Hide Desktop Icons Text - Windows 7 & Vista

Removing Text from Desktop Icons

Certain icons are universally recognized, rendering accompanying text labels unnecessary. A prime illustration of this is the icon associated with Internet Explorer.

Due to widespread familiarity, the inclusion of text beneath the icon can detract from visual clarity.

How to Hide Icon Text

To remove the text, begin by right-clicking the desired shortcut and selecting the "Rename" option.

Next, press and hold the Alt key, then input the number 255 using the numeric keypad located on the right side of your keyboard.

Important: The number keys positioned above the letter keys will not function for this process.

Laptop users can activate the numeric keypad by enabling Num Lock, allowing them to utilize the small number keys adjacent to the standard letter keys.

For the initial shortcut on your desktop, a single Alt+255 input is sufficient.

Subsequent shortcuts require repeated input – Alt+255 twice for the second, three times for the third, and so on.

This method utilizes the blank character generated by Alt+255, effectively naming the shortcut with an invisible character.

As duplicate filenames are prohibited, each subsequent shortcut receives an increasing number of blank characters in its name.

The result is a clean desktop icon, free from distracting text.

Compatibility and Considerations

This technique is generally applicable across various Windows versions, but yields optimal results on Windows 7 or Vista due to their aesthetically pleasing icons.

Renaming Folders

Applying this method to rename a folder may prevent renaming it back through the standard right-click method.

In such cases, a command prompt is required to restore the original name.

Navigate to the folder containing the renamed folder using the command prompt.

Execute the following command, replacing "NewFolderName" with your desired folder name:

ren "Alt+255" "NewFolderName"

Remember to physically type the Alt+255 characters where indicated in the command; they will appear as spaces.

Recycle Bin Icon

The Recycle Bin icon may not respond to this method consistently.

However, it functions correctly on Windows 7, and a dedicated guide should be consulted for specific instructions.