Solution: Recycle Bin Icon on Desktop Doesn’t Refresh Automatically in Windows Vista

In this topic I'm going to tell solution of another common problem in Windows Vista. Sometimes Recycle Bin icon on Desktop doesn't refresh automatically, i.e. if its showing "Full Recycle Bin" icon, it'll not change even if you empty the Recycle bin. It'll change to Empty icon, once you Refresh the Desktop.

It happens when you try to change Recycle Bin icon using Desktop Properties and then you revert back the icon to default using "Restore Default" button. Windows changes the icon to default but the problem of icon not refreshing automatically starts occurring. Its a bug in Windows Vista, which I described recently in this article.

The solution of this problem is manually change both FULL and EMPTY Recycle Bin icons to default instead of using "Restore Default" button. So following are the steps to fix this problem:

1. Right-click on Desktop and select "Personalize". It'll open Personalization window. Now click on "Change desktop icons" link in left-side pane. It'll open "Desktop Icon Settings" window. You can also open it directly by using "control desk.cpl,,0" or "control desk.cpl,,@web" commands (without quotes).

2. Now select "Recycle Bin (full)" icon from the icons list and click on "Change Icon" button:

3. It'll open "Change Icon" window. Although it'll automatically select the correct default "Full Recycle Bin" icon, click on it to re-select it and then click on OK button:

4. Now do the same for "Recycle Bin (empty)" icon. Select it and click on "Change Icon" button:

5. Select the default "Empty Recycle Bin" icon in "Change Icon" window and click on OK button:

6. That's it. Now click on "Apply" button and your problem will be solved.

Thanks to "piellepi" for sharing this solution.

This article was posted in Troubleshooting, Windows Vista.

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24 Comments

Jeanna

Thank you!!!
niko

THANKS!!!!!!!
Dido

Wow! I didn't knew this would help. I tried everything and I didn't think this would help. But it worked! Thanks a lot!
Spark001uk

Sweet man, that sorted it!!
Ann

Ha Ha! Even HP Tech Support couldn't solve this one for me! It's been driving me nuts for about a month. Because I live out in the sticks and there's nobody to ask, I've been pestering HP about this on the phone. So far, I got two different suggestions: do a system restore (didn't work!) and then they decided to send me some recovery disks in case I had "corrupted files in the original installation." I've only had this computer with OEM two months and this little bug just started on its own. Thanks with all my heart, Vishal. I'm a subscriber now for sure.
VG

^^ Glad to help you.
chriz

thank you! thank you! my problem solved.hahaha! tnx.
Sherry

Thank you for such a clear fix to an annoying problem.
yoru

thank you so much! Finally fixed my problem.
frenze

thanks VG we love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!