How can I hide the Homegroup icon on the desktop?

Question

Last night a Windows update on my Windows 7 machine added a new "Homegroup" icon to my desktop.

I don't want the icon on my desktop but can't see any way to get rid of it.

It's not listed in the desktop icons under personalisation settings and it's not a regular shortcut so can't be deleted in the usual manner. The context (right click) menu also provides no suitable option.

Any ideas?

score 13 · Answer 1 · edited Mar 17 '13 at 16:46

13

Go to "Folder Options"
Click "View"
Scroll down to "Use Sharing Wizard (Recommended)", it must be checked
Uncheck the checkbox
Click "Apply" (the icon will be removed from your desktop)
Recheck the checkbox (the icon will not be back)

edited Mar 17 '13 at 16:46

Indrek

24,204
14
90
93

answered Mar 17 '13 at 16:21

Glenn

131
1
2

Perfect, this works on Windows 8 too. I have no idea why the Homegroup icon suddenly appeared. Maybe it was because I updated my network drivers. – Wyatt O'Day Mar 25 '13 at 06:52
Much better and easier than the accepted, link-only answer. – Amos M. Carpenter Apr 10 '18 at 14:42
This worked for me on Windows 8 Enterprise. (However, the icon keeps reappearing occasionally, about once a month. I also don't know why the Homegroup icon suddenly appears.) – sonnyb Dec 17 '18 at 19:53

score 3 · Accepted Answer · edited Apr 17 '19 at 15:53

You need to modify some registry keys. Here are the instructions on Microsoft's Windows 7 forums:

To remove the Home desktop Group icon, you need to manually modify some registry key:

Open notepad and then copy the following text (without ===) into it.

================================
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\NewStartPanel]
"{B4FB3F98-C1EA-428d-A78A-D1F5659CBA93}"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\ClassicStartMenu]
"{B4FB3F98-C1EA-428d-A78A-D1F5659CBA93}"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\NewStartPanel]
"{B4FB3F98-C1EA-428d-A78A-D1F5659CBA93}"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\ClassicStartMenu]
"{B4FB3F98-C1EA-428d-A78A-D1F5659CBA93}"=dword:00000001
===========================================

Save the txt file and rename to xxx.reg. Then double click xxx.reg to import the registry key.

(answer by Thomas_77)

vassie · Answer 3 · 2011-09-26T15:31:20.693

3

Or, if you don't fancy modifying your registry, just stop and disable the follwing services:

HomeGroup Listener
HomeGroup Provider

Ben

edited Sep 26 '11 at 15:31

answered Jan 09 '11 at 22:47

vassie

426
1
4
12

For those who don't use HomeGroup at all, this is a much cleaner solution. – mindless.panda Aug 09 '11 at 00:57

score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Oct 17 '12 at 06:50

2

Following the link provided by Alex, I found an easy way to get rid of Homegroup icon from desktop.

Quote from zzark's answer:

right-click on the Homegroup icon, select homegroup settings, then select leave homegroup.

answered Oct 17 '12 at 06:50

elgrillo

121
3

I'm not sure that's what the poster meant, because he didn't say he wants to leave the homegroup - he might be using it, he just wants to remove it's icon from the desktop. – Michael Oct 17 '12 at 08:48

score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Mar 14 '16 at 19:13

0

Try right clicking on the desktop and clicking refresh. Simples

answered Mar 14 '16 at 19:13

BigBoz

11

2

Welcome to Superuser. Please edit your answer so that it fully explains why it solves the issue. – Bort Mar 14 '16 at 19:58
2

Welcome to Super User! While this may answer the question, it would be a better answer if you could provide some explanation **why** it does so. – DavidPostill Mar 14 '16 at 21:36
This worked for me (Windows 8) even though it's not a permanent solution. (I expect the icon will still randomly reappear someday.) If you have issues with the Homegroup icon randomly reappearing (and fully disabling the Homegroup features is not an option you want to take), this may be worth a shot. – sonnyb Apr 17 '19 at 13:52

score 0 · Answer 6 · answered Jun 24 '13 at 17:54

I had to revisit this as that icon reappeared on my desktop, and the answer in the form wasn't working. I was getting lots of import errors. so did a little more searching, and Found another answer as to how to get rid of the icon, that doesn't make you copy paste and import. nor does it have you leave the home group or disable related services

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-desktop/unable-to-remove-homegroup-icon/699c4550-c88e-4e0c-b30c-339ca25e52f8

How can I hide the Homegroup icon on the desktop?

6 Answers6