Desktop icons I would like to remove.

It seems those folders have been remapped to show on your desktop. Technically they aren't just normal folders but system folders just remapped. That's why you weren't able to delete them.

Try restoring the location to default, lets see if that would fix it.

Open File Explorer Press Windows + E, then click This PC on the left.

Right-click “Documents” → Properties (The same “Documents” that appears under “This PC,” not the desktop icon.)

Select the Location tab. You should see something like:

C:\Users\dalew\Desktop

or

C:\Users\dalew\Documents

If the latter points to your Desktop, it’s the wrong place.

Click Restore Default, which should reset it to:

C:\Users\dalew\Documents

Click Apply → when prompted “Do you want to move all files from the old location to the new location?” choose Yes.

Repeat the same for Music, Pictures, and Videos if they also appear on the desktop.

That's good, so we can focus on just your own desktop folder.

Press Windows + R, type:

%userprofile%\Desktop
and press Enter.

A File Explorer window will open showing the actual contents of your desktop.

Please check:

• Do you see Gallery, Documents, Home, and Music listed here?
• Do they have a small arrow icon on the lower-left corner (that means they’re shortcuts)?
• Or do they look like folders without arrows?

Actually, none of the entries there are unusual or directly responsible for the desktop icons you showed (Gallery, Documents, Home, and Music). Is it coming from the shared folder?

Press Windows + R, type:

C:\Users\Public\Desktop

and hit Enter.

If the same icons appear there, delete them (you might need admin rights).

Thanks for sharing the details, Dale! I see what you mean, these icons are system or user folder shortcuts that Windows sometimes places there when a configuration, theme, or OneDrive/Desktop setting changes. I believe you used the desktop then personalize options to remove most of them.

Try these extra steps to remove the remaining icons that you don't want there.

• Press Win + R, type regedit, press Enter.
• Navigate to:
  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace
• Inside, look for subkeys referring to Gallery, Music, etc.
• Carefully right-click and Delete those entries (only if you’re sure they match these icons).

Warning: Editing the registry incorrectly can affect your system. Consider backing it up first: File → Export → Save as registry_backup.reg.

See if this helps. If you need further assistance just let me know.

Best regards,

Kimberly