Desktop icons moving

Every now & then I notice they are in a new location on the desktop!! Also when I save something to the DT they either can't be seen or take a long time to appear. If I open a DT window I see them listed but I can't see them on the DT itself. Any ideas?

FGI_Webmaster: Close or minimize any open windows on your desktop so the desktop is exposed. Click once on it to make the Finder the active application. Place the tips of your thumb and forefinger on the middle of the trackpad and slowly move them closer together, then farther apart. See what happens to your desktop icons? This "pinch to zoom" trackpad gesture is probably responsible for the oversized icons on your desktop. I suspect you've been doing it accidentally without noticing. Getting used to the trackpad and avoiding having two fingers in contact with it when you don't mean to is the solution.

Similar Messages

Desktop Icons moved to right side of screen and are stuck! Help please.

Can anyone please help me? My desktop icons have moved to the right side of my screen and I cannot move them. I have tried 'View Options', right clicking the desktop, 'Finder Preferences' and even a couple of terminal commands suggested in different forums. Nothing helps. In addition, I can't drag to desktop anymore. Anyone? Please. This has consumed me for almost a week now. Thanks.

rightclick on the desktop, click "show view options", choose any thing else as "snap to grid" in the "show icon preview" field.

Desktop icons moving and growing in size

We just purchased a MacBook Pro 15", 2.8GHz. I transferred all my files from my old MacBook via FireWire. Everything seems to work fine. The only problem I have is that my desktop items keep moving after I organize them the way I want them. And they also growing in size each time. I have only about 8 icons on my desktop and they take up almost the whole screen. Any suggestions to keep them from omving around? Thank you very much!

FGI_Webmaster: Close or minimize any open windows on your desktop so the desktop is exposed. Click once on it to make the Finder the active application. Place the tips of your thumb and forefinger on the middle of the trackpad and slowly move them closer together, then farther apart. See what happens to your desktop icons? This "pinch to zoom" trackpad gesture is probably responsible for the oversized icons on your desktop. I suspect you've been doing it accidentally without noticing. Getting used to the trackpad and avoiding having two fingers in contact with it when you don't mean to is the solution.

Problem with desktop icon moving

Whenever I restart my computer, the "Macintosh HD" icon moves to become the bottom icon out of my list of icons, leaving the top right space empty where it usually should be. This has been happening for about a week after having my computer for three months.
Any idea why this is happening?
thanks.

Welcome To Discussions aburi!
Positioning Desktop icons, too close to the edge of the screen, will cause them to reposition themselves on restart.
Positioning them too close to each other, will cause this as well.
Depending on how many you have displayed, and the size of your screen, the Size of the icons, as well as the Text size & Label position can also factor in. Experiment with these settings.
My Desktop icons do not reposition themselves, and this is how I have my Desktop View Options set.
Icon size: 32 x 32
Text size: 12 pt
Label position: Bottom
I have none of the following options selected.
Snap to grid
Show item info
Show icon preview
Keep arranged by
A different configuration may work for you. Experiment with the options until you find something suitable.
Click on an open area of your Desktop.
From the Finder's Toolbar, position your cursor over "View" and pull down to "Show View Options", and click. Or use the Command + J keys.
ali b

Desktop Icons Moved with cmd + Option + esc

We are hooked on Zuma (the game).
Sometimes, to get out of Zuma (full screen) quickly, we use the <cmd><opt><esc> combination, then press <esc>.
This often really messes up the icons on our desktops (moves them all to the top left quadrant, with no grid or other obvious alignment. Result is hap hazard and usually includes many overlaps.)
Another <cmd><opt><esc> and a forced "relaunch" of finder moves MOST of the icons back to where they were. The ones that aren't moved back ARE moved -- just not back to the original locations. The last time this happened, I had 8 or 9 icons on top of each other in the top-most, right-most icon location.
This is a new situation since upgrading to Leopard, and happens in both of our login accounts on the iMac.
Thanks

I experience the same reordering of my desktop when I plug in a USB thumb drive or insert a DVD. I normally keep files and folder in little clusters on the desktop, so having them moved is a bit annoying. I guess this is just one of those crazy things?

Desktop icons moving on restart

I'm a recent (late, I know!) upgrade to Tiger on my G4 iBook. I've noticed a couple times recently that after restarting, some of my icons on my desktop are in a different place from where they were before restarting. One time, several of them ended up on the left side of the desktop when they were on the right before. Today, my HD was in the bottom right corner upon startup (as opposed to the usual upper right).
This isn't a huge problem, just a bit of annoyance in that I have to move the icons back. Any idea what's causing this and how to fix it?

I have read a number of posts complaining about this, and it has happened to me once or twice. It sure seems like a bug. I expect it will get fixed eventually. For now you can try this, which may or may not help,
https://discussions.apple.com/message/15779186#15779186
And you can leave feedback:
Apple - Mac OS X - Feedback
charlie

Desktop icons moving around after ext moni - madness

1. MBP
2. SL
3. use MBP at a cafe
4. come back to home office - connect Dell 2407 via DVI connector
5. use MBP - notice icons "scale" in placement to much larger screen
6. next day
7. MBP fired up with no external monitor connection - icons are not where I left them, now a mixed up bunch ( a mess really )
Isnt there a way to lock these icons down so that CANT move regardless if any ext monitor is connected ? Shouldnt the OS be able to deal with this without issue ?

Don't know what variant of the MBP you have, but on my Late 2007 MacBook Pro 3,1 15", the F7 key toggles between spanning and mirrored mode. The internal may be mirroring the settings from the external.
Toggling between video modes with the keyboard has helped some people who had this issue. Again, not knowing your exact model I can't be sure which key toggles video mode but, if you have that function, it's a cheap and easy check.
Does the external monitor require a video adapter? Are you leaving the adapter attached the MBP when off the external display? If so, try removing the adapter.

Moving desktop icons with Yoga screen rotation and Windows 8

I have a Yoga 11s. I have a bunch of desktop icon shortcuts and folders on my desktop as I rarely use the Windows 8 "tiles." Unfortunately, when using the Yoga as a tablet, whenever the screen rotates, all my desktop shortcuts and folders move around. Is there any way to get them to stay in place in Windows 8? I realize that when one rotates the tablet around that the icons have to move around to accommodate the screen rotation, but when I rotate the screen back to the horizontal position, they don't return to the position they were in.
Thanks!

I did get a potential solution over on a Windows 8 forum. Unfortunately the solution doesn't stop the migration of the icons. It only restores them to their original position with a few mouse clicks. I have yet to find a solution that keeps the icons from moving in the first place.
I downloaded a program called Iconoid. When you first run the program, a little windows pops up. You click on the positions tab, then put the dot in the selection that says "use relative positions for all resolutions." You then hit the "save icon positions (relative)" button and now the program remembers where all of your icons are.
When you rotate the screen and all your icons get messed up, you open Iconoid (in systray for me), go to that same "positions" tab, then hit the "restore icon positions now." That moves all the icons back to where they were. You just have to make sure that if you change your icons on your desktop a lot, that you hit that "save icon positions (relative) button once in a while so the program gets updated icon positions.

My desktop icons mysteriously moved from the left to the right part of the screen. When I try to drag them back to the left, they pop back to the right when I release the mouse. What can I do?

My desktop icons mysteriously moved from the left to the right of the screen, and scrambled the order. When I try to drag them back to the left, they pop right back to the right when I release the mouse. What can I do to place them where I want them on the screen?

A LOT of them dont appear.
What do you see in the window when you click on those? A blank, black window? An exclamation mark? What?

Desktop Icons keep moving when I turn of compiter

I want to know how to solve this issue, it is driving me crazy. I have to reset my desktop icons everytime I turn my computer back on. They seem to just move when I turn computer off. I am not that computer savy so I can't seem to find an answer anywhere. Thank you for all the help

Hi,
Please right click a blank space on desktop then click View an setup similar to the following image:
Regards.
BH
**Click the KUDOS thumb up on the left to say 'Thanks'**
Make it easier for other people to find solutions by marking a Reply 'Accept as Solution' if it solves your problem.

How do I stop Lion from moving desktop icons when I startup?

When I starup my iMac with Lion 10.7.1, the desktop icons that I have on my desktop organized in a particular order, all move to the far right of the desktop and do not stay in the same order. How can I stop this from happening? When I shut down, I uncheck the box open all windows when restarting, and I have unchecked the open application windows in the general section of system preferences.
Thanks for the help!

Several issues involved - please click through the threads to the right under More Like This.

Windows 8.1 Moving Desktop Icons Problem

I just installed Windows 8.1 and I'm very happy with it. There is just one problem I have and I hope you can help me resolve it.
I can't move my desktop icons. Windows is newly installed and I don't have any third-party software that could mess up everything. I searched across the web for different solution but none of these work. I tried to install all the updates but that didn't
change anything. They said I should try pressing Escape button three times. I pressed Escape three times, but that also didn't work. Then somebody said that possibly the Esc button on keyboard may be stuck. But this problem continued even after I plugged out
my keyboard!
I can't think of another solution to try so I hope you can help me.
EDIT: I'm really sorry, I saw Win 8.1 Visualization, but it says
Virtualization :S I don't know what to do.

boot in safe mode
If you are able to arrange the desktop icons in safe mode, I would suggest you to perform clean boot.
Refer to the link to perform clean boot.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135
start as normal after troubleshooting
Hope this resolves the issue.

How do I stop desktop icons from moving around - Windows 7 Professional 64 bit?

This just started occuring 7/8/12. Recently added UPromise turbo saver to my Internet Explorer. Also did a Java update. Can't really remember if they were done before or after problem began. Now, all my desktop icons flip around and will not lock into where I place them. How can I stop this.

Hi there makeyesup!:Well you have 2 choices; go to Control Panel then look for System Recovery then follow what you see on your monitor if you see a calendar, that is System Restore select the latest date that you can remember your icons acting normally then restart anew & wait until the program straightens it out it should be as good as new
2. right click your rodent & look for anything that says Arrainge icons... hit auto or whatever gets them normal
3. restart PC then before the desktop shows up press the F8 key the look for & select "Last good configuration that worked" then restart
good luck
hope this helps
spacechild

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?

[Solved]Conky causes desktop icons to dissappear

I decided to fool around with conky, since I saw the thread lower down in the forums. I kinda mashed some code together and I have a conky I like (though I cant get all the modules working...) but, activating conky causes my desktop icons to dissapear (and re-appear if I mouse over). It's my frist time actually using conky...so I might have messed up something in my (well, a mash of other's) code.
# set to yes if you want tormo to be forked in the background
background yes
cpu_avg_samples 2
net_avg_samples 2
out_to_console no
# X font when Xft is disabled, you can pick one with program xfontsel
#font 7x12
#font *mintsmild.se*
# Use Xft?
use_xft yes
# Xft font when Xft is enabled
xftfont Bitstream Vera Sans Mono:size=8
# Text alpha when using Xft
xftalpha 0.8
# mail spool
#mail_spool $MAIL
# Update interval in seconds
update_interval 1
# Create own window instead of using desktop (required in nautilus)
own_window no
# Use double buffering (reduces flicker, may not work for everyone)
double_buffer yes
# Minimum size of text area
minimum_size 230 5
maximum_width 250
# Draw shades?
draw_shades no
# Draw outlines?
draw_outline no
# Draw borders around text
draw_borders no
# Stippled borders?
stippled_borders 8
# border margins
border_margin 4
# border width
border_width 1
# Default colors and also border colors
default_color white
default_shade_color black
default_outline_color black
# Text alignment, other possible values are commented
#alignment top_left
#alignment top_right
#alignment bottom_left
alignment bottom_right
# Gap between borders of screen and text
gap_x 13
gap_y 25
# Add spaces to keep things from moving about? This only affects certain objects.
use_spacer no
# Subtract file system buffers from used memory?
no_buffers yes
# set to yes if you want all text to be in uppercase
uppercase no
# stuff after 'TEXT' will be formatted on screen
TEXT
${color #88aadd}$nodename - $sysname$kernel $machine
$hr
${color lightgrey}
${execp ~/.conkycalendar.sh}
#$hr
#${execi -l ~/.conkyforecast.py}
$hr
${color #88aadd}System Info:
${color lightgrey}CORE 0:${color} ${cpu 0}${color lightgrey}% ${alignr}${offset -49}${color}${freq_g 0} ${color lightgrey}Ghz
${color lightgrey}CORE 1:${color} ${cpu 1}${color lightgrey}% ${alignr}${offset -49}${color}${freq_g 1} ${color lightgrey}Ghz
${color lightgrey}CORE 2:${color} ${cpu 2}${color lightgrey}% ${alignr}${offset -49}${color}${freq_g 2} ${color lightgrey}Ghz
${color lightgrey}Uptime: ${color}$uptime
${color lightgrey}Processes:$color $running_processes/$processes ${offset 6}${color lightgrey}Load:$color ${loadavg 3}
${color lightgrey}RAM:$color $mem${color lightgrey} /${color}$memmax ( $memperc% )
${color lightgrey}Swap:$color $swap${color lightgrey} / ${color}$swapmax ( $swapperc% )
$hr
${color #88aadd}Top CPU:
${color lightgrey}Name CPU%
${color lightgrey}${top name 1} ${top cpu 1}%
${color lightgrey}${top name 2} ${top cpu 2}%
${color lightgrey}${top name 3} ${top cpu 3}%
${color lightgrey}${top name 4} ${top cpu 4}%
$hr
${color #88aadd}Top Memory:
${color lightgrey}Name PID CPU% MEM%
${color}${top_mem name 1} ${top_mem pid 1} ${top_mem cpu 1} ${top_mem mem 1}
${color}${top_mem name 2} ${top_mem pid 2} ${top_mem cpu 2} ${top_mem mem 2}
${color}${top_mem name 3} ${top_mem pid 3} ${top_mem cpu 3} ${top_mem mem 3}
${color}${top_mem name 4} ${top_mem pid 4} ${top_mem cpu 4} ${top_mem mem 4}
$hr
${color #88aadd}Network:
${color lightgrey}Net: $color${addr eth0}${offset 6}${color lightgrey}
#Essid: ${color}${exec sudo iwconfig eth0 | grep "ESSID" | cut -c 32-45}
${color lightgrey}Up:${color} ${upspeedf eth0} k/s${color lightgrey}${alignr}${color lightgrey}Tot:${color} ${totalup eth0} ${color lightgrey}
${color lightgrey}Down: ${color}${downspeedf eth0} k/s ${alignr}${color lightgrey}Tot:${color} ${totaldown eth0}
Local Ip ${alignr}${addr eth0}
Public Ip ${alignr}${execp ~/.conkyip.sh}
$hr
${voffset 5}${color #88aadd}Disks:
/ $color${fs_used /} / ${fs_size} (${fs_free /})${fs_used_perc /}${color lightgrey}%${offset 5}
${color #88aadd}Win7 $color${fs_used /media/Windows7} / ${fs_size /media/Windows7} (${fs_free /media/Windows7})${fs_used_perc /media/Windows7}${color lightgrey}%${offset 5}
${color #88aadd}DataI $color${fs_used /media/DATA} / ${fs_size /media/DATA} (${fs_free /media/DATA})${fs_used_perc /media/DATA}${color lightgrey}%${offset 5}
${color #88aadd}DataII $color${fs_used /media/DataII} / ${fs_size /media/DataII} (${fs_free /media/DataII})${fs_used_perc /media/DataII}${color lightgrey}%${offset 5}
${color #88aadd}Win7 $color${fs_used /media/DataII} / ${fs_size /media/DataII} (${fs_free /media/DataII})${fs_used_perc /media/DataII}${color lightgrey}%${offset 5}
#$hr
#${color #88aadd}Banshee - ${execi 15 ~/conkyshee.py --status}${alignr}#${offset -22}
# $color artist: ${color #88aadd}${execi 15 ~/conkyshee.py --artist}
# $color track: ${color #88aadd}${execi 15 ~/conkyshee.py --title}${voffset 5}
Last edited by JerichoKru (2010-02-01 06:55:18)

Maybe try:
double_buffer yes
own_window yes
own_window_transparent yes
own_window_type normal
own_window_hints undecorate,sticky,skip_taskbar,skip_pager

Desktop icons moving

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