INVOLUNTARY ARRANGEMENT of DESKTOP ICON

Question

I am using W/D 11; Every time there is an update, my desktop icons change size and position on my screen. The same thing happens if I shut down and restart. I then have to spend time to "re-arrange".

Please don't tell me to "Disable Auto Arrange" or "Disable Grid Alignment", or re-engage grid alignment as I have done all that, with no affect.

This HAS to be a bug in the system. It's driving me insane.

Answer 1

Your desktop icons change because, for a reason unknown to me, when your computer restarts, your screen resolution starts off with a default resolution that is much lower than the resolution you have chosen in your graphics driver. Immediately after that, your chosen screen resolution takes effect.

For that instant that your monitor was displaying at a lower resolution, the icons became much larger, so there was simply no space on your screen to fit them all into the arrangement you previously had. Instead, the icons had to get out of each other's way, so they went anywhere they could find space. As a result, you look at your monitor and say "what the ...".

This typically happened in older versions of Windows and/or with older graphics drivers, when a driver was being updated. I haven't heard of it happening for a while, but it sure looks like it happened to you.

Your screen's resolution is setup early in the boot process. If you have ever made any adjustments in your graphics driver or other graphics software, that might be what's causing this. It could be something totally innocuous, but with a strange side-effect.

One way to check is to uninstall and reinstall all your graphics software (driver and any accessory apps) following the developer's instructions very carefully. But before you do that, here's something to consider: I presume that you are using your computer's graphics card to create graphics. Your computer almost certainly came from the factory with a graphics chip (often from Intel) built into the motherboard. You need to disable this onboard graphics (as it's known) in the BIOS. Otherwise, the computer will try to use both when it restarts.

Hoping for success!

Answer 2

Hi acme,

On Windows 11, desktop icon placement is dynamically recalculated during startup and updates based on display initialization (such as resolution, scaling, and graphics driver loading). When this process refreshes, icon layouts may be re‑adjusted even if Auto Arrange and Grid Alignment are already disabled.

Please try these following recommended workarounds to minimize the behavior:

1, Stabilize display settings

• Go to Settings > System > Display
• Ensure Resolution and Scale are set to Recommended
• Avoid custom scaling values if possible

2, Confirm primary display

• In Display settings, select your main monitor
• Check Make this my main display

3, Reset desktop layout data to refresh how desktop layout information is stored

• Restart Windows Explorer from Task Manager

Optionally, you can use a layout restore utility which allows you to save and quickly restore your preferred icon layout after restarts or updates.

Disclaimer: Microsoft provides no assurances and/or warranties, implied or otherwise, and is not responsible for the information you receive from the third-party linked sites or any support related to technology.

These steps do not change your desktop preferences but help ensure layout information is preserved more consistently across system refreshes.

Let me know if you need further assistance, feel free to ask me by clicking "Add Comment" or "Add Answer" if you cannot add comment so your response will be visible. Thanks for your effort.

---

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

Answer 3

Desktop icon rearrangement after updates and restarts is a known Windows issue in earlier versions (documented for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008). Microsoft has confirmed this behavior as a product problem in those versions, and it is related to how the shell saves and restores icon layout information.

For the documented case, Microsoft provided a fix as part of an update package (KB961085) that updated shell-related components. The article classifies it as a confirmed problem and references standard Microsoft software update terminology in KB824684.

While the context here only documents the confirmed bug and fix path for Vista/Server 2008, the pattern matches what is being experienced: icon size and position changes after system events such as updates or restarts, even when Auto Arrange and Align to Grid are disabled. In the documented scenario, the resolution was to apply the relevant Windows update that contained the fix.

Given this, the actionable guidance based on the available information is:

1. Ensure all current Windows 11 updates are installed, since similar shell issues in earlier versions were resolved via updates.
2. After updating, restart and verify whether the icon layout still changes.
3. If the behavior persists fully up to date, report it through the Windows Feedback mechanism so it can be tracked as a product issue, as was done historically for the Vista/Server 2008 case.

---

References:

• Desktop icons are unexpectedly rearranged on a Windows Vista-based or Windows Server 2008-based computer even though the Auto Arrange setting is turned off