How to backup (and restore) your desktop icons

How to backup (and restore) your desktop icons
(Image credit: Laptop Mag)

Desktop icons are a preference, and a personal one at that. Unfortunately, they happen to get moved around quite a bit. Whether that’s caused by a new user, a desktop resolution change, or a software update, we’ve got you covered in getting everything back to exactly the way you like it. 

DesktopIconManager, a freely available app does a good job of memorizing the location and restoring it whenever you want to go back to your own system. It can also save multiple configurations of the Desktop. This will come in handy if a machine is a public or shared PC and you would like to make desktop tweaks that don’t disappear once someone else uses the machine. 

The app has a small footprint and it opens in a small, unobtrusive window. In addition to the basic memorize and restore buttons, there are a handful of other options available. Automatically restoring icon positions everyday to previously memorized default, for example, or memorizing newer positions at different times during the day. Or, you can just use it as a way to save multiple icon locations, or the preferences of multiple users.

(Image credit: Laptop Mag)

1) In a browser open http://www.parker9.com/desktopIconManager4.html#d. <safari.png>

2) Click Download on the Desktop Icon Manager app page. <download.png>

(Image credit: Laptop Mag)

3) In the security warning pop-up, select Allow. <allow.png>

(Image credit: Laptop Mag)

4) In Downloads, open the downloaded DesktopIconManager folder. <open.png>

(Image credit: Laptop Mag)

5) In the folder, open the DIM application file. <open2.png>

(Image credit: Laptop Mag)

6) In the security warning pop-up, select Open. <open3.png>

(Image credit: Laptop Mag)

7) In the DIM window, select Memorize Icon Positions to backup the desktop icons. <memorize.png>

(Image credit: Laptop Mag)

8) When needed, click Restore Icon Positions. <restore.png>

(Image credit: Laptop Mag)

Note: You can also select Automatically Restore Icon Position at start instead of manually doing it.