Fix Windows 10 Doesn’t Save Desktop Icon Layout

How to Fix Windows 10 Doesn’t Save Desktop Icon Layout and Position

Some users report a strange bug in Windows 10. The layout of desktop icons and their position does not remain saved in between the user sessions. The layout gets reset the user sign in to his Windows account. This happens regardless of the account type, affecting both local and  Microsoft accounts.

In Windows, the Desktop is the location which occupies the whole screen area that you see after you sign in to your user account. It can store shortcuts to anything as well as files and folders. You can arrange items on the Desktop in any way you want. Files you see on the desktop are stored in a special folder in your user profile.

In modern Windows versions, including Windows 10, the Desktop folder contents are stored in two locations. One is the “Common Desktop”, located in the folder C:\Users\Public\Desktop. The other one is a special folder in the current user profile, %userprofile%\Desktop. Windows shows the contents of both folders in a single view.

Sometimes Windows 10 is unable to remember the Desktop icon position. You can usually notice the issue if your icons are placed in different parts of your desktop, but after restarting your computer, they will automatically reorder to some default position. Different users deal with the problem differently. To fix this annoyance, you need to follow the instructions below.

To Fix Windows 10 Doesn’t Save Desktop Icon Layout and Position,

1. Press Win+R, and type regedit.exe into the Run box to open the Registry Editor.
2. Obtain full access to the following Registry keys.
3. If you are running 32-bit Windows 10: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{42aedc87-2188-41fd-b9a3-0c966feabec1}\InProcServer32
4. If you are running 64-bit Windows 10: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{42aedc87-2188-41fd-b9a3-0c966feabec1}\InProcServer32
5. Now, open the mentioned Registry keys and set the “(Default)” (unnamed) parameter to the following value: %SystemRoot%\system32\windows.storage.dll
6. Restart Windows 10.

After following the steps above, your Windows desktop icons layout should not get reset automatically any more. This issue might be caused by antivirus software or a security suite.

Author: The MFTNEXT Team

The MSFTNEXT project is a small team of authors who love to engage with the latest technology and gadgets. Being passionate Windows bloggers, we are happy to help others fix their system issues. View all posts by The MFTNEXT Team