Thank you so much! I’m so glad to have found the solution to these desktop.ini files appearing on my desktop. I believe I sought something relating to a virus. Thank God you came along and instructed in the meaning of those two files. I tried to delete them but I couldn’t and those two files made me very unease. I do appreciate the share of your knowledge. Thanks again.
On my desktop I have placed icons of my apps. In the middle is a photo. Every time Windows adds desktop.ini to my desktop, the desktop.ini icon covers part of the photo. So delete the icon immediatly.
The greatest problem here is how to show all other hidden files and hide the “desktop.ini” ONLY (possibly only on desktop, and not in File Explorer). If you “Don’t show system and hidden files” it will hide ALL of them, not only the “desktop.ini”, and you won’t be able to see if some “dll”, “exe”, “sys”, or similar files have changed size or time stamp. You must admit that turning the option on a daily basis, or more often, is very inconvenient, and discouraging people from learning about their system is counterproductive.
Occasionally, my Windows 10 desktop will magically rearrange itself. This usually happens while the system is locked (or in sleep mode). Once in a while it happens while I am looking at it. At times, it happens each I move an icon to a different location. Deleting the desktop.ini files seems to quiet this behavior for a few weeks or months.
probably these files started to came up with the Win 2004 update and I was not really sure if the “(recommended)” option was the one to use. Well, you confirmed 😉
Hello,
Thank you for the informations but why didn’t you explain the format we write the file with or give us some sort of documention for it (it is there already, Thanks).
I’m a techie and LIKE to see all the hidden files BUT for the Desktop I do NOT want them. They get in the way and when updated the newest one will AUTOMATICALLY move to a space beside the recycle bin (on my PC). If any other icon is in this location it gets moved… and any others stacked in line get shoved around too. I often have to move the files back after the reset. The setting to see them you show above makes no distinction between the Desktop as a special location, WHICH IT SHOULD. After all, if Windows sees fit to use 2 desktop.ini files to hold a personalized group of settings, why shouldn’t it know we want the Desktop a certain way compared to all other folders. This is one of those “stupid Windoze thingees” I really despise.
Getting them off the desktop by hiding protected files is not exactly the optimum solution because that also hides folders I might need access to like the Appdata folder.
I have ticked the”Hide protected operating system files (recommended)” box which has removed them from the desktop – what I wanted to do. Thank you for the explanation of why there are two of them.
I think the explanation in the article is incorrect. It seems to me, that the second desktop.ini is a reflection of the OneDriveDesktop folder.
Thanks!
It is the third one from OneDriveDesktop. For example you can have there icons which you want when you access your account from different device. I hate this setup! Multiple locations for desktop, pictures and documents. I see there is no rule. Some applications create in C:UsersQwertFixyDocuments some on OneDrive. It is confusing like h***
I deleted the new (second) Ddesktop.ini icon on my computer, and the action crashed my computer completely.–operating system, and all files.
I had to go to a nearby computer repair store and have everything reinstalled, However, I lost hundreds of files that could not be recovered. So, how can this be? There was no “are you sure you want to do this?” prompt either, nor any “do not delete” warning–just disaster.
Thank you for the information, it was really very informative. I was not getting what to do with this files, i was actually thinking of deleting these files.
Once again thanks a lot for the information and explanatory discussion.
i can’t find the folder in the represented location in windows 10 and any i found it in the search bar below and it’s working i hidden my transparent files!
I suddenly found these two icons on my desktop. Now in a folder of photos of my grandson I cannot open any of them. There are words below the various files in desktop.ini that say combo 1 combo 14 combo 22, etc. What is that and how do I get the photos? This seems to be the only one that has been impacted by this recently.
the information was very helpful.
i have question thought; i did not change the setting to show the hidden and protected files but it suddenly started showing them! why did that happen? is my computer defected by malwares?
Thank You sooo much for the EASY solution to removing the two desktop.ini icons on my screen. Just clicking to “hide” them worked perfectly and very quickly. I can’t tell you how much I appreciated your solution.
Better for me if there were some way to move both of them off the desktop to some other location without changing the other files I often desire to view.
I have a folder on my desktop marked “Download Games”. All of a sudden today while I was on Pandora, my screen flickered, turned totally black, and one of the games out of that folder started to play….ALL BY ITSELF! It has been doing that all day. This is sooo weird? I turned my computer off, thinking that would solve the problem. No luck. Do you have any idea what is causing this problem? Sure hope it can be fixed. I was thinking about uninstalling all of my games, then reinstall them.
i noticed that another desktop.ini files appear after deleting the previous ones. then i tried to restore the ones which i deleted. however, there is a warning saying that there will be a problem in the folders where it belongs to if i restore it. scary! can i totally delete the ones in the recycle bin? can it affect my PC? how? thank you so much!
Thanks very helpful,
what i did was go to control panel then opened folders options and restore settings to defaults and the desktop.ini icons were gone.
Hi, this website is very useful. Actually I deleted the files first and then I searched for “desktop.ini files” because I thought I had done the wrong thing. The information is very clear and to the point, now I am not concerned anymore. Thanks!
Same thing happened here. Never saw these before until today, and suddenly there are two desktop.ini files on my desktop (Windows 7). Could this have been the result of a Windows update or something? Virus?
Running Windows 8.1 here, I never changed any of the display files settings. All of I sudden I notice the two desktop.ini files.
The only thing i did from the time the desktop.ini files weren’t there and when they showed up is I connected two external usb drives and I also played a video, which I did by clicking “Open with” and then selecting media player since that was not the default player.
Weird, somehow one of those actions caused the settings to change so that it displays the hidden system files.
I, too, am running Windows 8.1 and all of a sudden noticed the two desktop.ini files today.
They didn’t show up immediately after connecting two external usb drives (although I did do that two days ago). Not sure whether I did what you did (choosing another media player for a video), though.
Very weird!
I’m going to try to find out how to hide them in Windows 8.1 now…
Same thing happened with me. It was too easy. The steps listed above worked & the icons disappeared from my desktop. I’m also running Windows 8.1. Just go to Control Panel, then click “folder options”….uncheck “display system files & folders”. Or you can click at the bottom to restore settings to their defaults [which is what I did] & the .ini files vanished from my desktop (there were 3 displayed on my computer.) This spontaneously occurred for me as well as I’d not adjusted anything & they’d never been there before.
I tend to delete these files, mostly because I am obsessive about the ways things look. I have not noticed any changes on my desktop or any place else – so far.
76 Responses to “Desktop.ini - What is this file? Why are there two of them on my desktop?”
Thank you so much! I’m so glad to have found the solution to these desktop.ini files appearing on my desktop. I believe I sought something relating to a virus. Thank God you came along and instructed in the meaning of those two files. I tried to delete them but I couldn’t and those two files made me very unease. I do appreciate the share of your knowledge. Thanks again.
Happy to have helped. Don’t hesite to subscribe to our newsletter, for more useful content like this: https://www.digitalcitizen.life/newsletter/
I hid them…Thank you!
On my desktop I have placed icons of my apps. In the middle is a photo. Every time Windows adds desktop.ini to my desktop, the desktop.ini icon covers part of the photo. So delete the icon immediatly.
The greatest problem here is how to show all other hidden files and hide the “desktop.ini” ONLY (possibly only on desktop, and not in File Explorer). If you “Don’t show system and hidden files” it will hide ALL of them, not only the “desktop.ini”, and you won’t be able to see if some “dll”, “exe”, “sys”, or similar files have changed size or time stamp. You must admit that turning the option on a daily basis, or more often, is very inconvenient, and discouraging people from learning about their system is counterproductive.
Occasionally, my Windows 10 desktop will magically rearrange itself. This usually happens while the system is locked (or in sleep mode). Once in a while it happens while I am looking at it. At times, it happens each I move an icon to a different location. Deleting the desktop.ini files seems to quiet this behavior for a few weeks or months.
probably these files started to came up with the Win 2004 update and I was not really sure if the “(recommended)” option was the one to use. Well, you confirmed 😉
great documentation, thanks
yes, i delete all dekstop.ini extensions i saw. and i think it’s good 🙂
Hello,
Thank you for the informations but why didn’t you explain the format we write the file with or give us some sort of documention for it (it is there already, Thanks).
what about storing those files in some other folder? and can one change the content of the file in order to change the folder customisation
I’m a techie and LIKE to see all the hidden files BUT for the Desktop I do NOT want them. They get in the way and when updated the newest one will AUTOMATICALLY move to a space beside the recycle bin (on my PC). If any other icon is in this location it gets moved… and any others stacked in line get shoved around too. I often have to move the files back after the reset. The setting to see them you show above makes no distinction between the Desktop as a special location, WHICH IT SHOULD. After all, if Windows sees fit to use 2 desktop.ini files to hold a personalized group of settings, why shouldn’t it know we want the Desktop a certain way compared to all other folders. This is one of those “stupid Windoze thingees” I really despise.
Great article. Well written and thorough. Thanks.
Getting them off the desktop by hiding protected files is not exactly the optimum solution because that also hides folders I might need access to like the Appdata folder.
What if mistakenly deleted this file can i recover it through anyway
Is this possible to get back this files
By mistake i have deleted this file from my system is their any way to get those file back ???
I have ticked the”Hide protected operating system files (recommended)” box which has removed them from the desktop – what I wanted to do. Thank you for the explanation of why there are two of them.
good artical very help
I think the explanation in the article is incorrect. It seems to me, that the second desktop.ini is a reflection of the OneDriveDesktop folder.
Thanks!
Thank you for this helpful guide/ article.. I prefer to hide the configuration and protected files, and that what I did.
Today suddenly a third desktop.ini appeared! This is realy confusing me.. is there even a third (maybe hidden) desktop somewhere? Please help.
It is the third one from OneDriveDesktop. For example you can have there icons which you want when you access your account from different device. I hate this setup! Multiple locations for desktop, pictures and documents. I see there is no rule. Some applications create in C:UsersQwertFixyDocuments some on OneDrive. It is confusing like h***
Great article! thanks a lot for the explanation. helped me resolve my matter. good advised.
I deleted the new (second) Ddesktop.ini icon on my computer, and the action crashed my computer completely.–operating system, and all files.
I had to go to a nearby computer repair store and have everything reinstalled, However, I lost hundreds of files that could not be recovered. So, how can this be? There was no “are you sure you want to do this?” prompt either, nor any “do not delete” warning–just disaster.
Thanks!
Thank you so much!!! This article is a dream. That icon has been haunting me for years now. I like a clean desktop.
I have seen mostly 20 desktop.ini at the same file and there is desktop.ini nearly at every file, not only desktop
I chose to hide them
I put the desktop ini files in the waste paper basket. Always a nuicance and look sinister. Some hackers might use them to spy on my computer.
Great article, thanks! I left my desktop.ini files alone.
I chose to not delete them, and followed your instructions on how to hide these two icons. Thanks for the info.
This is a a very well written and clear article – very helpful. Thank you.
You are welcome. Happy to help.
Thank you for the information, it was really very informative. I was not getting what to do with this files, i was actually thinking of deleting these files.
Once again thanks a lot for the information and explanatory discussion.
These file should appear on file manager, but not on my desktop
I agree
The explanation was very helpful.
I have hidden the files
i can’t find the folder in the represented location in windows 10 and any i found it in the search bar below and it’s working i hidden my transparent files!
at first i thought it was a virus XD
I hid them.
I followed the directions and hid them. I don’t know why they showed up in the first place. Thank you for the information.
I suddenly found these two icons on my desktop. Now in a folder of photos of my grandson I cannot open any of them. There are words below the various files in desktop.ini that say combo 1 combo 14 combo 22, etc. What is that and how do I get the photos? This seems to be the only one that has been impacted by this recently.
Set don’t show hidden files ,folder and drives in file and folder option .
It works.
I hid them.
I like to remove desktop.ini.may you help me?how to solve’access is denied’
I have only one desktop.ini file on my laptop screen. I delete it once a while, but it is back a while later.
Great article. Problem solved. Thank you.
Thanks for your information…Problem solved…
That was, as is all your writing, succinct, well written, and on my level of understanding. Fabulous!!
Thank you.
the information was very helpful.
i have question thought; i did not change the setting to show the hidden and protected files but it suddenly started showing them! why did that happen? is my computer defected by malwares?
Great article, lots of detail and best of all, my desktop.ini folders are gone
Thank You sooo much for the EASY solution to removing the two desktop.ini icons on my screen. Just clicking to “hide” them worked perfectly and very quickly. I can’t tell you how much I appreciated your solution.
thanks for clearing up the problem ,window 10 user.. buged me for days
Really informative.
thank you for posting this.
Thanks! But does it exist in laptops as well?
Better for me if there were some way to move both of them off the desktop to some other location without changing the other files I often desire to view.
Thanks.. I had 2 desktop.ini files on my desktop. I checked “don’t show hidden files” from folder options in control panel. Now they
are gone..
I have a folder on my desktop marked “Download Games”. All of a sudden today while I was on Pandora, my screen flickered, turned totally black, and one of the games out of that folder started to play….ALL BY ITSELF! It has been doing that all day. This is sooo weird? I turned my computer off, thinking that would solve the problem. No luck. Do you have any idea what is causing this problem? Sure hope it can be fixed. I was thinking about uninstalling all of my games, then reinstall them.
i noticed that another desktop.ini files appear after deleting the previous ones. then i tried to restore the ones which i deleted. however, there is a warning saying that there will be a problem in the folders where it belongs to if i restore it. scary! can i totally delete the ones in the recycle bin? can it affect my PC? how? thank you so much!
GreAT info! It was bugging me lol Not on the desktop anymore 😉 Thank Youuuuuu
Thanks very helpful,
what i did was go to control panel then opened folders options and restore settings to defaults and the desktop.ini icons were gone.
i deleted them from desktop and hided remaining….
Hided is not a word.
And you can’t say “from desktop”
Thats exactly what I did.
Hi, this website is very useful. Actually I deleted the files first and then I searched for “desktop.ini files” because I thought I had done the wrong thing. The information is very clear and to the point, now I am not concerned anymore. Thanks!
Omg thank sooooo much fix my prob
This problem is resolved clearly step by step.. good work keep it up..
Same thing happened here. Never saw these before until today, and suddenly there are two desktop.ini files on my desktop (Windows 7). Could this have been the result of a Windows update or something? Virus?
Some .ini files are hidden and they are grayed out. Some are not grayed out. What does it mean? Can I keep all .ini files in one folders?
Running Windows 8.1 here, I never changed any of the display files settings. All of I sudden I notice the two desktop.ini files.
The only thing i did from the time the desktop.ini files weren’t there and when they showed up is I connected two external usb drives and I also played a video, which I did by clicking “Open with” and then selecting media player since that was not the default player.
Weird, somehow one of those actions caused the settings to change so that it displays the hidden system files.
I, too, am running Windows 8.1 and all of a sudden noticed the two desktop.ini files today.
They didn’t show up immediately after connecting two external usb drives (although I did do that two days ago). Not sure whether I did what you did (choosing another media player for a video), though.
Very weird!
I’m going to try to find out how to hide them in Windows 8.1 now…
Same thing happened with me. It was too easy. The steps listed above worked & the icons disappeared from my desktop. I’m also running Windows 8.1. Just go to Control Panel, then click “folder options”….uncheck “display system files & folders”. Or you can click at the bottom to restore settings to their defaults [which is what I did] & the .ini files vanished from my desktop (there were 3 displayed on my computer.) This spontaneously occurred for me as well as I’d not adjusted anything & they’d never been there before.
I tend to delete these files, mostly because I am obsessive about the ways things look. I have not noticed any changes on my desktop or any place else – so far.
What if I accidentally permanently deleted one of them, how can i get it back?
thank you so much. this information was very useful. Problem solved! 🙂