[Fix] Windows 8 Showing Desktop Icons in Tiles, List or Details View

Recently an AskVG reader contacted me regarding this weird problem. He was using Windows 8 and suddenly all icons on the Desktop started showing in Tiles view. We know that we can only use “Large Icons“, “Medium Icons” and “Small Icons” views on Desktop which can be changed using Desktop context menu but Windows 8 was showing icons on Desktop in Tiles view in reader’s PC.

Actually it’s a common issue present in Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 and I have heard from lots of people about it. Sometimes Windows 8 starts showing Desktop icons in Tiles, List, Details or Content views just like you show icons in Windows Explorer.

Following image shows all kind of icons view in action on Windows 8 Desktop:

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All_Folder_View_Types_Windows_8.png

It happens due to a bug present in Windows 8 operating system. Actually Microsoft introduced new hotkeys in Windows 8 which allowed users to quickly change folder views in Windows Explorer as mentioned in point 3 of this topic. These hotkeys are as following:

Ctrl+Shift+1 = To set Extra large icons view
Ctrl+Shift+2 = To set Large icons view
Ctrl+Shift+3 = To set Medium icons view
Ctrl+Shift+4 = To set Small icons view
Ctrl+Shift+5 = To set List view
Ctrl+Shift+6 = To set Details view
Ctrl+Shift+7 = To set Tiles view
Ctrl+Shift+8 = To set Content view

You can test them by opening any folder and pressing the above mentioned hotkeys. It’ll immediately change the folder view.

The bug is, same hotkeys also work on Desktop so if a user accidentally presses the above mentioned keys together, it changes the Desktop icons view. For example, if a user accidentally pressed Ctrl+Shift+7 keys together on Desktop, it’ll change the icons view to Tiles on Desktop.

So if you are also facing this issue on Windows 8 Desktop, just press Ctrl+Shift+3 keys together to show Desktop icons in Medium Icons view.

You can use any above mentioned hotkey to customize the icons view on Desktop according to your requirement.

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The bug has been fixed in Windows 10 operating system. In Windows 10, only first four hotkeys i.e. Ctrl+Shift+1, Ctrl+Shift+2, Ctrl+Shift+3 and Ctrl+Shift+4 work on Desktop. Other remaining hotkeys don’t work on Desktop in Windows 10.

Also Check:

How to Fix Annoying Folder View Type Automatic Change Problem in Windows

Published in: Troubleshooting Guides, Windows 8

About the author: Vishal Gupta (also known as VG) has been awarded with Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional) award. He holds Masters degree in Computer Applications (MCA). He has written several tech articles for popular newspapers and magazines and has also appeared in tech shows on various TV channels.

Comments

NOTE: Older comments have been removed to reduce database overhead.

  1. How could I re-enable the sortcuts keys in desktop?
    I would like to have it as Tiles view…

  2. Dear Mr. Gupta,

    So it was not really a bug, but an original and useful feature. Your stated reason for removing half of it, is that sometimes people can cause their Desktop view to change when they accidentally press Ctrl, and Shift, and a number from 1 to 8 together. If this truly happens so often, why then did Microsoft not remove all hotkeys, but only half of them? And people could just as easily accidentally choose a different View option in Explorer. Why wasn’t anything done against that?

    But more importantly, there is no other way to access these features on the Desktop, as there is in Explorer. As you may know, when you right-click on the Desktop and choose View, the only options are Large, Medium and Small Icons, not any of the others available in Explorer, such as List and Details. Why are these options not on the Desktop? They would be very useful.

    Would you please ask Microsoft to make all the View options in Explorer’s right-click menu available in the Desktop’s right-click menu? Thank you very much.

    Greetings from Jasper

  3. Can I have tiles icon view (as in “This Computer”) on my desktop on Windows 10 x64? If so, how can i get it?

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