Delete desktop icons

I have two icons on my DESKTOP (not the icon bar on the bottom). They are "Macintosh HD" and "My Book". I want to remove them from the desktop as both of these icons can be accessed through Finder. However, if I try to Trash them, the computer does not allow it. How can I remove these icons from my iMac desktop???

chun914,
Welcome to Apple Discussions.
Going forward rather than doing a "me too" it's better to create a new thread. When you say you download and install MSN, what exactly is MSN? You should see file extension like .app when it's in the downloads folder. What is that extension, that might give me a clue as to what it is.
Also go through the Mac 101 and Switch 101 URL's that were noted above and get yourself a book on Snow Leopard so you can begin learning. A book I like is Robin Williams book, no not THAT Robin Williams!
Regards,
Roger

Similar Messages

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.

Deleted Desktop Icon - Alias icon no longer works!

Hello everybody I am a recent switcher and I can't express how much I love the switch. The widgets, Expose, ease of iPhoto, Garageband, iTunes, et cetera.
But until recently, just this morning, I deleted an Icon on my desktop (the World of Warcraft) and I the alias Icon, shortcut, in my dock no longer runs.
So after traveling the Macintosh HD/Users/Shared/Blizzard - I cannot find anything that resembles a .exe or boot up file!
I am new to the Mac and I know it isnt that unfamiliar to a PC, Windows. But I have got to ask ... What on earth do I DO?! Where do I go!?
Do I have to reinstall the game? There has got to be an easier way to fix this.
Thanks!
Mitzki

Mitzki,
Congratulations upon making the switch!
If your dock icon no longer works, it most likely means that you deleted the application itself, not just an icon. [In that case you will need to dispose of the dock icon by simply pulling it out of the dock. Insert a new icon after reinstalling the application.] This means that you originally installed the WOW application to your desktop rather than to your Applications folder. In the Applications folder it would be less likely to be accidentally deleted (as you may have apparently done). It is ok, in the future, to install applications to your desktop - you can then simply move them into the Applications folder, just that simple.
However, you can further safeguard from repeating this mistake - after you now install WOW into your Applications folder (or move it after installing to your desktop), select (highlight) the new WOW application icon in that Applications folder, open the "File" pull-down to "Get Info," expand the "General" section so that you can see the "Locked" box, and check off that "Locked" box, which will prevent any further movement of the WOW application without the system's first requesting your password. As a general principle, any time your system's password is requested, you should be able to understand why before you enter it. Your system password is not a nuisance, but your system's lifeguard.
Enjoy!
[Oh, gosh, I'm sooo slow! I'll let it stand in case there's something that might be useful to someone]
Message was edited by: myhighway

Accidentally Deleted Desktop Icon

I've accidentally deleted my desktop icon from the Users folder. It doesn't really make a difference, but when using Sharing to access my iMac files from another computer, I can't go to files on the desktop.
Can anyone help me please?

Hi.
What happens if you select the Desktop folder icon which is still in the sidebar? Do the contents of your desktop folder display in the Finder window?
If so, then go to the Finder Menu bar and click View > Show Path Bar. When the contents of the Desktop folder are displayed in the window, the path bar (at the bottom of the window) should display the current path to that folder, as it does in this screenshot:
Is it possible that the Desktop folder was somehow relocated into another folder? (I don't even know if that's possible).
Perhaps the folder itself has become hidden. You said that when you use Terminal to create a new Desktop folder, the response was that the file already exists.
Try this Terminal command to unhide the folder...
chflags nohidden ~/Desktop/
Post back and let us know if this has any affect.

When I delete desktop icons, they don't auto arrange?

Hi everyone. I purchased a new macbook pro about a month and a half ago and am running snow leopard on it.
When I delete icons on my desktop, the gap where the icon used to be is still there. I would like my desktop to automatically fill that in with the remaining icons, like how it did on my older macbook. How do I do this??
I tried looking elsewhere for help, but the option of "keep icons arranged" in view options is not there for me!

Click on the Desktop
Press Command+J (or go to the "View" menu and select "Show View Options" in the drop down menu
The bottom section has an option that says "Arrange by: none"
Use the drop down to select "Name"
This will organize the icons by name and when you remove one the others will shift around to fill in the empty space.(or you can select one of the other options like "kind" but I like name best).
This should fix it for you but I believe you have to do it for every folder you want this behavior in. (the desktop is a folder).

Can't delete desktop icon

After saving a new document to the desktop (say in TextEdit or Microsoft Word), once I quit out of the application I notice two seperate files, with the same name, on my desktop.
One of them acts "normally" and can be opened/trashed/moved to another location. The other one (which looks exactly the same) does not, and cannot be delete or moved anywhere. In fact dragging this file automatically enables the copy function (the little plus sign appears as if I were copying it to an external drive). It's unable to be opened. The only way for me to get rid of this file is to do a full restart.
Anyone else experience this? I thought it would have been patched up in 10.7.2 but it's still around...

Please read this whole message before doing anything.
This procedure is a diagnostic test. It won’t solve your problem. Don’t be disappointed when you find nothing has changed after you complete it.
Third-party system modifications are a common cause of usability problems. By a “system modification,” I mean software that affects the operation of other software -- potentially for the worse. The following procedure will help identify which such modifications you've installed. Don’t be alarmed by the complexity of these instructions -- they’re easy to carry out and won’t change anything on your Mac.
These steps are to be taken while booted in “normal” mode, not in safe mode. If you’re now running in safe mode, reboot as usual before continuing.
Below are four lines of text in monospaced type, which are actually shell commands -- little programs. They’re harmless, but they must be used exactly as given in order to work.
First and most important, don’t run these commands until you have verified that they’re legitimate. Never execute shell commands from an untrusted source without knowing what they do, or at least that they don’t do anything harmful. I’ve posted these same commands, with minor variations, many times on this site. You should be able to find other discussions in which they were used without ill effects. Do that before proceeding.
Some of the commands will probably line-wrap in your browser, but each one is really just a single long line, all of which must be selected. You can accomplish this easily by triple-clicking anywhere in the line. The whole line will highlight, and you can then either copy or drag it. The headings “Step 1” and so on are not part of the commands.
To begin, launch the Terminal application; e.g., by entering the first few letters of its name in a Spotlight search.
Step 1
Copy or drag -- do not type -- the line below into the Terminal window, then press return:
kextstat -kl | awk ' !/apple/ { print $6 $7 } '
Post the lines of output (if any) that appear below what you just entered (the text, please, not a screenshot.)
Step 2
Repeat with this line:
sudo launchctl list | sed 1d | awk ' !/0x|apple|com\.vix|edu\.|org\./ { print $3 } '
This time, you'll be prompted for your login password, which won't be displayed when you type it. You may get a one-time warning not to screw up. You don't need to post the warning.
Step 3
launchctl list | sed 1d | awk ' !/0x|apple|edu\.|org\./ { print $3 } '
Step 4
ls -1A {,/}Library/{Ad,Compon,Ex,Fram,In,La,Mail/Bu,P*P,Priv,Qu,Scripti,Servi,Sta}* 2> /dev/null
Important: If you synchronize with a MobileMe account, your me.com email address will appear in the output of the above command. Change it to something like “[email protected]” before posting.
Remember, this is all drag-and-drop or copy-and-paste, whichever you prefer -- no typing, except your password.
You can then quit Terminal.

I deleted my desktop icon - now I can't save things to the desktop!

After a complete meltdown of my computer (and thank GOD I backed everything up!!) ... I'm transferring everything back to my iMac from an external drive ... BUT, I deleted the little "desktop" icon from my finder folder - or more like, I dragged a desktop folder from the external hard drive and "replaced" the desktop icon.
Now I can't save anything to the desktop. When I drag something to the desktop it says "The item cannot be moved because the 'desktop' cannot be modified."
Is there a way to get this back???

No ...
Under "Ownership & Permission" is says "You can - Read & Write", so that's not the issue.
What I did was:
When you open the finder window, there are several icons that appear in the window - usually the Desktop icon, the Home icon, the Applications icon, the Documents icon, the Movies icon, the Music icon and the Pictures icon.
What I did was, I dragged a "Desktop FOLDER" over from an external hard drive and it asked me if I wanted to replace the Desktop. I said "Yes" and now I no longer have the DESKTOP ICON on the left side of the finder window and I can no longer drag and drop things to the desktop.
The desktop icon no longer exists, so I can't access my desktop VIA the finder window.
Does this make sense?

I have just selected all my desktop icons and accidentally deleted them. This included my external hard drive with 22,000 photos in iPhoto. I cannot open iPhoto now. Can someone help please?

I have just selected all my desktop icons and accidentally deleted them. This included my external hard drive with 22,000 photos in iPhoto. I cannot open iPhoto now. Can someone help please?

What is the file system of that external HD? is it MacOS Extended (Journaled)?
Which iPhoto version do you have?
If you directly select the iPhoto Library in the Finder and use "File > Get Info", does the library still show as "Kind: iPhoto Library" and is the file size correct for 22000 Photos?
If the library does no longer have the correct size, restore it from your backup.
But if the library has the correct size, try to open it directly by clicking it. This should work, if your iPhoto version is iPhoto '11.

Desktop Icon Deleted!!

Hi Guys
I have accidentley deleted my icon for my desktop icon! I found another one online but not very good.
Please see attached screenshot!
Anyway to get it back?
Thanks in advance!
joe1828

Mac OS X 10.8.2
Use Software Update or the OS 10.8.4 combo update to update your OS. Also, update everything SU has to offer for your computer. When done, repair permissions and restart your computer.
Report back the results.

Accidently trashed my desktop icon and deleted it

I accidently trashed my desktop icon and deleted it. Ugh. Somehow I had a desktop folder in the home folder and I thought it was a duplicate. Stupid me. I have rebooted and the icon is gone. Also tried to restor in the Find preferences but it will not allow me to check the box. Help!!!!!
G5 iMac Mac OS X (10.3.9)

Navigate in the Finder to your Home folder. Create a new folder (COMMAND-SHIFT-N) and name it Desktop.

How can I avoid losing my customised desktop icon arrangement?

I have a lot of folder icons on my desktop arranged in a specific way. Recently when I shut down and then re-boot I find all the desktop icons have been re-arranged. This is a real pain! How can I prevent this from happeining?
I've been using Mac computers for many years and have never had this problem.
iHope

Did I miss something?
Looks like it! Let me repeat what I wrote:
"The issue in that case concerned the dock, and a corrupt preference. The solution was to delete the 'com.apple.dock.plist' from the Preferences folder in the Library, then log out/in."
"Given the issue in my case concerns the desktop, (NOT THE DOCK!) should I do the same with the 'com.apple.desktop.plist' in the Preferences folder?" In other words, do you think deleting the 'com.apple.desktop.plist' might fix the desktop issue?
Your reply - "Haven't a clue. Why deleting the Dock plist file fixed the Desktop issue worked is beyond my ken" - suggests you didn't understand the question, right?
iHope

Desktop Icons have vanished, have tried many solutions offered in forums with no results

I'm at a complete loss as to what to do after searching high and low for answers to this problem.
My desktop icons have mysteriously vanished as I switched it on last night. I had been using it with no issue earlier that day, but for some reason, switching it on last night, I was greeted with a completely clean desktop.
This has happened once before, so I figured simply rebooting the computer (like the last time this occurred) would bring back the icons. No such luck, even after restarting it or shutting it down, and reopening it 15 minutes later. When this problem last occurred, I think I was using Snow Leopard; I'm now running Mountain Lion (if this makes any difference).
I searched a few forums, and tried every solution listed in these topics with absolutely no success. List of things I've tried, as suggested by users on other forums (that seemed to work for people with similar problems):
Checked to see if the "Desktop" folder was renamed to something else, it wasn't;
Relaunched Finder several times
Restarted the computer, shut it down for hours and restarted
View>Clean up by/Sort by all tried, nothing happens
Changed the resolution several times, nothing happens
Quit iTunes, nothing happens
Verified the disk in Disk Utility, no problems (so repair disk was greyed out);
Verified the permissions, repaired the permissions successfully, nothing happened;
Checked Macintosh HD>Users>(username)>Desktop, nothing in the folder (0kb when I check Get Info);
Searched for and tried to remove via Terminal the following preferences: com.apple.finder.plist AND com.apple.FolderActions.plist but they are non-existant on my account OR guest account
Booted in safe mode, still no icons
Logged into guest account, no icons on administrator Desktop (I overrided permissions to see the desktop, and still no icons)..
Tried to "killall Finder" in Terminal, no response.
I did not recently:
download any new software, games, etc (with the exception of FluidApp, which was installed 3 weeks ago and frankly I don't see how it would affect my computer weeks later);
connect my MacBook to an external/additional monitor (have never done this, so icons can't be off-screen)
Additional info:
When in Finder, most functions in my View menu are greyed out. Available options: "Clean Up By", "Sort By", and "View Options". Selecting any of these do nothing.
I checked this article (http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1916) and my Computer Name actually DID contain an illegal character (a dash) so I removed it; however it did not correct my problem even after reboot/logging out and in/relaunching Finder. (I'm running Mountain Lion though, so not sure if this even applies, but it was the closest thing I could find).
Nothing but the contents of the desktop seem to have been compromised. I can open applications, install software, use any application, view/open/access files everywhere else on my computer.
I can save new files on my desktop and they don't disappear.
I can put files from other places in my computer on the desktop and they don't disappear.
I DID do a system update to the latest version of Mountain Lion AFTER encountering this problem, in hopes it would correct the problem somehow, but it did not.
I installed one application in hopes of figuring out a fix after the problem occurred (TinkerTool) but after playing with the options (and in the end, not changing anything) I still have the problem. The "Disable Desktop Features" thing was not checked. I checked it, relaunched finder, and what I put on the desktop disappeared, so I unchecked it and relaunched and they reappeared, but my old desktop did not.
It's seriously as if someone did a "Select All > Delete", and overpassed the Trash bin somehow (because it still has a few items I had put in there previously).
Does anyone have any other suggestions in how to retreive my lost desktop icons? I'm going crazy..

If you have a backup, try restoring your Desktop folder from there.
You should have a Finder and a FolderActions .plist. Have you tried looking in your user library folder manually instead of using Terminal?
If you prefer to make your user library permanently visible, use the Terminal command found below.
http://osxdaily.com/2011/07/04/show-library-directory-in-mac-os-x-lion/
You might want to bookmark the command. I had to use it again after I installed 10.8.4. I have also been informed that if you drag the user library to Finder it will remain visible.

How do I make the clickpad cause the size of my desktop icons to change?

As I work through the day, something I do to the clickpad seems to cause my desktop icons to suddenly grow larger, or shrink smaller. I have noticed that the icon change happens as I sweep my regular clickpad finger across the clickpad. I'm not sure what I'm doing with the other hand at the same time, but I seem to be touching the clickpad's left button area at least part of the time. The sudden increase in size of icons causes them to rearrange themselves into an unfamiliar pattern, i.e. a mess. So I then must take time to rearrange about 40 icons, thereby becoming vastly less efficient with a computer than I would be if using pencil and paper. I am not able to reproduce this action at will; it only happens while I'm working normally well, concentrating on other things.
If any of you know exactly how this occurs, and what the feature is called, please tell me the name and, much more importantly, please tell me how I can stop this from occurring. I've searched HP's instructions for the clickpad, searched for a newer driver, and searched the forums to no avail. The notebook computer is a Pavilion DV7-4280us (a quick-ship model). The offending clickpad is, apparently, being beta tested on unsuspecting consumers who, choose to believe the HP tech support and sales folks instead of the numerous previous consumers who have complained about these clickpads in customer reviews. Overall, this computer really is terrific; but I sure could use some help to prevent these undesirable scramblings of my desktop icons that suddenly outgrow the space allocated to them. Thanks in advance for your help.

Firefox now always stores the old session which you can access by going to the History menu and selecting "Restore Previous Session".
If you always open the last set of tabs, an alternative approach is this:
# In the Firefox menu select Preferences to open the Preferences window
# Go to the General panel
# Change the setting "When Firefox starts" to "Show my windows and tabs from last time"
If you have it set to the above but it is not remembering the tabs, the file that stores details of sessions may be corrupt.
# Open your profile folder, for details of how to find it see https://support.mozilla.com/kb/Profiles
# Close Firefox
# In the profile folder delete sessionstore.js
That file will be recreated when you next start Firefox

My desktop icons are no longer "app related" - no colour!

Hi there. I used a little app called Font Nuke because my Word docs were taking some time to open up and this seems to be font-related. As a result of this, upon the restart, my desktop icons which represent pdf, jpeg, .doc and .xls are all black & white, and the text of all my desktop icons and folders is now looking fuzzy as well as strangely placed. Hmmm. I closed all apps and removed the com.apple.finer.plist doc from my preferences, rebooted, and the problem continues. I see that zooming my desktop icons from 28 (preferred size) to 76 solves the issue, but nobody wants a desktop icon on a laptop screen to be so large. What the......? is going on???? Grateful for any advice on this one! Thanks.

Delete Font Nuke and run this one-line command in the Terminal app, OPTION-click the Finder's Dock icon, and select Relaunch.
*/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/LaunchS ervices.framework/Versions/A/Support/lsregister -kill -r -domain local -domain system -domain user*

I've lost the finder and desktop icons

Purchased new iMac 10 days ago but did not immediately transfer data from old computer. When I did, I transferred from a Backup on Time Machine using Migration Assistant . I did not merge the two users I had the New Jon (new computer) and the Old Jon (old computer transferred to the new one). I transferred applications and documents but did not transfer the computer and network settings. My reason for two users was that I knew there were programs on the old iMac (10.9.5, early 2008) that did not work on 10 and I was hoping to cherry pick.
However, the new iMac (10.10.2) wasn't seeing any of the desktop files in either user from the old Mac. I decided to delete Old Jon keeping New Jon and starting over again. When I did that, none of the Old Jon applications were deleted and are usable for both users AND the Finder is missing. Clicking on Finder it says that the Finder can't be opened. The finder had been working on both users on the new computer up to the point at which I deleted Old Jon.
Interesting to note that at one time (I don't remember if I was upgrading from 9 to 10 or it was a 10 upgrade) but the Finder on the old Mac also disappeared. I was on forums and seemed to be a problem that many people had. For me, the only thing that seemed to work was opening Activity Monitor and force quitting Window Server and after that the finder and desktop icon showed up. So I'm thinking it must be a program or file I have on the old computer. So, I thought I'd try downloading 10.10 figuring if I reinstalled I would get where back to an "out of the box" computer.
Even though it said I was downloading 10.10 the new install said it was still 10.10.2. All of the applications from the old Mac were still there and there was still no finder. I created a couple of new identities in the New Jon computer. Both of them have access to the finder but the Main identity does not. I have noticed that if you log under under one of the new identities and then go to the Main identity the Finder is there - but not if you log into the Main Identity first.
Can anyone give me hint as what I might do to where I might look or steer me to another forum? Hope this isn't too confusing. Thank you so much

Re-install the OS.
Do a backup. Boot to the Recovery Volume (command - R on a restart or hold down the option/alt key during a restart and select Recovery Volume). Run Disk Utility Verify/Repair and Repair Permissions until you get no errors. Then re-install the OS.
OS X Recovery
OS X Recovery (2)
Clean install.
Do a backup. Boot to the Recovery Volume (command - R on a restart or hold down the option/alt key during a restart and select Recovery Volume). Run Disk Utility Verify/Repair and Repair Permissions until you get no errors. Reformat the drive using Disk Utility/Erase Mac OS Extended (Journaled), then click the Option button and select GUID. Then re-install the OS.
OS X Recovery
OS X Recovery (2)
When you reboot, use Setup Assistant to restore your data.

Delete desktop icons

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