A few years ago I used to have a Windows desktop covered in icons, which was almost a throwback to the old Windows 3 Program Manager (I think that’s what it was called, but I had to look it up). In recent years, I’ve tended to go for a much cleaner look to the desktop and use a lot of shortcuts to start applications instead.
I dislike having the Recycle Bin on the desktop, which is there by default, but because Microsoft have been shuffling settings around a lot, I never remember where the setting is to turn it off, so this post is a reminder.
To switch off (or on) the desktop icons, launch the Themes Settings applet by right-clicking the desktop and select Personalise (or launch it using the ms-settings:themes URi).
When launched, select Desktop icon settings on the right (or at the bottom if the window is narrow):
