There are different ways to restore icons on windows 10 that are missing from the desktop and taskbar.
A lot of windows 10 users have come across an issue on their operating system were they find out their desktop icons are missing or simply just disappeared.
This issue can be very frustrating to windows 10 users.
Today, I will provide different solutions to help you fix this problem.
But first, let me show you why your icons are missing or disappearing.
Why Your Desktop Icons Are Missing On Windows 10
Here's why your icons are missing.
1. Update
Your icons could disappear or go missing right after an update.
Sometimes, when you update your windows 10 computer either through windows update or any type of manual update, your icons could go missing because the recent update could be incompatible or must have carried some bugs.
If you know your icons disappeared after an update, you can simply resolve this problem by rolling back to the previous update.
2. Tablet Mode Is Enabled
- Desktop mode
- Tablet mode
Desktop mode is the regular deafault mode when using any computer.
While tablet mode converts your whole desktop experience to a tablet experience that automatically removes all your icons from the desktop.
If your tablet mode is enabled on your computer, simply disable it to restore windows 10 icons missing from desktop.
3. Icons Visibility Is Disabled
Windows 10 has a feature that enables you to enable or disable your icons visibility.
When your icons visibility is enabled, it means your icons can be seen on your desktop.
But when it is disabled, it means your icons will not be seen on your desktop.
If by any chance you were messing around with your icons visibility settings, simply go back to the settings to to turn it back on.
How to Restore Windows 10 Icons Missing From Desktop
Follow the instructions carefully .
Here's how,
Enable Show Desktop Icons
1. Start by right clicking on an empty space on your desktop.
2. Move your mouse arrow on view to reveal more options.
3. Among the options, click on show desktop icons.
Note - There should be a ticked ✔ sign beside show desktop icon to know that it is enabled.
Enable Desktop Icons Visibility
1. Right click on an empty space on your desktop.
2. Move your mouse arrow to personalize and click on it.
3. Inside personalize, click on theme located by your left hand side.
4. On your right hand side of your screen, click on desktop icon settings.
5. Now select the icons you want to be visible on your desktop. You can select all if you want all the icons to be visible on your desktop.
6. Click on apply then ok.
Disable Tablet Mode
1. Search for settings in windows search.
2. Click on settings among the results.
3. Inside settings, click on system.
4. By your right hand side, click on tablet mode.
5. Now, make sure the when I sign in section is selected to use desktop mode.
6. Configure the rest of tablet mode just like my settings in the image above.
If you had issues disabling tablet mode with this method, here's a simple one.
Follow the instruction carefully.
1. Move your arrow with your mouse to the bottom right-hand corner of your screen and click on this icon 
.
2. Now click on tablet mode to either disable or enable it.
Note - A glow effect means tablet mode is enabled. Make sure tablet mode doesn't show any glow effect to be disabled.
Rebuild Icon Cache
1. Search for command prompt in windows search.
2. Click on command prompt among the result.
3. Copy and paste the following into command prompt and hit enter.
taskkill /F /IM explorer.exe cd /d %userprofile%AppDataLocal attrib –h IconCache.db del IconCache.db start explorer.exe
If that command doesn't work, try this command instead.
CD /d %userprofile%AppDataLocal DEL IconCache.db /a EXIT
Run SFC Scan
1. Search for command prompt in windows search.
2. Click on command prompt among the result.
3. Copy and paste the following into command prompt and hit enter.
SFC /scannow
4. Hold on till the scanning is finished.
Recovering Icons from OneDrive
1. Press this key combination to open file explorer.
Win + E
2. Click on OneDrive by your right hand side.
3. Open desktop.
4. Copy every shortcut inside desktop and paste them on your desktop.
Run CHKDSK
1. Search for command prompt in windows search.
2. Click on command prompt among the result.
3. Copy and paste the following into command prompt and hit enter.
chkdsk c: /f /r
Note - You can replace drive C with the drive letter of another partition or volume, to check and repair errors on other partitions or drives.
Perform System Restore
1. Search for recovery in windows search.
2. Click on recovery among the results.
3. Inside recovery, click on system restore.
4. When system restore opens, select choose a different restore point and click next.
5. Now click on show more restore points.
6. You should see a list of all the restore point. Think of a restore point like a backup.
7. Choose a restore point you want your computer to revert back to. I recommend you select the time when you think your computer was working perfectly fine.
If you get this error message.
It means you don't have any restore point.
Reset Your Computer
1. Search for settings in windows search.
2. Click on settings among the results.
3. Inside settings, click on update & security.
4. Select recovery by your left hand side .
5. Click on get started under the reset this pc section.
6. Continue with the instructions to successfully reset your computer.
Conclusion
If you followed my instructions correctly, you should be able to restore your windows 10 icons that are missing from the desktop.
I hope this article was helpful to you.
Did it work for you?
Are you still having troubles?
Is there anything you want to ask or share with me?
Please use the comment below, I will reply to you as soon as I can.
