool to get the best of both worlds, you can hide the desktop icons & files and create a custom keyboard shortcut to access those icons and files.
Step 1: Hide the desktop icons and files.
Right click on the Desktop, go to View and uncheck the option Show Desktop Icons. Now you will have a clean desktop.
Step 2: Create a Desktop shortcut to open Desktop Folder.
All the items in the desktop are stored in the folder under your user name. Click on Start button –> (your username) –> Desktop folder.
Right click on the Desktop folder and click Send to -> Desktop (Create Shortcut). This will create a desktop shortcut to open desktop folder.
Step 3: Assign a Custom keyboard Shortcut to open Hidden Desktop Icons and Files.
Now open the desktop folder like mentioned in step 2.
Right click the keyboard shortcut for desktop you have created just now and click Properties.
Open Shortcuts tab and click on Shortcut Key box. Now click ALT + CTRL + any letter key to create a custom shortcut and click OK. I usually use ALT + CTRL + D to open desktop folder and Win + D to show desktop.
Now you can open all the hidden icons and files in the desktop in a folder to have a quick access at the stroke of a custom keyboard shortcut.
Subscribe to More Tips and Tutorials like this from LyteByte
Daily Email Updates
You can get our how-to articles in your inbox each day for free. Just enter your name and email below:
This is pretty good tip! Thanks!
Unless I did this wrong, all it does is open Explorer aimed at the Desktop? Wow, for the past ~13 years I thought the point of the Desktop was to have a graphic way to remember where I had placed random temporary stuff. Give us a keystroke to toggle the icons ON/OFF and I’ll consider this of some value. Don’t we already have Desktop on our Quick Launch?
Thanks Michael!
hey this is exactly what I was looking for. Thanks!
@shelded:
I’ve got that exact article coming up in a few days, so stay tuned
@shelded, That would be a nice tweak and should be able to do with some registry tweak. And thanks to @The Geek for creating that.
I have a confusion around this…does these shortcuts created always works?…as there was a time when i have created a keyboard shortcut for a desktop icon which sometimes works and sometime does not work.
wow. even though i have windows xp and it took me a while to figure out . . . this is quite cool!
thanks
(:
you can also go to :\Users\vista-username\Desktop to access the files on the desktop ifd they are hidden
@abhishek, it has worked good so far me and I have not faced any issue yet.
@sammie, Thanks.
i think it’s great!thank.
Do you know how to cut & paste an icon from an internet website onto the desktop using Vista i.e. ebay icon, etc. I have tried to right click on the webpage and create shortcut but the only thing that shows up on the desktop is a page with a small window in it with the name of the website. It does go to the site if you click it but does not use the logo of the website like it used to. Any suggestions? Thanks. v