[FEATURE] Add Desktop Icons configuration feature to Winhance

[Mahantor]

Please confirm these before moving forward

• I have searched for similar feature requests and have not found a duplicate.

Feature Type

New functionality

Describe your feature request

I would like Winhance to have a new feature that allows users to configure Desktop Icons directly within the application. Currently, after a fresh Windows installation, users have to manually navigate to:

Settings > Personalization > Themes > Desktop Icon Settings
or
Control Panel > Personalization > Change desktop icons

This is time-consuming and repetitive, especially for users who reinstall Windows frequently.

The proposed feature should allow users to:

Show/hide the following system desktop icons with simple checkboxes:

    Computer (This PC)

    Recycle Bin

    User's Files

    Control Panel

    Network

(Optional but nice) Change the icon for each item

(Optional) Restore default settings with one click

This feature would be located under the Customize section in Winhance, probably next to "Explorer" settings.

Use case

A user performs a fresh Windows 11 installation.

They open Winhance to customize their system.

Under the Customize section, they find a new "Desktop Icons" category.

They check/uncheck which desktop icons they want to appear (e.g., enable "This PC", disable "Recycle Bin", enable "Network").

They click Apply.

The desktop immediately updates to their preferred layout.

Why it's valuable:

Saves time after fresh installs: Users don't need to remember or navigate through 5+ clicks in Windows Settings. They can do everything from one place: Winhance.

Completes the customization suite: Winhance already customizes File Explorer, Taskbar, Start Menu, and Theme. Desktop icons are a natural missing piece.

One-stop-shop for Windows customization: Users want to configure everything about their Windows appearance from a single tool. This feature helps achieve that goal.

User expectation: If Winhance can show/hide file extensions and hidden files in Explorer, it should also be able to show/hide This PC and Recycle Bin on the desktop.

Software Details (Only for 'New software to be added' requests)

No response

Additional context

From the Windows "Desktop Icon Settings" dialog:

The dialog shows checkboxes for 5 standard system icons:

    Computer (This PC)

    Recycle Bin (empty/full)

    User's Files

    Control Panel

    Network

How this works technically:
These settings are stored in the Windows Registry under:
text

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\NewStartPanel
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\ClassicStartMenu

Each icon has a unique GUID. Setting the DWORD value to 1 hides the icon; 0 shows it.

For example:

{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D} → This PC (Computer)

{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E} → Recycle Bin

{59031A47-3F72-44A7-89C5-5595FE6B30EE} → User's Files

{5399E694-6CE5-4D6C-8FCE-1D8870FDCBA0} → Control Panel

{F02C1A0D-BE21-4350-88B0-7367FC96EF3C} → Network

This is a standalone feature that has nothing to do with the config file import/export. It's simply a new control within Winhance itself.

[memstechtips]

Noted, will look at adding this in a future update.

[memory-agent]

Hey @Mahantor,

Great suggestion — this one was a natural fit. Winhance now has show/hide toggles for all five standard desktop icons (This PC, Recycle Bin, User's Files, Control Panel, and Network), under Customize → Explorer → Desktop. Each toggle applies instantly and refreshes the desktop, with the defaults matching Windows (Recycle Bin shown, the rest hidden).

I kept it focused on the show/hide controls and left out the optional icon-changing piece, as that's not something we'll be adding.

This is in the development branch (0157783) and will be available for testing in Release 27.

Thanks for reporting!

Drafted and approved by @memstechtips - Sent by Memory's Agent