Organize and clean up your desktop icons
Published: September 7, 2006
If a cluttered desk is a sign of a busy worker, a cluttered desktop is a sign of a busy computer. And clutter can make it hard to find the icons you need. If you hate the clutter of icons on your desktop, you can:
Tip: Want a quick way to view your desktop? Just right-click the clock in the lower-right corner of your screen, and then click Show the Desktop.
Arrange your desktop icons
The simplest way to rearrange the icons on your desktop is to simply drag and drop them. You can drag an icon to any location on your desktop.
However, dragging and dropping your icons can lead to icons not aligning in even columns and rows. If you’d rather have neat columns and rows of icons, you can have Windows automatically arrange them for you. Simply right-click your desktop, click Arrange Icons By, and then click Align to Grid. Windows XP does not immediately move your icons. However, the next time you drag an icon, Windows XP will automatically place it into an orderly row.
To automatically arrange your icons into rows without changing their order, right-click your desktop, click Arrange Icons By, and then click Auto Arrange. Windows XP places your icons into neat rows.
Remove unused desktop icons
If you have a lot of programs installed on your computer, you might have icons on your desktop that you don’t use. Windows XP can clean up your desktop by automatically moving the icons you don’t use into a special folder.
To clean up your unused desktop icons
1. | Right-click the desktop, click Arrange Icons By, and then click Run Desktop Cleanup Wizard. 
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2. | The Desktop Cleanup Wizard appears. Click Next. 
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3. | On the Shortcuts page, select the check boxes for the icons you want to remove, and clear the check boxes for the icons you want to leave on your desktop. Then click Next. 
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4. | On the Completing the Desktop Cleanup Wizard page, click Finish. 
Windows XP creates the Unused Desktop Shortcuts folder on your desktop. To remove other icons from your desktop, you can drag them to this folder. 
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