Can i hide desktop icons?

is it possible to have no icons on the desktop showing.
for example, in windows i just right click on the desktop, arrange icons by, and then click show desktop icons. which either hides/shows the desktop icons.
is it possible to do something similar with mac?

hiya,
when i put a '.' in front of the file name, it comes up with a message saying "...these names are reserved for the system".
if i can help it, i don't want to install a programme, just so i can use one of its features i.e. hiding desktop icons.
the reason i want to hide my desktop icons is so i can just see my wallpaper.
is there no simple, say for example, turn on/off desktop icons? or something along those lines?
thanks.

Similar Messages

[Solved] wy i can place xfce4 desktop icons in a "grid" only?

hello archers!
im in love with xfce4 DE, but the annoying thing is that i can place the desktop icons only in a invisible "grid" of tiles.
i changed the display manager to gdm, but it didn't help. i tryed changing the WM, but didn't not find out how to do that.
Yes, i dont understand how DE's working internal, cause there are so many parts, as DM, WM, session-manager, and so on, which confuses me.
So how i can place my icons individually on the desktop?
Thanks in advance!!
Last edited by xfce-tux (2011-09-12 21:13:34)

Another way to adjust the desktop grid size settings and more.
Source: http://git.xfce.org/xfce/xfdesktop/tree/README
HIDDEN CUSTOMISATIONS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you're using the icon view, and would like to change how the text looks,
you have three things you can change: the opacity (transparency) of the
rounded text background, the color of the rounded text background, and the
color of the text itself.
You'd want to add something like this to your ~/.gtkrc-2.0 file:
style "xfdesktop-icon-view" {
XfdesktopIconView::label-alpha = 75
XfdesktopIconView::selected-label-alpha = 100
XfdesktopIconVIew::ellipsize-icon-labels = 1
XfdesktopIconView::shadow-x-offset = 1
XfdesktopIconView::shadow-y-offset = 1
XfdesktopIconView::shadow-color = "#ff0000"
XfdesktopIconView::selected-shadow-x-offset = 2
XfdesktopIconView::selected-shadow-y-offset = 2
XfdesktopIconView::selected-shadow-color = "#00ff00"
XfdesktopIconVIew::cell-spacing = 6
XfdesktopIconView::cell-padding = 6
XfdesktopIconView::cell-text-width-proportion = 2.5
base[NORMAL] = "#00ff00"
base[SELECTED] = "#5050ff"
base[ACTIVE] = "#0000ff"
fg[NORMAL] = "#ff0000"
fg[SELECTED] = "#ff0000"
fg[ACTIVE] = "#ff0000"
widget_class "*XfdesktopIconView*" style "xfdesktop-icon-view"
The first three entries set the opacity of the rounded text background
(allowed values are from 0 (totally transparent) to 255 (totally opaque),
and whether or not unselected icons get their labels ellipsized
(truncated) to fit on one line. (The 'selected-' version controls the
opacity of icons that have been selected with the mouse.)
The second six entries can be used to enable a text shadow to be painted
with the icon labels. The offsets are in pixels. Setting them to 0 (the
defaults) will disable the shadows entirely. Again, the 'selected-'
versions apply to icons that have been selected with the mouse.
The third four entries set spacing and sizing for individual icons on
the grid. The 'cell-spacing' property specifies the spacing between each
'cell' in the grid of icons. The 'cell-padding' property sets extra
padding placed around each icon+text. The units for these two are in
pixels. The 'cell-text-width-proportion' property specifies the maximum
width of the text label underneat the icon, as a multiplier of the icon
width (so for 30px icons, '2.5' would leave a 75px wide area underneath
for the text).
The fourth three entries set the color of the rounded text background.
* NORMAL sets the color for the regular, unselected state.
* SELECTED sets the color for when the icon is selected, and the desktop has
keyboard/mouse focus.
* ACTIVE sets the color for when the icon is selected, but the desktop does
not have keyboard/mouse focus.
The final three entries set the color of the label text. See above for the
differences between NORMAL, SELECTED, and ACTIVE.

How can i hide the icons on my desktop

I have some folders that I placed on my desktop for now trying to organize them however I don't want to see the icons. How do I hide them.

This makes no sense to me. If you hide them how can you organize them. Please explain further what you are trying to accomplish.
You can open the desktop in the Finder and change the view to "list view"

How to reverse hide desktop icons.scpt

this is a script i downloaded from some website i cannot find now, to hide the desktop icons... i did so successful when i clicked play.
now i kinda want it the old way where the desktop icons are displayed on the desktop! i remember reading that i can change some element of the below script to display the desktop icons again, but forgot what it is...
another one can help? please? thanks a lot..
try
set CurSet to do shell script "defaults read com.apple.finder CreateDesktop"
on error
set CurSet to "1"
end try
if CurSet is "1" then
set NewSet to false
else
set NewSet to true
end if
do shell script "defaults write com.apple.finder CreateDesktop -bool " & NewSet
tell application "Finder"
quit
try
activate
end try
end tell
i tried changing 1 to 0 and running the script but it didnt work.
hope i didnt damage my os x or sth....

Jeffrey,
The script worked as a toggle for me. When I ran it the first time my desktop icons hid; I ran it a second time and the icons were back. No need to change any values.
Try pasting the same script into your Script Editor and hit the Run button. Look for the icons to reappear. If you decide to save the script as an application you should, for obvious reasons, save it to somewhere other than your desktop. You can place it in your dock afterward and run it from there, e.g.
See if that works... Good luck!
Andrew99

Lion hides desktop icons

Sometimes, (I still can't understand the exact conditions, looks like completely random) Lion hides all my desktop icons and "deactivates" desktop (nothing happens when I'm trying to "select" - no selection rectangle is drawn).
Maybe it happens when I'm minimizing applications or when quitting ones, but it really makes me mad - I just realize that no icins are shown on the desktop at the moment.
Switching desktops restores the functionality and shows all the icons.
Any idea what happens and how to solve this?
P.S. And, a couple words to Apple - Snow Leo was a dream. Lion is some early-released glitchy crap that I every day think of removing and really asking for my money back.

In that case, there may be a problem with your Finder preferences or window settings.
Try removing these files, then restarting:
~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist
~/Desktop/.DS_Store
Let me know if you're not sure how to do that.

Hide Desktop Icons

Hello all,
I have seen various posts around the place about hiding your desktop icons by turning the desktop "off", but i would like to hide select icons of my choice.
Mainly I would like to hide the hard drive icon, but i cant work it out? Does anyone have any ideas?
Cheers,
r00tb00t

in addition to what francine said, i find it useful to turn off the selection for hard drives showing up as i have tons of partitions and drives, some of which are clones of other ones etc, but I then make an alias of the ones that i decide i DO want on the desktop.
even better in leopard is that you can hide certain options that still leaves a newly inserted CD showing up on the desktop, without tons of other ipod's and disks showing up that you don't want. up until leopard i think the new CD remained hidden along with other removable drives and disks.

Can't delete desktop icons

I'm running Vista. I loaded a program and then deleted it. It left two desktop icons. These two can not be deleted in any of the traditional ways. When I try to click on them, it says the link is missing. When I try to drag to recylce bin, it shows a red x. When I try to right click, does not give the option to delete. I rebooted in safe mood but that didn't help to get rid of the icons. I tried to reload the program and then delete but that didn't work either. Any suggestions??

Good info, but I also have one and tried to find mine in the registry -and it is not there- even using a search/find in any form. I cannot even locate it in the command prompt directory of my desktop -or anywhere else except as an icon on the desktop. It does not even have a file extension, and the system cannot recognize it to delete it. I have tried doing so from the command prompt as well as from the regedit and the system just doesn't seem to "see" it, but it still shows an icon on the desktop anyway. It is a generic Explorer desktop icon and is named CANID0X3 from a manual of a Porter-Cable tool that I own. When I deleted the file this was left behind and was somehow placed on my desktop and it has been there ever since despite my best efforts. I even tried re-installing the manual and deleting it again, but the system doesn't see the file to correct it.
Any suggestions? Doing a re-install of Windows is a little drastic to cure this otherwise benign problem. It just bugs the heck out of me that I can't get rid of the dumb thing!
Any suggestions, insights, or considerations would be very much appreciated. Thx.

Hide desktop icons on secondary monitor?

I have these command scripts in my Dock and click on them when I want to hide or show desktop icons:
defaults write com.apple.finder CreateDesktop false
killall Finder
defaults write com.apple.finder CreateDesktop true
killall Finder
It works great. My question is, how do I write these so they hide the desktop icons on my secondary monitor?
Thanks!

Never mind... restarting fixed the problem.

Can't drag desktop icons & other problems

Hi.. I cannot drag my desktop icons nor items from a folder to DT. When this happened, I lost printing from my Lexmark E120N, my memory chips were listed as 68k and 28 k when they are 1 gig & 2 gig. That seems to have cleared up. I also cannot copy anything nor paste anything. When attempting to use Tech Tool 5, it opens, but is frozen. I ran it from the install disk & it said everything was fine! Any help will be greatly appreciated.... TIA, Jack PS: I repaired permissions also.

HI Jack,
You booted from your Apple install disk and the hard disk "*appears to be ok*? Did you check the S.M.A.R.T status? Here's how.
Insert Installer disk and Restart, holding down the "C" key until grey Apple appears.
Go to Installer menu (Panther and earlier) or Utilities menu (Tiger and later) and launch Disk Utility.
Select your HDD (manufacturer ID) in the left panel.
Select First Aid in the Main panel.
(Check S.M.A.R.T Status of HDD at the bottom of right panel. It should say: Verified)
Click Repair Disk on the bottom right.
If DU reports disk does not need repairs quit DU and restart.
If DU reports errors Repair again and again until DU reports disk is repaired.
Also, run the Apple Hardware Test
If you can, make sure your important files are backed up.
Carolyn

Can't access desktop icons

Hello,
I'm having an intermittent problem with the desktop icons on my MacBook Pro. Occasionally, the desktop icons become inaccessible. I'll hover over them with the mouse and can't click on them. I'll also sometimes add a document to the desktop and it doesn't show up. Both of these problems can be solved by clicking on the "desktop icon view" and changing the size of the icons briefly. I hate having to do this so often. Can anyone help with this?
Thank you!
Erin

Welcome to Apple Discussions!
One thing to try would be to repair your disk. You will have to boot from your install disc and navigate to Disk Utility on the install disc. The select your hard drive by brand name and go to the First Aid Tab and click on the "Repair Disk" button. Repeat until there is nothing left to repair.
If you get errors you cannot repair, then you will need a more powerful utility such as Disk Warrior to repair your drive.
You could also try creating a new user account and see if the problem is there in it.
You could also try reinstalling the OS, but don't do this until any errors reported by Disk Utility are repaired.
Good luck!

Tomahawk how can i hide folders icons in t:tree?

Hi,
i use the tag t:tree in myfaces. I have added my own icons to the tree, but i don't know how can i hide old folders icons of tree. Can anybody help me?
Thanks and Best Regards,
Sergey

Hello~
I've got a bad hacking experience
It's a serious criminal hacking.
Console app on iMac had hacked by some Security Agents in China.
I need to lock 'db' folder including system key on Mac OS.
Please kindly inform me the method how to lock 'db' folder with password.
Such as this picture below :
Have a nice day~

Hide desktop icons in workspaces

Hi there. Is there anyway to hide all the desktop icons but from specific workspaces? I found an app called DesktopUtility which does the job but it hides them from all workspaces.

I have the same problem on 10.9.2.
Looks rather worse on my icon-strewn desktop!

Can't move desktop icons around

Hello,
I have a MacBook Pro with OS X 10.10.2 Yosemite, and when I try to move my desktop icons around the desktop they snap back to where they were before I tried to move them. I have tried changing settings and restarting my computer.
Cheers,
Adam

Hi. This doesn't resolve the problem on my end. The icons still can't be re-arranged or moved around. Sure, they will adjust to "Set by Sort", but I still can't drag them around, say from one folder into another. They are fixed to their spot.

How can I restore desktop icon for hp 1000 printer to check ink cartridge levels, etc.

How can I restore the icon on my desktop for my hp 1000 printer. want to check ink levels, print test page, etc.

What operating system? I recommend not using the software CD as it may be out of date. Get the latest software for your printer from the "Support & Drivers" link at the top of this page.
Say thanks by clicking "Kudos" "thumbs up" in the post that helped you.
I am employed by HP

Can't put desktop icons on second monitor

I have two monitors but the Leopard Finder won't let me put desktop icons on the second one. Windows I drag onto it fine, but if I try to drag a desktop icon over there, it immediately snaps back to my main monitor. View option for Desktop is "Arrange by: None" so this shouldn't be happening!

Never mind... restarting fixed the problem.

Can i hide desktop icons?

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for