How do I make the Recycle Bin appear on my desktop in Windows Vista or in Windows XP?

Notes

• This wizard may be in English only. However, the automatic fix also works for other language versions of Windows.
  
  
• If you are not on the computer that has the problem, you can save the automatic fix to a flash drive or to a CD, and then you can run it on the computer that has the problem.

If you would rather fix this problem yourself, go to the "Let me fix it myself" section.

Next steps

Check whether the problem is fixed. If the problem is fixed, you are finished with this article. If the problem is not fixed, you can try the procedure in the Workaround section.

The Recycle Bin does not appear on the desktop in Windows Vista or in Windows XP. Therefore, you cannot use the Recycle Bin to do such tasks as restoring a file that was deleted. This article will help you make the Recycle Bin work again.

To fix this issue in Windows Vista

To fix this issue in Windows Vista, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
2. Click Appearance and Personalization, click Personalization, and then click Change desktop icons.
3. Click to select the Recycle Bin check box, and then click OK.

Next steps

Check whether the problem is fixed. If the problem is fixed, you are finished with this article. If the problem is not fixed, you can try the procedure in the "Workaround" section.

To fix this issue in Windows XP

To restore the Recycle Bin in Windows XP, use one of the following methods.

Method 1: Use the program that removed the Recycle Bin

Use the program that removed the Recycle Bin to restore the Recycle Bin. If you used the TweakUI program to hide the Recycle Bin, follow these steps to restore the Recycle Bin to the desktop. If you did not use the TweakUI  program, see method 2 or method 3.

Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
2. If you are using the standard Windows XP Start menu
   1. Locate the following registry key:
      HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\NewStartPanel
   2. In the right pane, right-click the following registry DWORD value, and then click Modify:
      {645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}
   3. In the Value data box, type 0, and then click OK. (The TweakUI tool sets this value to 1 to hide the Recycle Bin icon.)
   If you are using the classic Windows XP Start menu
   1. Locate the following registry key:
      HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\ClassicStartMenu
   2. In the right pane, right-click the following registry DWORD value, and then click Modify:
      {645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}
   3. In the Value data box, type 0, and then click OK. (The TweakUI tool sets this value to 1 to hide the Recycle Bin icon.)
3. Click Exit to exit Registry Editor.

Next steps

• Check whether the problem is fixed. If the problem is fixed, you are finished with this article. If the problem is not fixed, you can try the procedure in the "Workaround" section.

Method 2: Edit the registry

Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: Note If the system administrator used a Group Policy setting to hide the Recycle Bin (or "All Icons") on the Desktop, see method 3.

To edit the registry to make the Recycle Bin icon reappear on the desktop, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, and then click Run.
2. In the Open box, type regedit, and then click OK.
3. Locate the following registry key:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace
4. Right-click the registry key that you located in step 3, point to New, and then click Key.
5. Type {645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}, and then press Enter.
6. Click the new {645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E} key that you created in step 5.
7. In the right pane, double-click the (Default) entry.
8. In the Edit String dialog box, type Recycle Bin in the Value data box, and then click OK.
9. Close Registry Editor.

Next steps

Check whether the problem is fixed. If the problem is fixed, you are finished with this article. If the problem is not fixed, you can try the procedure in the "Workaround" section.

Method 3: Use the Group Policy Object Editor

If the system administrator used a Group Policy setting to hide the Recycle Bin or "All Icons" on the Desktop, you may have to contact the system administrator to restore the Recycle Bin icon. The system administrator can either use the Group Policy Object Editor (GPEDIT.msc) or manually remove the registry information (that was created through the Group Policy Object Editor) for the Recycle Bin to restore the Recycle Bin icon to the Desktop.

Note The following procedures works only on Windows XP Professional. If your system is not Windows XP Professional, try the procedure in the "Workaround" section.

Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

• To use the Group Policy Object Editor to restore the Recycle Bin, follow these steps:
  1. Click Start, click Run, type GPEDIT.MSC in the Open box, and then click OK.
  2. Under User Configuration, click Administrative Templates, and then double-click Desktop.
  3. Double-click Remove Recycle Bin icon from the desktop.
  4. Click the Setting tab, click Not Configured, and then click OK.
• To use Registry Editor to restore the Recycle Bin, follow these steps:
  1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
  2. Locate the following registry key:
     HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\NonEnum
  3. Click the registry key that you located in step 3, and then in the right pane, click the following registry DWORD value:
     {645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}
  4. On the Edit menu, click Delete, and then click Yes.
  5. Close Registry Editor.

Next steps

Check whether the problem is fixed. If the problem is fixed, you are finished with this article. If the problem is not fixed, you can try the procedure in the "Workaround" section.

If you cannot restore the Recycle Bin by using the resolutions that are listed in this article, you can work around this problem by creating a shortcut to the Recycle Bin. To do this, follow these steps:  

1. Click Start, and then click My Computer.
2. On the Tools menu, click Folder Options.
3. Click the View tab, and then click to clear the Hide protected operating system files (Recommended) check box.
4. Click Yes when you receive the warning message, and then click OK to close the Folder Options dialog box.
5. Click Folders on the toolbar.
   
   Note If Folders is not visible on the toolbar, point to Toolbars on the View menu, and then click Standard Buttons.
6. In the left navigation pane, under Folders, locate the Recycle Bin folder, and then drag the Recycle Bin folder to the desktop.
7. On the Tools menu, click Folder Options.
8. Click the View tab, and then click to select the Hide protected operating system files (Recommended) check box. Click OK.

Note This procedure does not re-create the original icon. However, this procedure restores most of the features of the Recycle Bin. This includes the following:

• Delete a file by dragging it to the Recycle Bin icon on your Desktop.
• Retrieve a file that you deleted by doing as follows: double-click the Recycle Bin icon on your Desktop, right-click the file that you want to retrieve, and then click Restore.
• Empty the Recycle Bin by right-clicking the Recycle Bin icon on your Desktop, and then clicking Empty Recycle Bin.

Note When you use these steps to work around this problem, you cannot right-click the Recycle Bin shortcut to access the Recycle Bin Properties. To set properties for the Recycle Bin, follow these steps:

1. Double-click the Recycle Bin shortcut on the Desktop. The Recycle Bin folder opens.
2. In the upper-left corner of the Recycle Bin folder, right-click the Recycle Bin icon, and then click Properties.

If this procedure did not fix the problem, you can contact support.

This problem may occur for any of the following reasons:  

• A third-party program was used to hide the Recycle Bin.
• The TweakUI program was used to hide the Recycle Bin.
• The registry information for the Recycle Bin was deleted.
• A Group Policy setting was used to hide the Recycle Bin.
  
  Note Windows XP Home Edition does not support Group Policy.

For help to fix common system maintenance tasks in Windows Vista, go to the following Microsoft website: