Solved Dotted Box around Desktop Icons

[stone]

This little dotted outline has just started appearing around desktop icons. I can control it with the arrow keys and use it to select icons that way.

What I can't seem to do is switch it off. Clicking off the desktop makes it disappear, but as soon as I click back on the desktop it returns. It wasn't doing this until just recently and I don't know what i did to enable this function - or how to turn it off.

I have no use for it and it looks a bit naff. How do I get rid of it?

-Stone

 

[harpua]

It's a normal feature of Windows 7 that you probably just never noticed before. It tells you which is the icon that is selected and would be activated if you didn't have a mouse or touchpad to navigate and click with or just didn't want to use them. Seems kind of innocuous and useful to me. I don't think it can be turned off (well maybe with editing the registry) but I don't think it would be a good idea.

 

[Ryan2320]

Have you tried the Show Desktop Button in the Corner.. Click that..

Hope that Helps..

 

[stone]

Harpua - I didn't not notice it before: it wasn't there before! As for it indicating which icon would be selected if I didn't have a mouse or touchpad ... well, yes ... that's its function, but it's redundant - I have a mouse! And it wasn't there before.

Ryan 2320 - the show desktop button does not turn it off.

Does everyone else with Windows 7 have this box around one of their icons? Is there anyone who DOESN'T??

 

[Hakon]

i had the same problem, http://www.sevenforums.com/general-discussion/31969-border-around-icons-desktop.html
i guess there is no way to turn this off

 

[stone]

Hakon - I don't accept that there's no way to turn this off. It's definitely something that's been turned on - a function. It appears in other places where it didn't before too:



It doesn't have the dots, but it's the same thing here, around the favourites folder. It's like 'select/navigate with keyboard' has been ticked somewhere.

Surely not everyone is having this issue, and therefore it's an option that can be switched off. It was off!!!

 

[copernicus]

It's always been there, I know because I used it constantly. You've never noticed it.

Hit tab and it'll move to focus to the desktop to "nothing" to system tray, then to the show desktop button.

That's the "focus" square, it's been in play since at least windows 2000.

So you're answer is "tab" but the focus is gonna be elsewhere.

In explorer tab moves you from left pane -> right pane -> menu bar.

 

[stone]

Just to test I really wasn't going mad I restored my computer from a previous system image I made the other day (trying out the new win7 function). I remembered that this box thing wasn't happening when I made the backup.

Sure enough, in the restored version I'm running now, it's no longer happening on the desktop. I can click on the desktop and no outline appears around any icon.

Something is definitely going on. I will stay vigilant and try to notice what happens before it turns on again (if it ever does) and post any solution I find here. (Hakon - don't lose hope! )

- Stone

(if anyone else figures it out in the mean-time, please let us know!)

EDIT: just to be clear copernicus - I'd click on a desktop icon, it would highlight (translucent box effect around the icon) and then I would click on the desktop and the dotted line would remain where the highlight once was, around the icon.

Now, ater the restore, I click on the icon and it is highlighted. I click onto the desktop and the highlight disappears (as before) but NO dotted line remains arounf the previously selected icon.

If it's 'always been there' how do you explain the difference? Hmmm?

 

[smarteyeball]

Does everyone else with Windows 7 have this box around one of their icons?

Yes.

 

[davehc]

No. This may work for you. Right click the desktop. View - Change the size of the icons to another one of the three options and apply. Now you can change back again and the rectangle may be gone.

 

[Hakon]

Well, i really don't like that border.
It does in fact only appear sometimes, and thats what pisses me off.
Has someone bothered checking the registry for this? I'm gonna have a look later today

 

[copernicus]

Just to test I really wasn't going mad I restored my computer from a previous system image I made the other day (trying out the new win7 function). I remembered that this box thing wasn't happening when I made the backup.

Sure enough, in the restored version I'm running now, it's no longer happening on the desktop. I can click on the desktop and no outline appears around any icon.

Something is definitely going on. I will stay vigilant and try to notice what happens before it turns on again (if it ever does) and post any solution I find here. (Hakon - don't lose hope! )

- Stone

(if anyone else figures it out in the mean-time, please let us know!)

EDIT: just to be clear copernicus - I'd click on a desktop icon, it would highlight (translucent box effect around the icon) and then I would click on the desktop and the dotted line would remain where the highlight once was, around the icon.

Now, ater the restore, I click on the icon and it is highlighted. I click onto the desktop and the highlight disappears (as before) but NO dotted line remains arounf the previously selected icon.

If it's 'always been there' how do you explain the difference? Hmmm?

Just hit refresh on the desktop, that square will go away. It shows up when you start navigating the desktop with the keyboard.

 

[stone]

Just hit refresh on the desktop, that square will go away. It shows up when you start navigating the desktop with the keyboard.

If navigating the desktop with the keyboard switches it on, then what I'm after is a means to turn it off again. Hitting refresh doesn't do this, except briefly, since the box returns once more when the desktop is clicked on with the mouse - which i think you'll agree is definitely not keyboard navigation!

There may be a way to turn this function on - but the off button seems to be elusive or at the whim of some inattentive/malaevolent pixie hiding in the code somewhere. That can't be right.

Where's the bloody off switch?

 

[copernicus]

Weird. It get's rid of it for me.

 

[ManyBeers]

View attachment 34459

This little dotted outline has just started appearing around desktop icons. I can control it with the arrow keys and use it to select icons that way.

What I can't seem to do is switch it off. Clicking off the desktop makes it disappear, but as soon as I click back on the desktop it returns. It wasn't doing this until just recently and I don't know what i did to enable this function - or how to turn it off.

I have no use for it and it looks a bit naff. How do I get rid of it?

-Stone

Mine doesn't do that.


I think it is called Universal Focus Rectangle.

 

[stone]

Well inexplicably it re-appeared after a day or two. I had to restart because of some updates and it wasn't there on reboot.

There has to be a better way to get rid of it than restarting your computer though. Clearly some people are saying it goes away on refresh or re-sizing their icons, some people it disappears for by itself and some people it's never going away for.

It's a damn arbitrary function, whatever the case. Also a (minor) annoyance. Until someone finds a sure-fire way to switch it off that works for everyone (without rebooting) I guess it'll remain that way.

Thanks everyone.

 

[PassTheJelly]

Updates?

Hiya, I'm just wondering if there's been any updates that never got posted. Anyone find a fix for this?? I just installed Windows 7 today and I noticed the 'thing' appear around my desktop icons. It really cheapens the look of W7 so I wish I could make it disappear.
I did two things right before it started doing that...I adjusted the icon size on the desktop, and I was also playing around with the onscreen keyboard/writing tablet, right before I noticed the 'thing' but I'm not sure that's what caused it.
Please let me know! Thanks!

 

[Fjtorsol]

This is a Windows 7 bug it's more frequent in 64 bit that 32 bit it appears some time after being logged in, this selection box is redundant. In Vista this dotted box appeared in explorer Windows but not in desktop now the bug has been moved to desktop. But you have to remember that this is a Microsoft OS don't hope them to fix it (i.e.: the luna silver style in Windows XP, inactive close buttons were shown as pressed and the startmenu button had a shown alpha channel pixel, a pink dot). Another bug like this is the corner of the weather gadget when the day is sunny it shows as diagonal instead of round. That's one of the main differences between Apple and MS (each has it's pros and it's cons).

 

[Slimer]

Hiya, I'm just wondering if there's been any updates that never got posted. Anyone find a fix for this?? I just installed Windows 7 today and I noticed the 'thing' appear around my desktop icons. It really cheapens the look of W7 so I wish I could make it disappear.
I did two things right before it started doing that...I adjusted the icon size on the desktop, and I was also playing around with the onscreen keyboard/writing tablet, right before I noticed the 'thing' but I'm not sure that's what caused it.
Please let me know! Thanks!
View attachment 42041

The focus box appears when the desktop's icon size is adjusted. I noticed it appeared after adjusting the desktop's icon size by clicking on a clear spot on the desktop and then holding the control key while scrolling the mouse scroll wheel. This increases and decreases the size of the desktop icons. After reading another post explaining this and actually doing it, the box appeared and I have not been able to turn it off.

I found this post after searching for some way to turn it off and thought it might help us all find a solution if I posted how I actually activated it.

For now, the only solution I see is to turn off all desktop icons. Right click a clear spot on the desktop, click view, then uncheck "show desktop icons." I have the recycle bin and all the program icons I use either on the quick launch bar or on the taskbar and have turned off all desktop icons.

Sorry, I couldn't be much help; but hopefully someone else will come along and explain how to turn the stupid focus box off.

 

[Greg S]

Does everyone else with Windows 7 have this box around one of their icons?

Yes and No. Yes in that sometimes it will appear if triggered by some action, such as right click, select all. No in that most of the time it's normal with the translucent selection around it.