Desktop icons move from main screen to extended screen monitor

Question

I have been using this setup with my laptop for 18 months so I am familiar with extended screen usage.  Two days ago a problem started.  I have a laptop with 17" screen set to the Main Display plus a 22" not checked to be the Main Display.  Screen Resolution > Multiple Displays = Extend these displays.  Desktop right click > View > Auto Arrange is Not checked.  Sort By options are unchecked.  Personalization > Allow themes to change desktop icons is Not checked.

I have all my desktop icons arranged on the laptop screen which is set to be Main Display.

New Problem: 

When I plug the extended monitor cable into the laptop or when I fresh bootup or if I had changed the Appearance settings from extended to duplicate or to the external 22" to be off and then turn it back to being extended, any of those things, to basically use the 2nd monitor as extended will cause all the desktop icons to move to the extended 22" screen space.  They are supposed to stay anchored to the laptop Main screen since that is how it is allocated.  This worked fine until two days ago and I was not playing with any settings before it happened.

If I unplug the external monitor or set it to be unused or as a duplicate image then the icons return to the main laptop monitor.

I use a freeware IconRestorer to save and restore the last saved desktop layout.  Since this problem started it restores to the extended monitor not back to the laptop main screen like it had previously.  I have killed IconRestorer from the background to see if it was causing the problem and it had no affect.

With the icons showing on the extended 22" monitor and I unplug the video cable for it the icons move to the laptop screen however they are rearranged.  Each time I try that the icons form a different layout and order on the laptop screen. 

I can then run IconRestorer with the 22" still unplugged from the laptop and all the icons will be restored properly.  So I conclude IconRestorer is working fine.  The problem seems to be that Win 7 thinks the Laptop screen is not the main screen even though it is checked as to be the main screen.

Once only while repeating these various steps, after the icons are restored with the 2nd monitor unplugged, then plug it back in all looks fine but if I do the IconRestorer restore all the icons again get placed to the extended 22" screen.  Usually plugging the extended monitor back in causes the icons to jump to that monitor.

Note that when the laptop is checked to be the Main screen the taskbar is located on the laptop monitor so it only partially thinks the extended screen should be the main screen.  If I set the extended 22" as the Main screen then the task bar jumps to the extended screen and all the desktop icons come back to the laptop screen.

It never worked like that before.  I also am running win 7 on desktop with 4 monitors and all icons being on main screen at far left and that still works fine including the use of IconRestorer.

***Post moved by the moderator to the appropriate forum category.***

Answer 1

BUG IS DUE TO INCONSISTENT ORIGIN OF ICON POSITIONING WITH/WITHOUT EXTENDED DISPLAY

This bug needs to be fixed by Microsoft.

I have an extended second display set to portrait on left Of my laptop display when at home office; when I travel, I do not have it connected. 

When I position icons as desired on my main laptop display, their positioning seems calculated from upper left corner of extended display when it is connected, but from upper left corner of main laptop display when it is not. 

If I disconnect or reconnect the extended display, the icons either shift position or get scrambled.  When I travel without the extended display they shift down-right on the main display as though calculated from the disconnected, now missing, extended display at left, and some move off the screen down-right completely and cannot be found or moved back. 

File explorer shows the missing icons as present on the desktop, but they are not visible and there is no way to move them from File Explorer to a visible position on the desktop, as Windows says they are already there, though they are invisibly positioned.  The only way to get them to show is to use "Automatic Positioning", which scrambles them.

A correct fix must be to freeze positioning reference to main screen origin position regardless of presence or absence of extended display.  This needs to be a setting, preferably a default, that is now missing in Windows 10.

Do you hear me, Microsoft????????

Answer 2

Hi,

I know this post/thread is somewhat old but this might help anyone who does a search and lands on this page.

I also had a similar problem in windows 10. The icons would always come on to the extended monitor after every restart or waking up from sleep.

Even if I press Win+P and select only one monitor and then extend, the icons would jump over.

The way I solved it was so easy and it was by accident.

While on the desktop hold down the Ctrl key and scroll your mouse wheel up or down. This will make the icons larger or smaller. By changing the icon size the icons jumped back to the main monitor and stayed there.

The strange thing is that it does not matter if I make them one click larger or one click smaller. That is all it takes to fix it for me.

This problem only came up after the Resdstone 2 update.

Answer 3

This is a bug that's been there for years and not fixed. here's how I work around it:

For me this problem only occurs when I have moved my default second screen to the left of the main monitor - the taskbar stays with the primary monitor but all the icons shift left onto the second monitor.

1. Plug in the second monitor which physically sits to the left of your primary screen
2. Right click the desktop, choose Graphic Options>Output To>Extended Desktop> Built-in display + Monitor.
3. Extended desktop enabled, but screen 2 (on the left) can only be accessed by moving the cursor to the right!
4. right click the desktop and choose Graphic Properties - choose 'Multiple Displays' from the side menu.
5. Move monitor 2 from it's default 'Right' side to the left - ALL THE ICONS GO WITH IT to screen 2 but the taskbar stays on the primary monitor!!!!!
6. Click 'Apply' to accept this (temporarily) - close the 'properties' window.
7. Right Click the desktop, but this time choose 'Screen Resolution'.  Ensure that screen 2 is to the left - if not, move it.
8. Click on screen 1 and ENSURE IT SAYS 'This is currently your main display'
9. Click on screen 2 and tick the box that says 'Make this my main display' -the taskbar should move to screen 2.
10. FINALLY click on Screen 1 again and tick the box that says 'Make this my main display' -the taskbar AND ALL THE ICONS should move back to screen 1.

Works every time for me.

BE AWARE - there are lots of bugs around extended desktop - beware of letting the machine hibernate or sleep in extended desktop mode and disconnecting the extended screen - mine wakes up defaulting only to the extended screen (my main screen is blank whatever I choose to do) - Blind hard reboot required

every time and lost data ensues...

Answer 4

I had a similar experience with my Desktop - recently for one user-id only, the Desktop icons would appear upon login, on the "Extended to" screen.  The only solution that worked for me was the following:

From the taskbar, right-click and select Taskbar settings.

Select "Themes" from the left-hand side menu

Then in the top right of the screen select "Desktop icon settings"

Hit "Restore Default", and uncheck all the Desktop icon checkboxes, also unselect "Allow themes to change desktop icons" then hit Apply.

Hopefully this will reinstate the Desktop icons back to the Main display.

You can then reselect the Desktop icons checkboxes, if you had then previously selected.

For now, I'm leaving the "Allow themes to change desktop icons" unchecked.

Answer 5

Themes->Manage desktop Icons ->untick recycle bin. Apply. -> tick recycle bin. apply. Fixed mine instantly.