Create a shortcut or hotkey to turn desktop icons on and off

If you’ve got loads of icons cluttering up your desktop, you might want a quick way to turn them off without using the context menu, here’s a quick and easy way to make a shortcut key to turn them on or off.


Download the HideDesktopIcons application and save it somewhere else other then the desktop. 


Right click and select show desktop icons

If you’re using Windows 7, all you need to do is right-click on the file and choose Pin to Taskbar or Pin to Start Menu, depending on where you want it. We’ll put it on the Start Menu so we can assign a hotkey to it.

Now you have a shortcut that can be used for quick access


To assign a hotkey, right-click on the shortcut in the Start Menu and choose Properties to assign a hotkey (I use Ctrl+Alt+D since it’s easy to remember).

Now you can access the desktop icons through a shortcut icon or shortcut key.

Supporting Files (If Needed)

If you get an error when you try to run this application, you probably need to have the Microsoft C++ runtime installed, which you can get get from the following link:

Microsoft visual C++ redistributable package (X86)

Download Application