Windows 10: Some desktop icons won't stay where I place them.

This started after I did a refresh installation. While many of the icons remain where they are, some of them refuse to stay put when I move them. They spring to another position.

What might be causing this bizarre behaviour?

:)

 

locking desktop icons where I place them

Short answer: You can't!

Windoze does not have a feature to do that. Windows will rearrange icons when ever it feels like.

I know of 2 options.

One is to:

"drink the coolaid"

"... if you can't beat em, join 'em..."

switch from using the desktop to using the start menu in the same way. I think it is possible given the new range of icon sizes you can create on the start menu. That along with the full screen option. Using the start menu also has the advantage of allowing
you to use active icons.

This article gives a few ideas on how to make this work:

2017 10 24- YOU NEVER THOUGHT OF USING YOUR WINDOWS START MENU LIKE THIS!

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/windows-start-menu...

<snip>

You don’t use your Start Menu much, do you? Besides the casual search for a program, most users don’t. Instead, it stays discretely nestled within the Windows UI never to meet its full potential. That is, until now! Read on to turn your Start Menu into a one-stop
repository for almost anything you’d need to know from your PC.

1. Voice-Enabled Assistant - cortana

2. Folder and Program Organizer

3. Weather and News Forecaster

4. Game Drawer

5. Calendar and Note Taker

6. Fullscreen Start Menu

</snip>

The other option is to use a 3rd party tool. There are several. The only one I've actually used is Stardock Fences. I liiked it quite a bit.

 

locking desktop icons where I place them

How can I lock my desktop icons in place so they don't rearrange themselves when I shut down my computer?

 

Some, not all, experience this- it's been so since Win7 at least.

Have you seen
Desktop icons keep rearranging - Windows 10 Forums
Win10 desktop icons rearranging on boot Solved - Page 2 - Windows 10 Forums

It's often worth searching the forum. Many posts on this.

 

Thank you dalchina . What an astonishing assortment of possible fixes etc.

I'm getting rather long in the tooth and afraid that I simply don't have the patience to wade through all the possible cures. I will just have to resign myself to the annoyance.

But thank you once again.

 

There are 2 or 3 programs recommended there-
DesktopOK - save and restore your desktop icons
is one, if I recall - you can try it.

Another approach is to keep little on your desktop. It's a good way to work.

If you want lots of shortcuts available, you can use a much more flexible start menu to which you can easily add your own folders of shortcuts etc- drag 'n drop. It works better than win 10's and many here recommend it:
Classic Shell (free).

It gives you the best of XP/Vista/Win 7 start menu styles and more.

 

Yes, I already use Classic Shell. Not yet explored it much though. I'll investigate.

Thank you.