Make icon invisible

[doofenshmirtz]

Thanks Kari,

That gave the icon a 10-20% gradient fill, but I can still see it

thanks
goss

 

[doofenshmirtz]

Thanks all,

I like the Toolbar video and I used to clenaup my entire desktop
I love the minimalist look
However I hate point to Toolbar..point to subfolder..click on shortcut or document
I need to be faster than that

I did right click on Notepad and Excel in the Start..Program Panel
Chose properties and assigned a keyboard shortcut
Hopefully, the shortcut will remain in force at all times but I have already seen the keyboard shortcut not work as I was trying the different tutorials above

-Keyboard shortcut did not work once I put the shortcuts in a folder and added the folder to a toolbar

-Keyboard shortcut did not work when I sent the shortcut to the trash can

thanks
goss

 

[Kari]

That simply means you have Show hidden files and folders enabled in Folder Options > View. Disable it to hide the icons, files and folders you have chosen to hide.



Hiding icons is of course useless if you have chosen to show hidden files.

Kari

 

[ie9]

Thanks Kari,

That gave the icon a 10-20% gradient fill, but I can still see it

thanks
goss

Try this tutorial, making sure that you can't see hidden files and folders, and see if that makes them disappear: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/394-hidden-files-folders-show-hide.html?filter[2]

Edit: Dang it Kari
This is the tutorial showing you how to do what Kari said

 

[Dwarf]

Hi all,

Using Win 7 Home Premium 64 Bit
I added Notepad and Excel Icons to desktop and assigned shortcut keys
I would now like to make the icons invisible so as to clean up the desktop

I was able to make the text invisible with Alt + 0160
How can I make the icon invisible as well with the shortcut key still functioning

Thanks
goss

This is quite simple. All you need are some blank icons, such as these: View attachment Blank Icons.zip Extract the contents, and save the resultant folder in the root of your HDD.

To change the icon of a folder/file, simply point it to one of these files within this folder (I suggest the 256 x 256.ico file).

Changing the shortcut overlay requires a little more work, and it involves editing the registry. Note that because we will be dealing with the HKLM branch, the editor will need to be run in elevated mode.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Icons]
"29"="C:\\Blank Icons\\16 x 16.ico"

The following two files make the necessary changes to the registry, the first removing the shortcut and the second restoring it. As mentioned above, because these keys affect the HKLM branch of the registry, you need to be using an account with administrative privileges in order to be able to successfully merge the files into the registry.

View attachment remove overlay.reg

View attachment restore overlay.reg

Note that you will need to log off/on or restart for the change to take effect.

 

[Kari]

Please geeks, allow me to say this and then I stay silent: I can not understand how a simple task like this is becoming so complicated. The easiest, simplest and fastest way is to use shortcut properties to hide the shortcut icon. No need for registry editing, blank icons and hidden characters in shortcut name.

If Show hidden files and folders is not enabled in Folder Options, this hides the icon (or using OP's words makes it invisible). Assigned keyboard shortcut works also if or when shortcut is hidden.

Kari

 

[Dwarf]

I understand what you are saying, Kari, but your method simply removes them from the desktop altogether.The shortcuts simply aren't displayed any more, nor can they be clicked on. With my method, you can hide the shortcut icons (both the icon itself and the overlay), but if you click on the desktop where the icon used to be (it will highlight as you mouse over it) you will still open the relevant program/file. In other words, they are still there, but they are invisible.

Here are 2 shortcuts for the same program, one visible and the other invisible. Note that I have also removed the shortcut overlays.

 

[Kari]

Dwarf, it might be English being a foreign language to me, but I read OP that he does not want the icon to stay clickable on desktop. He wants to hide (= "make invisible") the icon and use assigned keyboard shortcut to launch it.

For OP's question, hiding the icon is most elegant, easy to use and simplest solution. It also is the easiest to revert when / if needed.

Kari

 

[Dwarf]

Dwarf, it might be English being a foreign language to me, but I read OP that he does not want the icon to stay clickable on desktop. He wants to hide (= "make invisible") the icon and use assigned keyboard shortcut to launch it.

For OP's question, hiding the icon is most elegant, easy to use and simplest solution. It also is the easiest to revert when / if needed.

Kari

I know where you're coming from, Kari, but he does state the following here:

Thanks Mike,

Sorry if I was clear
I want to make icons invisible on a one-on-one basis, not all icons

thanks
goss

 

[Kari]

And? Choose the icon you want to make invisible and set it to Hidden. One-by-one.

 

[Dwarf]

That method does work, however it is dependant on the folder options you stated above. My method works, and is not dependant on these options. Neither method affects the use (or otherwise) of any keyboard shortcuts assigned to it.

 

[whs]

I like the Toolbar video and I used to clenaup my entire desktop
I love the minimalist look
However I hate point to Toolbar..point to subfolder..click on shortcut or document
I need to be faster than that

Yes it is 2 clicks, but the advantage is that it is always available in the taskbar whilst your desktop is not. You have to also either click on something or Win+D to get to the desktop. And then your have to find your way back to where you were. But if you want really fast, get a dock and hide it. For the "fast ones", I use Rocket Dock.

Please geeks, allow me to say this and then I stay silent: I can not understand how a simple task like this is becoming so complicated. The easiest, simplest and fastest way is to use shortcut properties to hide the shortcut icon. No need for registry editing, blank icons and hidden characters in shortcut name.

You are right Kari. But there are some traps as you have seen with my unhidden folders.

 

[ie9]

You are right Kari. But there are some traps as you have seen with my unhidden folders.

Yes, that does set you back, but the average user doesn't have hidden folders shown as they aren't shown by default.

It could be argued that if a user knows how to show hidden files and folders, then they would know how to turn them off again

 

[whs]

You are right Kari. But there are some traps as you have seen with my unhidden folders.

Yes, that does set you back, but the average user doesn't have hidden folders shown as they aren't shown by default.

It could be argued that if a user knows how to show hidden files and folders, then they would know how to turn them off again

LOL - what else does one have to remember. Even a non-average user forgets things. And an average user probably does not want to muck around with it in the first place.

 

[ie9]

LOL - what else does one have to remember. Even a non-average user forgets things. And an average user probably does not want to muck around with it in the first place.

Sure people forget things, but a semi-transparent icon says to me that it's hidden, maybe I've messed around with hidden files too much though.

And saying that the average user doesn't want to muck with hidden folders explains my reasoning for using the hidden file/folder method to make it disappear anyways. Just change it to hidden and you're set.

Bottom line is that we've given the OP two effective methods to accomplish the task that they set out to do. Everyone will choose the method they want to and we now have documentation on our options should anyone ask on how to make their folders/files invisible in the future.

 

[Dwarf]

Unfortunately, I have discovered that my method of hiding the shortcut overlay doesn't work correctly. It appears to, but when I restart the area of the main icon where the shortcut overlay is normally located is missing.

However, there is an alternative way of achieving this. Again, this involves editing the HKLM branch of the registry, so this will need to be done by running regedit with administrative credentials.

Browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\lnkfile



To remove the shortcut overlay, delete the IsShortcut entry.



To reinstate the shortcut overlay, simply reinstate the IsShortcut entry (this is a String Value).

As before, log off/on or restart for changes to take effect.

 

[ie9]

snip...

If you've put that much time into it, you might as well make it a tutorial

 

[Dwarf]

I might just do that.

However, this has left me with a puzzling question regarding the shortcut overlays. Why does my first method appear to work, even after logging off/on, but exhibit this problem on a restart?