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When you make an icon on your Windows desktop, you'll see an arrow over it that represents that you've created a shortcut. This wikiHow will teach you how to remove shortcut arrows on your Windows shortcut icon by changing a few things in the Registry Editor. However, editing the Registry is risky since a single typo can corrupt your computer files and cause it to stop working, so you should make a backup before attempting anything. If you have the October 2020 Windows update, version 20H2, this method will not work and there are currently no workarounds to remove these shortcut arrows from app icons.
Steps
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Click the Start Menu icon . You can also press the ⊞ Win key to open your Start Menu.
- This will not work if you have updated Windows to 20H2. Any editing you do to the registry will create a black box in the arrow's location.
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Search "Regedit" in the search bar. You might need to click the search icon to open the search bar first.
- As you type, you'll see search results populate.
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Click regedit . It's labeled as "Registry Editor" and an executable app.
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Click Yes when prompted. Before the app runs, you'll get a pop-up asking if the program "Registry Editor" can make changes to your device. You'll need to allow this by pressing Yes to continue.
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Click next to "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE. " You'll see this folder in the panel on the left side of the window. When you click the expand arrow, you'll see a list of folders that are inside "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE."
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Click next to "SOFTWARE. " A list of folders inside "SOFTWARE" will expand down.
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Click next to "Microsoft. " A list of folders inside "Microsoft" will expand down.
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Click next to "Windows. " You'll find this by scrolling down, and a list of folders inside "Windows" will expand down.
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Click next to "CurrentVersion. " A list of folders inside "CurrentVersion" will dropdown.
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Click Explorer . A list of folders inside "Explorer" will drop down and you'll see the address bar at the top reflect the navigation to the Explorer file: "Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer".
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Right-click the Explorer folder. A menu will pop up at your cursor.
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Hover your mouse over New and click Key . You're creating a new folder inside the "Explorer" folder.
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Name the folder Shell Icons . It'll prompt you to name it as soon as you create it, but if you don't, you can always right-click on the new folder (called "New Key #1 by default) and select Rename .
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Right-click the Shell Icons folder. A menu will pop-up at your cursor.
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Hover your mouse over New and click String Value . This will create a new file in the Shell Icons folder.
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Name your file 29 . You should now have a default file and a 29 file.
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Double-click the 29 file. Another window will open.
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Paste the following in the Value Data field: %windir%\System32\shell32.dll,-50 .
- Entering the wrong text here can result in a broken icon system, which means that clicking on your shortcut won't do anything, or the shortcut icon won't appear at all.
- With the most recent Windows 10 update, this code does not work and will instead create transparent, black, or white boxes instead of arrows over the shortcut.
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Click OK . You'll see this button at the bottom of the window.
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Restart your computer. You can go to the Start Menu and press the power icon to select to restart your computer. After your computer restarts, you will no longer see the arrows on the shortcut icons. [1] X Research source
Community Q&A
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Questionafter I've done this process the shortcut arrows became a black block after restarting the second time. Is this a problem with resources?This answer was written by one of our trained team of researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness.wikiHow Staff EditorStaff AnswerWith the most recent Windows 10 update, this method no longer works and no fix has been discovered. If you want to undo your edits, delete the file in your Registry called "29".
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QuestionI get a white rectangle over some of my icons with this "fix". Research says that the "fix" may not work in newer versions of Win10. So?? I have Win10 Pro, ver2004, Build 19041.572This answer was written by one of our trained team of researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness.wikiHow Staff EditorStaff AnswerWith the most recent Windows 10 update, this method no longer works and no fix has been discovered. If you want to undo your edits, delete the file in your Registry called "29". This method is here for people who have not updated yet.
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QuestionThanks. I followed steps. Arrow now disappeared but a box os there inplace of arrow with only white bordersThis answer was written by one of our trained team of researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness.wikiHow Staff EditorStaff AnswerWith the most recent Windows 10 update, this method no longer works and no fix has been discovered. If you want to undo your edits, delete the file in your Registry called "29".
Tips
- To undo that change, you can delete the file called "29" from the folder you created.Thanks
- If you have updated Windows 10 since Oct 2020, there are no ways currently to remove shortcut arrows. If you attempt this method and get either transparent, black, or white boxes, you'll want to restore a backup of the Registry that you made.Thanks
About This Article
1. Do not do this if you have updated to Windows 10 20H2 which was released in Oct 2020.
2. Click the Start Menu icon and search "Regedit" in the search bar.
3. Click regedit
and click Yes
.
4. Click the small right-pointing arrow
icon next to "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE."
5. Click the small right-pointing arrow
icon next to "SOFTWARE."
6. Click the small right-pointing arrow
icon next to "Microsoft."
7. Click the small right-pointing arrow
icon next to "Windows."
8. Click the small right-pointing arrow
icon next to "CurrentVersion."
9. Click Explorer
then right-click the Explorer
folder.
10. Hover your mouse over New
and click Key
and name it "Shell Icons."
11. Right-click Shell icons
then hover your mouse over New
and click String Value
.
12. Name the new file "29" then double-click it.
13. Paste "%windir%\System32\shell32.dll,-50" in the Value Data field and click OK
.
14. Restart your computer.
