Hide, Delete, or Destroy the Recycle Bin Icon in Windows 7 or Vista

I’ve never found the recycle bin on the desktop very useful, so I almost always disable it as one of the first things that I do. Windows 7 or Vista has an even simpler way to hide the icon than XP does, but why couldn’t they have disabled it by default?

Deleting in Vista

Just right-click on the icon and select delete from the menu. It’s as simple as that.

Deleting from Windows 7

Right-click on the desktop, choose Personalize, then choose Desktop Icon settings on the left-hand side.

Then simply remove the check from the box:

Note that you can also configure this from the Desktop Icon Settings in Personalization.

If you’ve removed or lost system icons on your desktop, you can restore them easily.

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Restore Missing Desktop Icons in Windows 7 or Vista

If you’ve removed your recycle bin icon, or you previously added the some of the “special” icons like Computer, User or Control Panel to the desktop and they are now missing, you might want to know how to add them back.

Go to Control Panel \ Personalize (or right-click on the desktop and select Personalize), and then choose the link for “Change Desktop Icons” on the left-hand side.

Now you can chose the icons you want back on the desktop by checking the box next to the name:

Click the Apply button, and you should see the icon show up on the desktop immediately.

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