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Resources Windows 8 Prevent Changing Desktop Icons on Windows 8/8.1

Prevent Changing Desktop Icons on Windows 8/8.1

By Jennifer | Last Updated

As you may know, by default, you are able to show or hide desktop icons, and change desktop icons in the Desktop Icon Settings dialog (see the picture below) on Windows computer. From the opposite perspective, you can prevent changing desktop icons when necessary. And this article will show you how to make it on Windows 8 by 3 steps.

dektop icon settings

Video guide on how to prevent changing desktop icons on Windows 8:

Steps to prevent changing desktop icons on Windows 8/8.1:

Step 1: Open the Local Group Policy Editor.

Step 2: Find and open the "Prevent changing desktop icons" setting.

In more detail, it is located in User Configuration/Administrative Templates/Control Panel/Personalization.

open prevent changing desktop icons setting

Step 3: Choose Enabled and select OK to enable this setting.

choose enabled

After these three steps, the setting takes effect immediately, which means you or any other user is unable to access the Desktop Icon Settings dialog to make any changes. More specifically speaking, no matter who wants to get into the Desktop Icon Settings, the Display Settings prompt box appears, with a message explaining that the launching of the Display Control Panel has been disabled.

the setting to change desktop icons disabled

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