Vista - Desktop Icons - View and Sort By

**Brink** · **OPTION ONE:**

How to Change the Desktop Icons View Alignment and Sort By Order in Vista

Information

This will show you how to hide or show all icons on the desktop, or change how all of the icons are aligned (View) and sorted (Sort By) on the desktop to how you want them displayed.

RELATED LINKS:

EXAMPLE: View Before (Everything Unchecked), Align to Grid, and Auto Arrange

OPTION ONE:
Hide or Show All Desktop Icons

1. Right click on the desktop and click on View. (See screenshot below step 3)

2. To Hide All Desktop Icons -
A) Click on Show All Icons to uncheck it. (See screenshot below step 3)

3. To Show All Dekstop Icons -
A) Click on Show All Icons to check it.

OPTION TWO:
Change the Desktop View Alignment Settings

Tip

For desktop icon sizes, see: How to Change the Size of Desktop Icons in Vista

1. Right click on the desktop and click on View. (See screenshot below step 4)

2. To Have the Icons Stay Where Placed on the Desktop -
A) Click on Align to Grid and Auto Arrange to uncheck them. (See screenshot below step 4)

3. To Have the Icons Align to a Grid -
NOTE: The icons will still basically be left where placed on the Desktop, but they will be moved slightly to keep them aligned to a grid on the desktop. It keeps the icons from overlapping each other. (See the middle Example above)
A) Click on Align to Grid to check it. (See screenshot below step 4)

4. To Have the Icons Automatically Align -
NOTE: The icons will be automatically aligned starting at the upper left corner of the desktop to a grid. (See the bottom Example above)
A) Click on Auto Arrange to check it. (See sceenshot below)

OPTION THREE:
Change the Desktop Icons Sort By Order

NOTE

This will automatically align all of the icons starting at the upper left corner of the desktop according to what you select to sort them by below. (See bottom example at the top)
This will not set any View alignment settings in OPTION ONE above.

1. Right click on the desktop and click on Sort By. (See screenshot below )

2. Click on a option to change the icons to be sorted by that order option.
NOTE: These are the sort by Name, Size, Type, and Date modified options.

That's it,
Shawn

**Karl Snooks** · 06-19-2008

Shawn,
What have I done? Somehow I've shot myself in the foot and, despite being logged in, no .jpgs from the tutorial are visible. Just get that placeholder giving name, views, and size. Yes, I clicked and dbl-clkd on the placeholer to no avail.
karl

**Brink** · 06-19-2008

LOL, it's ok Karl.

You might not have checked the Rember me box at log in, or you do not have cookies enabled or enabled for this website (Sites button in Privacy).

Hope this helps,
Shawn

**Karl Snooks** · 06-19-2008

Shawn,
Right again. I'd blocked all cookies. Didn't realize that the vistax64 sites required cookies to be enabled. I'm sure that when I joined that was emblazed in reb and big letters. Must be old timer's disease.
Thanks and sorry for inconvenience.
karl

**Brink** · 06-19-2008

No problem Karl. I'm happy to hear that you got it sorted out.

Shawn

voltsb333 · 10-05-2008

hi Brink, i had problems with my folder settings and tried method 2 in this thread http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/70819-windows-explorer-folder-view-settings.html

after doing so, my folders are now ok but it somehow messed my icons in my desktop, it keeps on aligning them automatically to the left whenever i refresh my desktop, even if i unchecked auto arrange and auto align

any suggestions?

thanks.

**Brink** · 10-05-2008

Hi Voltsb333,

This is strange. I have not seen that happen as a result of that tutorial before.

Have you tried restarting the computer again to see if that may reset it?

voltsb333 · 10-05-2008

yep, i thought it was strange too...

anyway i used system restore to get back the icons but now the "remember folder settings" does'nt work anymore, my windows explorer window goes to it's default size everytime.

i'll try the other manual method in your folder's tutorial and will update soon.

thanks.

***UPDATE: everythings ok now, i used the manual method

**Brink** · 10-05-2008

Voltsb333, I'm happy to hear that it is working for you now.

Now that is strange. The REG download does exactly the same as the manual method, but automatically. Did you do anything different or skip any parts while doing the manual method?

Thank you for posting your results.

Shawn

06-19-2008
Karl Snooks Vista Ultimate 39 posts	Re: Desktop Icons - View and Sort By Shawn, What have I done? Somehow I've shot myself in the foot and, despite being logged in, no .jpgs from the tutorial are visible. Just get that placeholder giving name, views, and size. Yes, I clicked and dbl-clkd on the placeholer to no avail. karl
My System Specs

06-19-2008
Brink Vista x64 Ultimate SP2, Windows 7 Ultimate x64 25,919 posts	Re: Desktop Icons - View and Sort By LOL, it's ok Karl. You might not have checked the Rember me box at log in, or you do not have cookies enabled or enabled for this website (Sites button in Privacy). Hope this helps, Shawn
My System Specs

06-19-2008
Karl Snooks Vista Ultimate 39 posts	Re: Desktop Icons - View and Sort By Shawn, Right again. I'd blocked all cookies. Didn't realize that the vistax64 sites required cookies to be enabled. I'm sure that when I joined that was emblazed in reb and big letters. Must be old timer's disease. Thanks and sorry for inconvenience. karl
My System Specs

06-19-2008
Brink Vista x64 Ultimate SP2, Windows 7 Ultimate x64 25,919 posts	Re: Desktop Icons - View and Sort By No problem Karl. I'm happy to hear that you got it sorted out. Shawn
My System Specs

10-05-2008
voltsb333 Vista Ultimate x64 4 posts	Re: Desktop Icons - View and Sort By hi Brink, i had problems with my folder settings and tried method 2 in this thread http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/70819-windows-explorer-folder-view-settings.html after doing so, my folders are now ok but it somehow messed my icons in my desktop, it keeps on aligning them automatically to the left whenever i refresh my desktop, even if i unchecked auto arrange and auto align any suggestions? thanks.
My System Specs

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