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I have always wondered why you can do right-click > Refresh. It never seems to do anything. For a millisecond the icons disappear on the desktop and everything else does nothing. Why does windows have this option?

Right-click > Refresh on Desktop:

enter image description here

Steps to Reproduce

Minimize anything open or go to bottom-right corner and click to show desktop. Right click, and click refresh - the 3rd option.

Run5k
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Marvin
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  • Typically, if you save/copy a shortcut to your desktop and then delete it within File Explorer, you will still see it on your desktop. However, if you `right-click > Refresh` or simply press `F5`, it will update accordingly and disappear. – Run5k Sep 10 '18 at 20:37
  • https://www.thewindowsclub.com/refresh-desktop-folder-windows –  Sep 10 '18 at 20:38
  • You may then need to refresh your desktop manually in the following circumstances: 1.The desktop does not display the files or folders you just created, moved, deleted, renamed or saved on it 2.You need to re-align your desktop icons 3.You find that you cannot use the desktop icons. 4.Files that were created to the desktop by some 3rd-party application do not appear 5.And such similar situations where the contents of the desktop or the folder do not change when expected to. – Peter.G Sep 11 '18 at 02:42

2 Answers2

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Most likely, you will never need to use this. When you add a shortcut onto your desktop, it should refresh automatically because that is the way the Desktop is programmed in the Windows Operating System. If you have randomly placed your apps (folders, files, and shortcuts) on the desktop, unaligned, refresh will put it back in folder-file order, alphabetically and aligned. If you made a change to the desktop, you may need to use it then, too.

You can read about the refresh button here.

Marvin
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I have used it when my USB to HDMI port is not working correctly and my icons look off. I can right click and press refresh and it flickers the screen and then everything works.

Stephen Rauch
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Andre L Verdun
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