Program shortcut icons, system icons such as Recycle Bin and This PC, folder icons, and file icons on the desktop can be made hidden or visible by right-clicking on an empty spot on the desktop, clicking View, and then clicking Show desktop icons option.
Most users who have tens of programs, file, and folder icons on the desktop often hide these icons to make the desktop look clean and enjoy the beauty of the desktop wallpaper.
Users who don’t want to perform multiple clicks and users would like to show or hide desktop icons in Windows 10 with a keyboard shortcut can refer to our how to create a keyboard shortcut to show/hide desktop icons guide. But wouldn’t it be nice if there was a way to automatically hide desktop icons when you are not focusing on desktop icons?
AutoHideDesktopIcons
AutoHideDesktopIcons is a free and portable utility designed to automatically hide desktop icons when they are not being used. The AutoHideDesktopIcons utility allows you to configure how much time must elapse after moving the mouse cursor away from desktop or mouse idle time on the desktop before the program automatically hides desktop icons.
Automatically hide desktop icons
With default settings, AutoHideDesktopIcons automatically hides desktop icons if you move the mouse cursor away from the desktop for 5 seconds, but you can change it.
To see hidden icons, you can simply left-click, right-click, or middle-click on the desktop.
In short, when you move the mouse cursor away from desktop to another window or taskbar area or when the mouse cursor on the desktop is idle for a specified time, the AutoHideDesktopIcons program kicks in and hides all desktop icons. You can make these icons visible by performing a middle, left-click, or right-click on the desktop.
There is even an option to show desktop icons when you move the mouse cursor moves across the desktop area. Click More options button to see this option.
In addition to desktop icons, the program can also automatically hide the taskbar if the above conditions are met. The ability to hide the taskbar is turned off by default, but you can turn it on by checking the Hide taskbar option under program preferences.
If you like this little program, we recommend you configure it to start with Windows by checking Start with Windows option under preferences. When the AutoHideDesktopIcons is running, click the To-Tray button to move the program to the system tray.
The AutoHideDesktopIcons program is compatible with Windows 10, Windows 8/8.1, and Windows 7, both 32-bit and 64-bit systems. Windows 10 might warn against running this program, but you can safely run the program by clicking the Options link and then clicking Run anyway button.
Download AutoHideDesktopIcons
