This Samsul article will tell you about various methods to fix the inability to move desktop icons in Windows 11. Recently some users reported a rather unique problem – they cannot move application icons on their desktop from one location to another. At first, they thought that the display might have frozen, but that wasn’t the case because they didn’t interact with all the other display elements on their screen.
Their mouse and trakpad worked fine and well along the expected lines. So no problem with peripherals. In this case, we get a few tweaks that manage to spell success for most of the affected users. So, if you are also currently facing the problem of not being able to move desktop icons in Windows, follow the various fixes.
How To Fix: Cannot Move Windows 11 Desktop Icons
Note that nothing is universal like this. You should try each of the solutions mentioned below and see which one works best for you. So with this in mind, let’s get started.
Method 1: Pressing Esc Key Three times
This is the simplest and easiest fix that comes with the highest success rate. All you need to do is press the Esc key three times continuously and the problem will be solved.
Method 2: Align Icons to Grid
Next, you should consider disabling the auto align icons feature and switching to align icons to grid instead. Here’s how it can be done:
- To start with, right click in an empty location Desktop you.
- Then select View and uncheck Auto arrange icons.
- After that check the option Align icons to grid.
Now try moving the icon anywhere on your Windows 11 Desktop and see if the problem is fixed or not.
Method 3: Resize Icons
Another good solution involves changing the icon size from the default value to small or large and then trying to move the icon. So right click at an empty location in desktop you and go to View.
Then select the Small or Medium icon and check if you can move the icons on your Windows 11 desktop or not. Whatever the outcome, be sure to switch back to the default size when you’re done with this tweak.
Method 4: Change Display Scale
You can also consider changing the style and layout of text, apps, icons, and other display elements. Note that this can cause a temporary viewing experience and render the text unreadable. So we’re just going to scale the display for a few seconds to check if that fixes the underlying problem.
- Use hotkeys Windows+I to open the Settings menu and go to the section System in the left pane, and select Display on the right.
- Then click the drop-down menu next to Scale and choose 100% or 150%.
- Now minimize this settings page via shortcut Windows+D and try moving the icon on your Windows 11 PC, whether the problem is fixed or not.
- Whatever the result, use the shortcut Windows+D to reopen the minimized settings menu and return to the original 125% scale.
Method 5: Reset Folder Options
If you didn’t make any changes to the UI of the folder or change its settings, then you should consider doing a factory reset.
- To get started, use the hotkey Windows+E to open File Explorer.
- Then click on three horizontal dots which is on the top menu bar and select Options.
- After that, click the button Restore Defaults under the Folder Options dialog box.
- Then go to tab View and click Reset Folders.
- Next. Click option Restore Defaults.
- Finally, click Apply > OK to save changes.
Check if you can now move icons on your Windows 11 Desktop or not.
Method 6: Using Registry Editor Tweak
In this method, we will change the iconSpacing value of Windows 11 via its registry entry.
- Start by opening the Registry Editor via the Start Menu.
- Then copy + paste below location in address bar:
ComputerHKE Y_CURRENT_USERControl PanelDesktopWindowMetrics
- Now double click on the file IconSpacing the one on the right.
- Enter a numeric value between 480 an -2730 (eg: -1128) and press OK.
- Now restart your PC and try moving the icon. the problem must be fixed.
So that was the guide on how you can fix the issue of not being able to move Desktop icons on Windows 11. Hope this helps
