How do I remove app icons from my desktop without deleting them?
You must right-click an empty space on the desktop. In the Personalize appearance and sounds window, click the Change desktop icons link on the left side. Uncheck the box next to the desktop icon(s) you want to remove, click Apply, and click OK.
Select Start > Settings > Apps > Apps & features . Find the app you want to remove, select More > Uninstall.
Steps on how to delete Desktop Icons from Windows 10
All you have to do is right-click on the icon on Windows 10 desktop and select Delete. Apart from this, you can delete the icons by simply dragging them to the Recycle Bin on your desktop.
Touch and hold the app you want to remove, and then tap Remove from Home.
...
Delete apps that you installed
- Open the Google Play Store app .
- At the top right, tap the Profile icon.
- Tap Manage apps & devices. Manage.
- Tap the name of the app you want to delete.
- Tap Uninstall.
- Press Windows key and I key together to open Settings.
- In the pop-up window, choose System to continue.
- On the left panel, choose Tablet Mode.
- Check Don't ask me and don't switch.
- Right-click on an empty section of the desktop to access a dropdown list.
- Hover the cursor/pointer at View.
- Click Show Desktop Icons to hide the desktop folders immediately.
It means when you delete a file's icon from the desktop on Windows 10, you'll delete the whole file. If you delete a shortcut icon, you're just deleting the shortcut to the file. If you want to uninstall or delete the program entirely, you'll need to uninstall it the same way you would other Windows 10 apps.
- Open the Local Group Policy Editor and navigate to the File Explorer option as per the previous steps.
- Double-click on the Turn off Windows Key Hotkeys option and select either Not Configured or Disabled.
- Close the Local Group Policy Editor and restart your PC to save these changes.
If you want to know how to remove shortcuts from the desktop in Windows 10 and Windows 11 using your cursor, you can right-click or press-and-hold on an icon to open a contextual menu. Then, click or tap on Delete if you're using Windows 10.
Why can't I delete Apps?
- It's a system app. These are necessary for your phone to function. ...
- It's a preinstalled app. Preinstalled apps are installed on your device before you buy it. ...
- It's protected by administrator privileges.
- Open the Start menu and select Settings.
- Go to System.
- In Display, check the Scale and Resolution options, and adjust them to make your screen look proper. ...
- If it looks proper, select Keep changes, otherwise, select Revert, or in case you can't see what's on the screen, wait 15 seconds for it to revert automatically.

Ctrl + Alt + Up Arrow: To set the screen to its normal display settings. Ctrl + Alt + Down Arrow: To flip the screen upside down.
Right-click the desktop shortcut icon you need and select Restore. Your desktop icon will revert to its original position on the desktop.
The uninstall feature differs from the delete function in that it safely and efficiently removes all associated files, whereas delete only removes part of a program or selected file.
- Open Drive.
- Right-click a shortcut. In Drive, shortcuts have an arrow on the file or folder. image.
- Click Remove.
- (Optional) To permanently remove the shortcut, delete it from your trash: On the left, click Trash. Right-click a shortcut. Delete forever.
Use Keyboard shortcuts to delete files
You can skip the Recycle Bin by selecting a file and clicking Shift + Delete (holding down the Shift key and then pressing the Delete key).
First, try rebooting your system, and then try to remove the icon again. If you get a “File in Use” message, check to see if the file or folder is open and in use; if it is, exit the application. If you're unable to delete a file due to its permissions, right-click on it and select Properties > Security > Advanced.
To pin apps to the taskbar
Note: To remove a pinned app from the taskbar, right-click the app icon, then select Unpin from taskbar.
Most apps are in your Applications folder, which you can open by clicking Applications in the sidebar of any Finder window. Or use Spotlight to find the app, then press and hold the Command (⌘) key while double-clicking the app in Spotlight. Drag the app to the Trash, or select the app and choose File > Move to Trash.
How do I remove something from my desktop on a Mac?
On your Mac, drag the item to the Trash in the Dock or select the item, then press Command-Delete. If an item is locked, click Continue to confirm you want to move the locked item to the Trash.
System apps come preloaded with the Mac and Apple doesn't allow users to uninstall these apps in any case.