Desktop Icon Text - Hide or Show

INFO: This will show you how to Hide or Show any desktop icon name text so you can have a desktop where the icons you select are displayed with just the icon and no text.

NOTE:
A) This will also work on any icon text in Windows Explorer to.
B) If you would like to hide or show all file and folder icon text inside of a folder, then see: How to Hide or Show File Names in Vista

RELATED LINKS:
1. How to Remove or Change the Shortcut Arrow in Vista

2. How To Remove The Shortcut Prefix On The Shortcut Name in Vista

3. How to Restore and Change a Desktop Icon in Vista

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

5. How to Change the Size of Desktop Icons in Vista

6. How to Change the Desktop Theme in Vista

7. How to Hide or Show File Names in Vista


EXAMPLE: Icon Text Set to Hide and Show

Show.jpgHide.jpgNew_Folder.jpgNew_Folder_No_Text.jpg


OPTION ONE:
Hide Icon Text:
NOTE: You can do this on any icon. I will use the Recycle Bin icon as an example in here.

1. Right click on the Icon you want to hide the text for. (See screenshot below)

Show.jpg

2. Click on Rename. (See screenshot below)

Right_Click.jpg

3. For the first icon press and hold the Alt key, then type 255 from the number keypad to the right and release the Alt key. For the second icon, you will repeat this but type 255 two times while pressing the Alt key. For the third icon you will repeat this but type 255 three times while pressing the Alt key. Repeat this pattern of increasing how many times you type 255 for however many icons you want to hide the text for.
NOTE: You must use the number keypad to the right. The number keys above the letters will not work for this.
WARNING: To make it easier for you to have these icons text show again below, you should write down the icon location path, for example: C:\Users\(user name)\Desktop, and original icon name (text) with how many times your typed 255 for it. You will wish you had this for folders later.

4. Press Enter. (See screenshots below)

Rename.jpgAlt+255.jpg

5. Your icon will now look like this with no text. (See screenshot below)
NOTE: You may need to click on a empty area of the desktop and press F5 to refresh the desktop to see the change.

Hide.jpg


OPTION TWO:
Show Icon Text Again:

METHOD ONE:
For Every Icon Except Folder Icons
NOTE: A shortcut to a folder icon (with arrow) will work with this though. For a normal folder icon, you will need to use Method Two below.

1. Right click on the icon with no text. (See screenshot below)
NOTE: I will use the Recycle Bin icon as an example here.

Hide.jpg

2. Click on Rename. (See screenshot below)

Right_Click.jpg

3. Type in a name for the icon and press Enter. (See screenshots below)

Rename_To_RecycleBin.jpgRename.jpg

4. Your icon should now have the text back. (See screenshot below)

Show.jpg


METHOD TWO:
For Folder Icons:
NOTE: This for a normal folder icon. You can use Method One above for a shortcut to a folder icon (with arrow).

1. Open the Start menu.
2. In the white line (Start Search) area, type cmd and press Enter. (See screenshot below)

Start_Menu.jpg

3. In the command prompt, type cd\Users\(your user name)\Desktop and press Enter. (See screenshot below step 4)
NOTE:
A) For example, I would type cd\Users\Moderator\Desktop
B) If you hidden the text for a icon in a different location than the desktop, then just type it's location here instead.

4. Type ren "(press and hold Alt and type 255 for how many times you did it in OPTION ONE step 3 above)" "text you want" and press Enter. (See screenshot below)
NOTE: For example, for a New Folder on the Desktop that I only type 255 once while pressing Alt, you will see: ren " " "New Folder"

Command_Prompt.jpg

5. Close the Command Prompt.
6. Your folder icon should now have the text you wanted showing again. (See screenshot below)
NOTE: You may need to click on a empty area of the desktop and press F5 to refresh the desktop to see the change.

New_Folder.jpg


That's it,
Shawn