How to Lock Desktop Icons in Place on Windows 11

Desktop icons are one of the most useful parts of Windows. When you need to access a program quickly, icons make it easy. They allow you to keep a large folder structure on your desktop without having to scroll through thousands of files and folders to find what you want. In addition, you can rearrange desktop icons how you like, and even hide certain folders or files.

Most desktop users get used to their desktop icons’ location. Now if any icon is rearranged, it is very difficult to quickly access it. So for this, it is very important to lock your icons in one place.

Also when you restart your computer, Windows 11 OS automatically adjusts the icon location randomly. The reason behind this is a new feature of Windows OS which is enabled by default.

If you want to lock your desktop icons in their defined places then follow this article.

How to Lock Desktop Icons in Place on Windows 11

You have to disable the automatic icon arrange feature. Follow these steps:

Step 1: Right-click on your desktop and then choose the view option from the list.

Step 2: Now in the view menu, choose Auto Arrange Icons from the list. This will automatically rearrange your desktop icons.

Step 3: If you don’t want to arrange icons automatically when Windows starts, then uncheck Auto Arrange Icons in the view options.

If you want to align row and column of icons then check Align Icons to Grid option in view.

In some cases, if you change your resolution, it will remove the icon arrangement automatically. So you have to enable that option again view. You have to enable it every time when you change your screen resolution.

There is no option that will disable or enable icon arrangement settings permanently. It is recommended that you use only one resolution. Also, keep your all display drivers updated.

How To Lock Desktop Icons in Windows

Another way to lock icons in Windows is to use 3rd party app called DeskLock. DeskLock is a free and simple-to-use app that will lock your Windows desktop icons. It has many other useful features too.

Step 1: First, download and extract the DeskLock folder on your computer. Once done, follow these steps:

Step 2: Arrange your icons in the order you want to show them.

Step 3: Right-click the desktop > select View > uncheck Auto-arrange icons.

Step 4: Double-click on Desklock.exe to run it.

Step 5: In your Taskbar, right-click on the Desklock icon.

Step 6: Select Enable from the menu.

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• How to Change Screen Resolution on a Windows 11 PC
• How to Enable and Use Color Filters on Windows 11

Final Verdict

It is very important to save icons at one location as we used to find them in one place on the Desktop. If desktop icons are not locked, they keep changing their location, and we are unable to find it quickly. We hope you understand the process.