Icons Disappear or You Cannot Move Icons on the Desktop

You may experience the following symptoms:

• When you add a new icon to the desktop, the icon may seem to disappear if the desktop already has a large number of icons.
  
  Although you cannot see the icon, you can find it using the Find tool, and it appears in the Desktop folder.
• When you move an icon from one location on the desktop to another, the icon returns to its original location.

Disappearing Icons

This behavior can occur if you are using the Auto Arrange option for icons on the desktop. When there are too many icons on the desktop to be displayed without overlapping, icons may be placed off the visible portion of the screen.

Cannot Move Icons

This behavior can occur if you are using the Auto Arrange option for icons on the desktop.

Disappearing Icons

To work around this behavior, use any of the following methods:

• Create one or more folders on the desktop, and then drag icons from the desktop into a folder until all the remaining icons on the desktop are visible.
• Use the Find tool to locate a missing icon and then drag it to another location, such as a new folder on the desktop.
• Use a higher screen resolution, so you can see more of the desktop.
  
  NOTE: Your video card and monitor must be capable of supporting a higher resolution.
• Adjust the icon spacing on the desktop. To do so, adjust the Icon Spacing (Vertical) and Icon Spacing (Horizontal) items on the Appearance tab in Display properties.
• Turn off the Auto Arrange option for icons on the desktop, and then place icons on the desktop where you want them.

Cannot Move Icons

Turn off the Auto Arrange option for icons on the desktop, and then place icons on the desktop where you want them.

Disappearing Icons

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Microsoft Windows.

Cannot Move Icons

This behavior is by design.

Note that you cannot use the Find tool to drag or copy a desktop icon to another location on the desktop. You must move it to a new location.