Lost Desktop Icons

I have a desktop folder with content, but no icons on the desktop. How do I get the content to appear on the desktop with icons?

Try deleting the files
~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Finder.plist
~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.sidebarlists.plist
then Restart your Mac.
regards roam

Similar Messages

Lost Desktop Icon

After doing the latest update, my I-Tunes desktop icon doesn't work anymore. I can't figure out how to get to my I-Tunes page where I can add new CD's to my I-Pod. I go to Itunes.com but there's no place for a login or anything. I'm completely lost - hope someone can shed some light on this!
Thanks for any help! I'm putting my e-mail address here just in case I can't figure out how to work this support community and find replies to my question!
Sue
[email protected]

ARI12 wrote:
I NEED HELP AS I HAVE LOST MY CD TO INSTALL PRINTER TO COMPUTER AND I HAVE ALSO LOST THE HP ICON ON DESKTOP WHICH ALLOWS YOU TO PRINT COPY AND SCAN. VAN YOU PLEASE HELP ME AS I AM NOT REALLY THAT GOOD ON COMPUTER THANKS.You can go to HP driver online and redownload the driver/software again. Did you do this? And make sure it matches your Operating System your using. http://ftp.hp.com/pub/softlib/software10/COL23955/mp-61905-3/PS_AIO_04_C4500_USW_Full_Win_enu_120_210_NB.exe

Have lost desktop icon how do i get it back

Updated to latest version and now there is no icon for firefox on desktop

Thanks that's it sorted !

How to restore lost favorites list and lost desktop icons

see below

As well as having had this problem a couple of times on different machines, both immediately after upgrades, I also use the synch capability so that tab groups from more than one machine can be accessed from any of the others - a really useful capability. It's really frustrating to have lost everything and have to try to recreate things from history. It occurs to me that the contents of my sets of groups are stored on a synch server somewhere so they ought to be recoverable from the hopefully, periodic automatic server backups - only problem is, how to access them? unlikely to be possible at this stage!
In this context, a useful enhancement would be a capability to make user-created named backups of all current groups of tabs which could later be restored at will; any upgrade process should also automatically create such a backup for the user so that the problem of lost groups of tabs would be solved. In addition it would give users additional flexibility to create groups of groups - accessed by the save/restore mechanism - say for development, personal or social or whatever.

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.

Please Help! Lost all Desktop Icons, Finder won't open & Cant shut off iMac

Hi Mac Users,
I need some serious help please and thank you --- my iMac with Mac OS X 10.5.6 has lost all its desktop icons, I can't open my finder (i've tried relaunching and rebooting my computer, which won't even do a hard shut off). I can open apps on my dock and that is about it.
I did read in another discussion to delete the preference file, but I can't get access to the library?!? And I also read to try doing a disk repair from the install disk and when I insert the disk into my iMac I don't get a pop-up window asking what i'd like to do and since the finder does not open I have to way to even start the disk up to attempt to do a disk repair????
Any suggestions/recommendations are greatly appreciated.
Sincerly,
desperate iMac kt1611

When you tried to do a disk repair from the instal disk, did you actually boot from the instal disk? You should.
Have you read the manual that came with your iMac and followed the appropriate steps?

Lost my desktop icons!

I have an Equium A60 laptop and have lost all the icons on my desktop. I can find them by going via Start, Programs. Any ideas on how to retrieve my desktop?

Hi
Your issue sounds very strange and I cant believe that the icons are hidden without any action.
I think you have disabled the option show desktop icons accidentally.
Anyway please make a right click on the desktop and chose Arrange Icons by
(I think its a fist option on the top of this menu) Then you should see the option called show desktop icons. Please enable it.
After this procedure all icons should appear again.

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.

Lost Java DeskTop Icon

hello
I am new to Java programming. I have downloaded and installed free Java version JDK 6 SE on my computer. After the download and install was complete I received a message saying that the download was successful. Then clicking on the newly created desktop icon which then prompted me to reinstall once again. But I managed to get this issue resolved.
But I no longer have an icon situatated on desktop for me double click on to launch this program. I am using windows 7 64 bit computer. Should there be a desktop icon set up on the computer or perhaps not?
What can I do to get this program to open up for me in the hopes of setting up a short cut to desktop?

What do you mean by "launch this program"? The JDK is not a program (at least not in the usual sense). Think of it as a library that other programs (including those you write) can use.

Lost the Desktop icon

I've done something really stupid: I thought I could backup my Desktop by dragging the icon from the sidebar of the finder window into Toast. On the way it vanished like a little cloud popping and ended up in the Trash. I could not drag it back. I could not not open any desktop folders as the were "in the Trash" I could noy drag them back to the Desktop. I managed to drag the folders from Trash to a new Desktop folder and burned this with Toast so I have the content of my Desktop folders and can open them but not drag any folder from the backup disk to the Desktop "because "Desktop" cannot be modified" To probably make matters worse i have now emptied the Trash. There is a folder called Desktop in the Finder sidebar but "The alias "Desktop" could not be opened because the original item cannot be found."
I know I have done a Bad Thing. Can the damage be reversed please?
iMac G5 Mac OS X (10.3.9) 512 MB

It is solved! Thank you to all who responded. The answer lies in the robustness of OSX I think. I was preparing to reinstall OSX and having backed up and shut down, on restarting there was the Desktop Icon back in place working properly. I have rebuilt it the way I like it with all my rescued "stuff" and I will endeavour to be more sensible next time. I think I was very lucky......Makes me wonder if this thing really is bullet proof! In answer to Ali Brown's question - no, I didn't trash the Home folder, but whatever I did put the whole contents of the desktop and the Desktop icon itself into the trash. I was able to retrieve all my desktop folders, but not the Desktop Icon. The only icon on the desktop that remained was MacHD.
Interestingly this weird operation has resolved a long-time annoyance: two corrupted, locked, with impossible dates, files on the Desktop had been undeletable for neary two years. They have now GONE! I now know how to dump undeletable files if it happens again...

Lost quicktime desktop icon

I updated i-tunes to 7.5.5 version. When computer was done updating my i-tunes icon disappeared and reappeared again as it always does with an update. My quicktime icon disappeared too but never reappeared. I had many problems with quicktime on my old computer. I am trying to keep it all clean and working on my new laptop. Is there a way to get my icon back? Is this a sign that my quicktime is going to begin having problems again? Someone please advise! My i-tunes seems to be working fine at the moment.

The Desktop icon is merely a shortcut and most modern installers have a simple check box to allow one be made (or not).
Don't worry about it or make one.

Desktop icons won't display on Desktop

I recently installed a couple of what seemed to be interesting menubar items (MenuStrip and Isolator). Shortly after (not concurrent with) I lost the icons that show up on the Desktop of files in the Desktop folder. The files are all intact - nothing lost, they just don't show up on the Desktop.
I've removed these two applications using AppZapper, run the new DiskWarrior 4.1.1, repaired the permissions, run repair disk from Disk Utility, reinstalled Leopard from the DVD, and now I'm at a loss on how to bring back those icons.
I'm running OS X 10.5.5 on an Intel Mac Mini. I use a Newer MiniStack as my boot drive. If I boot from the internal drive (which is virtually virgin from the day of purchase), the Desktop icons from that user are displayed as they should be.
Is there someway to "rebuild" the Desktop or otherwise bring things back to normal?
Thanks in advance,
-Tod

Added info:
I also recently tried using Path Finder 5. It also has been "shredded."
I was just poking around my Desktop and found that clicking on the Desktop itself while another app (say like Safari) is frontmost, clicking won't bring the Finder to the front. Sounds like something left over from Path Finder, though I deleted all its prefs using AppZapper.
-T

I have lost the icons for Word, Excel, etc. from the bottom of my screen - how do I get them back?

I have lost the icons for Word, Excel, iTunes, etc. from the bottom of my desktop - how do I get them back?

Easy-these are just aliases. Do a cloverleaf+F/command+F (Find) and they should appear. Either create an alias and drag it to the dock-or there's an "add to Dock" command in the Finder. so click on whichever app you'd like to add to the Dock, then add to Dock and it should appear there. If something isn't in the Dock that doesn't mean it's gone for good. It's just an alias
well, hope that helped
John B

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

Desktop icon in column view and docking bar

Hi, I had an icon for the desktop on the left side of my column view since I got my machine. I got the bright idea today to move it to my dock and it went "poof!" when I tried to move it. I can't undo it and I am lost without my desktop view to rename my screen shots. Help! How do I place the desktop icon on my column view again and it is possible to put it on my dock?

You're Welcome zubie!
What I referred to as your Home folder, is your account folder with the small house icon, located:
HD > Users > HERE: In that folder is the Desktop folder.
Also, I notice that you have marked your question as answered, but have not utilized the Helpful or Solved options. That may be intentional, but, if you are not aware of the benefits, of using that function, here is some information.
When you mark the appropriate posts as Helpful (5 pts) 2 available, or Solved (10 pts) 1 available, you are Thanking the contributors, by awarding them points.
In threads with multiple replies, it also alerts other readers, to which answers may have been helpful, or solved the issue.
This info, and more, can be viewed by clicking on
? Help & Terms of Use, located under your login name, on all "Discussions" pages.
Specifically What are question answers?.
The Helpful and Solved buttons, that award points, are to the left of the Reply button in each response.
These are not the same as these , which do not award points, as explained Here.
Thank You, for extending the courtesy, of awarding stars in Discussions, as this is not a requirement, nor mandatory.
ali b

Lost Desktop Icons

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