Windows 10: Windows 10 icon spacing messed up

Some users reported that after updating their system, the spacing between their desktop icons became huge. Some users also reported that the size of their desktop icons became large. If your Windows 10 desktop icon spacing has suddenly changed and messed up, the following methods will help you restore it to the original state.

Windows 10 icon spacing messed up




If Windows 10 desktop icon spacing has suddenly changed and is now messed up, then you can set the spacing to the default value by following this tutorial:

1. Set the icons to Auto Arrange mode.
2. Change the Display Resolution.
3. Restore the default Icon Spacing using the Registry Editor.
4. Rollback or Update the Display Driver.

First, create a system restore point, then proceed to the following fixes one by one.

1] Set the desktop icons to Auto Arrange mode


If you find irregular spacing between your display icons, this method can fix the problem. Follow the below-listed steps.

1. Right-click on the desktop.
2. Click on the ‘View‘ option.
3. See if there is a tick mark before the ‘Auto arrange icons‘ and ‘Align icons to grid‘ options. If not, click on both of these options to enable them.
4. You can also select the size of the icons as small, medium, and large. Alternatively, you can change the size of icons by using ‘Ctrl key + Scroll mouse button‘ combinations. Press and hold the Ctrl key on your keyboard and move the scroll wheel of the mouse to adjust the size of the icons.

After enabling the Auto Arrange mode, all the icons will be arranged automatically.

2] Change the Display Resolution




The steps to change Display Resolution are given below:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Select System and click on the Display on the left side.
3. Change the Display Resolution from the drop-down menu and set the ‘Scale and layout‘ setting to 100%.

Did this help?

Read: Display Screen Resolution changes on its own automatically.

3] Restore default icon spacing using the Registry Editor




If the above two methods did not solve your problem, try to change the desktop icon spacing using the Registry Editor.

To do so, open regedit and navigate to the following registry key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics

You need to check the values of IconSpacing and IconVerticalSpacing. The default value for both is -1125 on my PC – although I have seen it to be -1128 on some PCs.

Restore the default values and restart your computer.

Read: Fix Display problems & Screen Resolution issues.

4] Roll back or update the Display Driver


If none of the above methods work, the issue may be with your display driver. In such cases, rolling back or updating the display driver may help.

Follow the below-listed steps to update the display driver:

1. Launch the Device Manager.
2. Select your display driver.
3. Right-click on it and select the ‘Update driver‘ option.
4. In the popup window, select ‘Search automatically for drivers.’ After that, Windows will search for the latest driver version and install it.

The following steps will help you to roll back the display driver:

1. Open the Device Manager.
2. Double click on the display driver.
3. Select Roll Back Driver under the ‘Driver‘ tab.

Reboot your system and see whether it worked or not.

Hope this article helped you solve the problem.

Read next: Fix Windows Scaling issues for High-DPI devices.


This article Windows 10 icon spacing messed up first appeared on TheWindowsClub.com.

read more...

 

Windows 10 Desktop Icon Spacing Messed Up

Hello,

A factor why you're having desktop spacing issue is due to configuration settings. We suggest that you set the spacing of desktop icon by using Registry Editor. Follow the steps below:

• Type Windows key + R > Type regedit > Hit
  Enter.
• Navigate to the following location: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics
• On the right panel, click Window Metrics >
  Double-click IconSpacing (horizontal spacing) or IconVerticalSpacing (vertical spacing) and modify the value > Click
  OK.
  
• Reboot the computer to save the changes.

Note: IconSpacing and IconVerticalSpacing value between -480 (minimum spacing) to -2730 (maximum spacing).

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, refer to the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article. 

See this article:
How to back up and restore the registry in Windows 

Do get back and let us know the status of the issue, we will be glad to help you further.

 

Windows 10 desktop icons not in order

In ccleaner, did you uncheck cleaning the icon cache... have not used in a while; however, I think that is what the option is called.

Now, if you are setting the icons and they move after you have set the settings and not changed them... you may have the "Random Windows 10 Icon movement problem".
Some people have this and some don't.

Here is a thread on the problem at Windows10 forums: Windows 10: Folder View Settings and Desktop Icon Positions Not Saving

 

All icons in windows 10 64 bit messed up

Hi, I am having quite a problem, my icons are all messed up suddenly, on desktop as well as in explorer. My shortcuts are fine, but any other files look normal but in front of them is a blank white "paper", smaller than actual icon so icon shows from behind. In my explorer, everything shows as just a blank white paper. I have tried all of the steps you have given, and am logged into command prompt as administrator, but when I get to next to last step, it says access not allowed. So I can't perform the next to final step? I am struggling here something awful!!

I followed this, however when I get to username appdata local: I have no iconcache file anywhere?

*Arrow Rebuild Icon Cache in Windows 10 | Windows 10 Tutorials