Desktop Icons Not Showing or Missing Windows 11 Fix [2026]

Quick Answer: Desktop icons not showing due to disabled setting. Right-click Desktop → View → Show desktop icons.

Fix

Right-click Desktop → View → Check "Show desktop icons"

Right-click Desktop → View → Check "Show desktop icons"

Task Manager → Windows Explorer → Restart

ie4uinit.exe -show
taskkill /IM explorer.exe /F
del /A /Q "%localappdata%\IconCache.db"
start explorer.exe

Againly runs check_windows11_ui to detect desktop issues.

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