Bring Back the Show Desktop Icon

One of the most useful icons on the Quick Launch bar is the Show Desktop icon. Clicking it instantly minimizes all open windows, so you can work with icons and shortcuts on the desktop. Unfortunately, it's easy to accidentally delete this icon. If that happens to you, relax and follow these simple steps to re-create the Show Desktop icon.

1. Open Notepad, or your favorite text editor.

2. Use your mouse to select the following lines exactly as I've entered them, and then right-click and choose Copy.

[Shell]
Command=2
IconFile=explorer.exe,3
[Taskbar]
Command=ToggleDesktop


3. Click in the empty document in your text editor and choose Edit, Paste.

4. Choose File, Save As. For the name of the new file, enter "Show Desktop.scf" (be sure to include the quotation marks). For the Save in location, choose the C:/Windows/System folder (if you use Windows NT or Windows 2000, you may need to select the C:/Winnt/System32 folder).

5. Close Notepad.

6. Open Windows Explorer, navigate to the Windows/System folder, and find the Show Desktop.scf file you just created. Click to select that file.

7. Hold down the right mouse button and drag the Show Desktop.scf onto an empty space on the Quick Launch bar. When you release the mouse button, choose Create Shortcut(s) Here from the pop-up menu.

The Show Desktop icon now appears on the Quick Launch toolbar where it belongs.