Desktop App Shortcuts and Icons Missing in Windows 11: How to Fix

In this guide, we will show you various methods to fix the issue of missing desktop app shortcuts and/or icons from your Windows 11 PC. The new OS build has bought in quite a major UI revamp. The Taskbar, Starts Menu, Settings, Task Manager, Notepad, well the list goes on. However, in spite of all these goodies, the OS isn’t free from its fair share of user interface issues either.

The inability to move desktop icons, missing taskbar icons,  issues while removing app icons from Taskbar, and blank app icons in Windows 11 are just some of the issues bugging the UI aspect of this OS. And as of now, there has been another unwanted entry to this list. Various users have voiced their concern that the app shortcuts and icons are missing from their Windows 11 desktop. If you are also on the same page, then this guide will help you rectify this issue once and for all. Follow along.

How to Fix Desktop App Shortcuts and Icons Missing in Windows 11

Do note that there’s no universal fix as such. You will have to try out each of the below-mentioned workarounds and see which one works best in your favor. So with that in mind, let’s get started.

FIX 1: Restart PC

In most instances, a simple restart is enough to rectify the underlying UI glitch. So before moving on to any of the advanced fixes, it is recommended to give your PC a reboot. Do so and then check if it fixes the app icons and shortcuts missing issue on your Windows 11 desktop.

FIX 2: Toggle Show Desktop icon

As you might be aware, Windows comes with a context menu shortcut to hide or display desktop icons. So you should consider disabling and then re-enabling this functionality and then check out the results.

1. Right-click in an empty location on your desktop.
2. Then go to View and select Show Desktop Icons.
   
3. After that, again click on View > Show Desktop Icons.
4. Verify if it fixes the app icons/shortcuts missing issue on your Windows 11 desktop.

FIX 3: Refresh Icon Cache

You could also try force refreshing the icon’s cache directory. This should be enough to resolve the minor UI bugs pertaining to icons. So refer to the below instruction steps to give it a try:

1. Head over to the Start menu, search CMD, and launch it as an administrator.
2. After that, execute the below command in the CMD window and hit Enter:

   ie4uinit.exe -show

   

3. The icon cache will now be refreshed. When done, restart your PC to implement this change.
4. Once it boots up, verify if the app icons/shortcuts missing issue on your Windows 11 desktop has been fixed or not.

FIX 4: Rebuild Icon Cache

Windows stores most of the icon cache under the IconCache.db database files and the rest are stored under the Explorer folder on C Drive. Even if one of the icon cache files gets corrupted, then it could have negative consequences on the entire cache directory. So in such cases, you should delete these cache files and then let the system recreate them from scratch. Here’s how it could be done:

1. Launch File Explorer via Windows+E shortcut keys.
2. Then head over to the below location (replace UserName accordingly):

   C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Local

3. There you will find the IconCache.db file, delete it.
   
4. After that, go to the following location (replace UserName accordingly):

   C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer

5. Now delete all the icon cache files from there as well. Once done, restart your PC. The icon files will now be regenerated upon the restart.
   
6. Check if it fixes app icons and shortcuts missing issues on your Windows 11 desktop.

FIX 5: Using Registry Editor

If none of the aforementioned methods spelled out success, then you should consider recreating the icon files from scratch. And for that, we will be using Registry Editor. But rather than manually doing so for each of the icons, we will create a registry editor that will do all the work on your behalf. Here’s how:

1. Right-click on your desktop and select New > Text Document.
2. Then copy-paste the below command in the Notepad file.
3. Now go to File > Save As and change the Save as Type to All Files.
   
4. After that, give it any name of your choice but add the .reg extension at the end.
   
5. Now double click on this registry file and click YES in the confirmation dialog box.
   
6. Let the file do its job. Once done, restart your PC and the issue would have been resolved.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons]

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\ClassicStartMenu]

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[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\NewStartPanel]

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[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons]

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\ClassicStartMenu]

"{031E4825-7B94-4dc3-B131-E946B44C8DD5}"=dword:00000000

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[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\NewStartPanel]

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[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\ClassicStartMenu]"{031E4825-7B94-4dc3-B131-E946B44C8DD5}"=dword:00000000

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[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\NewStartPanel]

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"{F02C1A0D-BE21-4350-88B0-7367FC96EF3C}"=dword:00000000

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[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\ClassicStartMenu]

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"{871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30309D}"=dword:00000000

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[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\NewStartPanel]

"{031E4825-7B94-4dc3-B131-E946B44C8DD5}"=dword:00000000

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"{018D5C66-4533-4307-9B53-224DE2ED1FE6}"=dword:00000000

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"{9343812e-1c37-4a49-a12e-4b2d810d956b}"=dword:00000000

"{B4FB3F98-C1EA-428d-A78A-D1F5659CBA93}"=dword:00000000

[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30301D}]

[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace\{871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30301D}]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30301D}]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace\{871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30301D}]

[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30301D}]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30301D}]

@="Internet Explorer"

"InfoTip"="@C:\\Windows\\System32\\ieframe.dll,-881"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30301D}\DefaultIcon]

@="C:\\Windows\\System32\\ieframe.dll,-190"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30301D}\InProcServer32]

@="C:\\Windows\\System32\\ieframe.dll"

"ThreadingModel"="Apartment"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30301D}\shell]

@="OpenHomePage"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30301D}\shell\NoAddOns]

@="Start Without Add-ons"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30301D}\shell\NoAddOns\Command]

@="\"C:\\Program Files\\Internet Explorer\\iexplore.exe\" -extoff"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30301D}\shell\OpenHomePage]

@="Open &Home Page"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30301D}\shell\OpenHomePage\Command]

@="\"C:\\Program Files\\Internet Explorer\\iexplore.exe\""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30301D}\shell\Properties]

@="P&roperties"

"Position"="bottom"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30301D}\shell\Properties\command]

@="control.exe inetcpl.cpl"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30301D}\Shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\ieframe]

@="{871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30309D}"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30301D}\Shellex\MayChangeDefaultMenu]

@=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30301D}\ShellFolder]

@="C:\\Windows\\System32\\ieframe.dll,-190"

"HideAsDeletePerUser"=""

"Attributes"=dword:00000024

"HideFolderVerbs"=""

"WantsParseDisplayName"=""

"HideOnDesktopPerUser"=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID]

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"{9343812e-1c37-4a49-a12e-4b2d810d956b}"=dword:00000000

"{B4FB3F98-C1EA-428d-A78A-D1F5659CBA93}"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace\{031E4825-7B94-4dc3-B131-E946B44C8DD5}"=dword:00000000]

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[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}"=dword:00000000]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace\{5399E694-6CE5-4D6C-8FCE-1D8870FDCBA0}"=dword:00000000]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace\{59031a47-3f72-44a7-89c5-5595fe6b30ee}"=dword:00000000]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace\{871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30309D}"=dword:00000000]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace\{9343812e-1c37-4a49-a12e-4b2d810d956b}"=dword:00000000]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace\{F02C1A0D-BE21-4350-88B0-7367FC96EF3C}"=dword:00000000]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace\{871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30301D}"=dword:00000000]

With this, we round off the guide on how you could fix the app icons and shortcuts missing issues on your Windows 11 desktop. We have listed five different methods for the same. Do let us know in the comments section which one worked out in your favor. Likewise, all your queries are welcomed in the comments below.