Click the indicated search result to open the Registry Editor.

To get started, launch the Windows Registry Editor by searching for regedit via the Start Menu search feature or Cortana. Therefore, make sure to avoid changing or removing any Registry entries not referenced here, and you may want to consider making a backup of your Registry and PC data before you dive in, just for good measure. It’s first important to note that this tip involves making changes to the Windows Registry, which is a crucial database of low-level system settings. Thankfully, you can remove the shortcut arrow from your desktop application icons by making a small change in your Windows Registry. This can be helpful for easily distinguishing between shortcuts and original files but it’s not the most aesthetically pleasing way to showcase your application icons. When you create a shortcut to an application or file, or if an application’s installer automatically places a shortcut on your desktop, Windows 10 (and previous versions of Windows, too) identifies the icon as a shortcut by placing a small arrow in the lower-left corner.

Update : We have been informed that the steps in this article may no longer work for the latest versions of Windows 10, including the Fall Creators Update.

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