Fix Desktop Shortcuts in Windows 11

Some users of Windows They report that after installing a pending update on Windows 11, Its desktop shortcuts have completely disappeared. This problem seems to mainly affect users of Windows 11 that run on insider builds. If you want to know how to fix them, be sure to read this guide.

What causes desktop shortcuts to crash in Windows 11?

After having investigated this issue thoroughly, it turns out that this problem has multiple potential causes. Here is a short list of possible culprits that could be triggering this error code:

• Icons are hidden through the Windows GUI: It turns out that one of the latest security updates that Microsoft released for Windows 11 ended up hiding the icons by default. Fortunately, you can make them visible again via the GUI menu.
• Corrupted icon cache: In some cases, you might be dealing with this issue due to some kind of corruption that is affecting the icon cache. If this scenario is applicable, you can fix the issue by refreshing the icon cache via a flag. DCM elevated or rebuilding the entire icon cache using a file . BAT.
• Corrupted icon registration database: According to other users who were also experiencing this issue on Windows 11, the problem could be rooted in some kind of corruption affecting the icon registration database. In this case, you can fix the problem by repairing potentially corrupted registry entries by running a custom .REG file.

How to fix desktop shortcuts in Windows 11?

Now that we have gone over all the potential causes that can cause this issue, let's go over all the actual fixes that other affected users have successfully used to fix this problem:

1.- Make desktop icons visible

If you experience this issue immediately after installing a pending update for Windows 11, you may no longer see desktop icons because the update has disabled icon visibility.

This problem can be easily fixed by right clicking on a free space on your desktop and clicking Show desktop icons from the tab View.

Nota: If you see a checkbox next to Show desktop icons, Icons should already be enabled in your Windows 11 installation. In this case, skip to the next method.

After clicking on Show desktop items, the desktop should automatically refresh and the icons should reappear on your screen.

If the update does not happen automatically, right-click on an empty space on your desktop again and click Update in the context menu.

If you've already made sure that desktop icons are enabled from the GUI and you still don't see them, continue to the next potential solution below.

2.- Update or rebuild the icon cache

If the above method was not effective in your case, you should continue to troubleshoot a possible corruption that is affecting the icon cache.

Nota: There is much more likely to be an issue with the icon cache if you notice that the taskbar and File Explorer icons are not displaying either.

If the icon cache is responsible for this problem, you should be able to fix the problem by refreshing the icon cache via the Bus Terminal Windows or by rebuilding the entire icon cache using a custom .BAT file.

We've created secondary guides for both approaches, but our recommendation is to start by implementing an icon cache refresh (as it's the easiest approach) and work towards rebuilding the entire icon cache if the first method fails.

Update icon cache

Refreshing the icon cache will only cause the icon cluster to re-enable. This should fix the problem if you're just dealing with a minor display glitch, but it won't work if you're dealing with some sort of corruption that's affecting the icon cache.

Here's how to refresh the icon cache via Windows Terminal:

• Press the Windows key + R to open a dialog box Run. Next, you have to write the command inside the text box 'wt' inside and press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to open the interface Windows Terminal with administrator access.

• If at any time the User Account Control asks you for it, you have to click Yes to grant administrator access.
• Inside the application Windows Terminal elevated, type the following command and press Enter to refresh the current icon cache:

ie4uinit.exe -show

• Close the elevated Windows Terminal application and see if the problem is now resolved.

Nota: If the icons are still not appearing in your Windows 11 installation, follow the subguide below.

Rebuild the icon cache

Rebuilding the entire icon cache will require you to create a custom BAT file that will automatically run a series of commands. commands which will effectively rebuild the cache associated with each Windows icon.

We will provide you with the lines of code, but you will need to create the BAT file yourself.

This is what you should do:

• Press the Windows key + R to open a dialog box Run. Then write 'notepad' inside the text box, then press the keys Ctrl + Shift + Enter to open the Bloc de notes with administrator access.

• In the message of User Account Control (UAC), you must make sure to press where it says Yes to grant administrator access.
• Inside the elevated Notepad window, paste the following code inside the empty box:

@echo off set iconcache =%localappdata%\IconCache.db set iconcache_x =%localappdata%\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer\iconcache* echo. echo The browser process must be temporarily terminated before deleting the IconCache.db file. echo. echo SAVE ALL OPEN WORK before continuing. echo. break echo. If “%iconcache%” exists, go to delete echo. echo The file %localappdata%\IconCache.db has already been deleted. echo. If “%iconcache_x%” exists, go to delete echo. echo The files %localappdata%\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer\IconCache_*.db have already been deleted. echo. leave / B   :Eliminate echo. echo Trying to delete IconCache.db files… echo. ie4uinit.exe -show taskkill /IM explorer.exe /F If exists del /A/F/Q «%iconcache%» If exists del /A/F/Q «%iconcache_x%» start explorer.exe echo. echo The IconCache database files have been successfully deleted. Go to restart     :reboot echo. echo. echo You will need to restart your PC to finish rebuilding your icon cache. echo. CHOICE / C:YN/M “Do you want to restart your PC now?” IF ERRORLEVEL 2 goto no IF ERRORLEVEL 1 goto yes   :Yeah off / r / f / t 00 :No leave / B

• Then click Archive in the ribbon menu at the top, then click Save as in the context menu that just appeared.

• Inside the menu Save as, navigate to a location where you want to save the file BAT, then change Save as type a All the files. Next, name the file whatever you want, but make sure the file needs the '.bat' extension. See the example below.

• Press Save to create the file and then close Notepad.
• Right click on the file . Beat newly created and click on Run as administrator in the context menu.
• Wait for the file to be processed, then restart your computer and see if your desktop icons are restored to your Windows installation the next time you restart your PC.

If the issue is still not resolved, please proceed to the final potential solution below.

3.- Restore icons through a .reg file

If the above two methods didn't work for you, you're probably dealing with some kind of corruption that's affecting the registry database that handles your Windows icons.

Several affected users who were also dealing with this issue on Windows 11 have reported that they were able to fix the problem by creating a custom .reg file to ensure that the registry database related to icon management is not corrupted.

Follow these instructions to create and run a .reg file to fix possible registry corruption:

• Press the Windows key + R to open a dialog box Run. After this, write the command 'notepad' inside the text box, then you have to press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to open the Bloc de notes with administrator access.
• If User Account Control (UAC) If it requires it, you will have to press the option that says Yes to be granted administrator access.
• Inside the elevated Notepad window, paste the following code inside the empty box

• Next, you must click on Archive in the ribbon menu at the top, then click Save as in the context menu that just appeared.
• Inside the menu Save as, navigate to a location where you want to save the file REG, then change Save as type a All the files. Next, name the file whatever you want, but make sure the file needs the '.reg' extension.

• Press Save to create the file, then close the Notepad window.
• Right click on the file .Reg that you just created and click on Run as administrator in the context menu.
• In the confirmation message, click Yes, then wait for the operation to complete.
• Restart your PC and see if the icons have been duplicated on your Windows 11 desktop.