Removing all icons from the desktop

No matter how hard I try, I always end up with a lot of junk on my desktop. Programs that I download and documents that I was too lazy to save elsewhere as well as new program links that seem to pop up from nowhere: There is never an end to the war that I fight with my desktop to keep it clutter-free. I like to be able to see my desktop wallpaper and not have my view of the wallpaper blocked by useless icons. One cool way to win the never-ending desktop war is to just disable the desktop's ability to show the icons and instead place the most common desktop icons such as My Computer and the Recycle Bin on the Quick Launch bar.

Disabling the icons on the desktop is actually a very simple task. Most people never know about this feature because it was placed where you would never expect it in previous versions of Windows. In Windows Vista, Microsoft finally got it right. Just right-click your desktop, expand View, and then select Show Desktop Icons. Almost instantly, the icons disappear.

Don't worry; the icons and folder on your desktop were not deleted. If you ever want to turn the icons back on, just repeat the preceding steps once more.