How to Clutter-Free Your Desktop
13. Nov, 2008 
7 Comments
Having a clean desktop is critical for your productivity. If your desktop’s a mess then you won’t be able to find the program you need to launch, and it just doesn’t look nice. Here’s how to remove the clutter from your desktop:
Disable Desktop Shortcuts
Using desktop shortcuts to launch programs is passé. In essence, they are a total waste of your screen real estate. Desktop shortcuts are the main reason behind cluttered desktops and they definitely should be disabled. You might be thinking, "But how am I supposed to open programs, then?" We’ll get to that in just a bit. For now, you should know that there are more efficient ways to launch apps.
Here’s how to disable shortcuts on your desktop: Right-click on the desktop > Select "Arrange Icons By" > Uncheck "Show Desktop Items" by clicking on it.
Desktop Shortcuts Alternatives
Docks
Mac-like docks are the #1 alternative to desktop shortcuts. They consume less space, are prettier, and it’s just faster to use docks. Even though Windows doesn’t have a dock like Mac, you can bring docks into Windows with the help of third-party apps.
The two best dock applications for Windows are RocketDock and ObjectDock. Both have pros and cons, and I don’t recommend any one over the other, so you’ll have to sample both for yourself.
Launchy
Launchy is a great tool that you can use to launch any application on your PC in a few keystrokes.
Start Menu
The Start Menu is of course another great way to launch applications. By default, though, the Start Menu only allows you to launch your frequently accessed apps. You can change this behavior by: Right-click on the Start Menu > Click on Properties > Make sure that the radio button next to "Start menu" is selected > Click on "Customize" > then next to "Number of programs on Start menu" enter 0 > OK. Now just drag and drop the apps that you regularly launch to the Start menu.
QuickLaunch bar
The QuickLaunch bar is yet another way to launch programs. Again, just drag-and-drop the apps you regularly use to the QuickLaunch bar to have quick access to them.
As you can see, there are much better alternatives than using desktop shortcuts to launch programs. Not only do these four alternatives not clutter the desktop, but they’re also a more efficient way to launch applications.
If you just can’t part with your desktop shortcuts, then here are some de-cluttering tips for you:
Remove Unused Desktop Shortcuts
Your desktop can fill with junk shortcuts quickly, especially if you download and install many things on your PC. You should so a routine clear up of unused shortcuts. Windows actually has an inbuilt ability to do this for you. Here’s how you can move your unused desktop shortcuts: Right-click on the desktop > Click "Properties" > Go to "Desktop" tab > Click on "Customize Desktop" > Click on "Clean Desktop Now". If you want to run this wizard automatically every 60 days, then check the checkbox under "Desktop Cleanup".
Of course, you can also manually copy-paste unused shortcuts into an ‘Unused Desktop Shortcuts’ folder on the desktop.
Arrange Icons Neatly
You can arrange icons neatly by: right-click on the desktop > click "Arrange Icons By" > And make sure that "Align Icons by Grid" is enabled; if not, then click on it to enable it.
Get a Nice Background/Wallpaper
You might be wondering what wallpaper has to do with clutter. Well, apparently they are related. You see, an ugly background can give you the illusion of clutter. We’re going to write a resource post soon giving you many beautiful wallpapers for free. You should sign-up to our feed to be the first to get access to the post. Click here to sign-up.
Get Pretty Icons
The default icons shipped with Windows XP are ugly. Again, ugly icons can give you the illusion of clutter. You can get glitzy icons free on VistaIcons.
In a nutshell, disable desktop shortcuts, use alternative like Docks, get a nice background/wallpaper, and download pretty icons to make your desktop free of clutter.
Related posts:
I never place anything except the bydefault icon on my destop. I hate seeing many things on destop borad, another reason is i have fixed a beutiful background Wallpaper of aishwarya.
I normally organize my desktop into folders so I don’t clutter it much and can get to the files quick.
Wat een belachelijk slecht vertaalde site zeg. inhoud is wel redelijk maar complete zinnen met en programa van het engels naar nederlands vertalen werkt nog niet echt geloof ik..
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