As we all know, we cannot remove the Recycle Bin icon from the Desktop on Windows XP. There are no options or settings provided by Microsoft to remove the icon from Desktop except Group Policy Editor. Since there are no options/settings to show or hide the recycle bin, hence we will create a new settings/option under the folder option. This will allow us to hide the recycle bin when the option is checked and show the recycle bin when the option is unchecked.
Why remove the Recycle bin icon from the Desktop?
Some people don’t like displaying any icon on their Desktop. It also looks great with a clean and empty Desktop, giving a more professional look. If you are using an LCD or Widescreen LCD, then this will look great by keeping the Desktop empty and having a nice background image. Basically, it gives a more professional & unusual look.
Removing the Recycle bin icon or any other icon from the Desktop will not affect the applications or programs in your system.
Steps to remove the Recycle Bin from the Desktop on Windows XP.
Method #1 : Remove Recycle Bin from Desktop using Group Policy Editor(gpedit.msc)
Group policy is only available on Windows XP Pro Version; if you are using Windows XP Home version, then you can use another method. Removing the recycle bin using the group policy is very simple and easy.
1. Open Group Policy, Go to Start >> Run >> Type gpedit.msc and Press Enter.
2. Now, in Group Policy, Navigate to the following location
User Configuration >> Administrative Template >> Desktop3. Now, on the Right pane, double-click on the “Remove Recycle bin icon from the desktop.”
Select the Enabled option, Click “Apply” to Apply the setting, and then Click Ok to exit.
To restore the Recycle bin icon on the Desktop, simply change the setting, select the “Not Configured” option, and Apply the changes.
Method #2: Remove the Recycle bin from the Desktop using Registry Editor
There is a lot of risk while editing the registry editor. Therefore, I have created a registry run command, which will execute directly and make the necessary changes in the registry editor.
To Delete the Recycle Bin Icon from the Desktop
1.) Open the Run Dialog box, Go to Start >> Run, and copy the below line and paste it into the Run dialog box.
Reg Delete HKEY_Local_Machine\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}
2.) Now, the command prompt will ask for confirmation of Yes or No to delete. Type y and press Enter, and now refresh; you may see the Recycle bin Icon Disappear from the Desktop.
To restore the Recycle Bin Icon on the Desktop back again.
1.) Open the Run Dialog box, Go to Start >> Run, Copy the below code line, and paste it into the Run dialog box.
Reg add HKEY_Local_Machine\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}2.) Now, Refresh the Desktop, and you may see Recycle Icon back on the Desktop.
Method #3 : Adding new custom option under Folder option
As I said above, Windows XP doesn’t have any options or settings to show or hide the recycle bin icons on demand. Since there is no such setting, we would create one new setting under Folder Option, which will allow us to show or hide recycle bin when needed.
Add Recycle Bin Setting under Folder option to Hide or show icon on Desktop
1. Copy the code below, paste it into Notepad, and save it with any filename ending with .reg extension.
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00[HKEY_Local_Machine\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced\Folder\HideRecycleBinFromDesktop]"RegPath"="Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Explorer\\HideDesktopIcons\\NewStartPanel""Text"="Hide Recycle Bin icon from the desktop""Type"="checkbox""ValueName"="{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}""DefaultValue"=dword:00000000"HKeyRoot"=dword:80000001"CheckedValue"=dword:00000001"UncheckedValue"=dword:000000002. Now double-click the .reg file, and It’s done. The new setting for the recycle bin has been added under the folder option.
3. To Hide Recycle Bin, use the new setting which we added under Folder Option.
Open My computer –> Tools –> Folder Option >> Click on View Tab. Now find the “Hide Recycle Bin icon from the desktop,” put a tick(Checkmark) on the checkbox, and Click Apply To apply the setting.
To restore back to the recycle bin icon, Remove the Checkmark (Tick) from “Hide Recycle Bin icon from the desktop.“
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That was awesome.I have created a new option under folder option,i'll show to all my friend.Thanks for this tuts.
Your tutorials are always easy to understand and u always simplify the implementation and this article was fabulous, i never knew that we could also create such setting in window xp.How you did that i don't know but it was great.
The above tuts is great, but is it possible to hide all icon on desktop, can you create such option or anything like that.
that was perfect! that little registry tweek to add an option is exactly what i wanted.
It’s much easier to udnreastnd when you put it that way!
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