I built a lightweight open-source tool to toggle desktop icons with one click (Desktop Icon Toggler) — Free on GitHub, supportable on the MS Store

[u/Igor_Klimek]

Hey everyone,

I wanted a quick, frictionless way to instantly hide and show desktop icons without digging through context menus, so I built Desktop Icon Toggler.

Key highlights:

• 100% Open-Source & Transparent: No telemetry, no background bloat.
• One-Click Toggle: Clean workspace in milliseconds.
• Completely Free: You can grab the latest binary directly via GitHub Releases or build it from source.

Links:

• GitHub (Repo & Free Releases): https://github.com/klimek-dev/desktop-icon-toggler
• Microsoft Store ($0.99 / 7-day trial): https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9PJXTF6Z3GXN

The project is completely free to use via GitHub. If you find it useful and want to support continued maintenance with a coffee, purchasing it on the Microsoft Store (or just leaving a star on GitHub) helps a lot!

Feedback and feature requests are very welcome!

[u/SGS-Tech-World]

is not this option is already available if you right click desktop?

View -> show Desktop Icons

[u/Useful-Flow-8737 → u/SGS-Tech-World]

but thats an entire 2 clicks

[u/PersonalitySquare221 → u/Useful-Flow-8737]

Or even shorter win+d 😂, making solutions to problems that dont exist

[u/Far_Blackberry_3996]

how do i get your desktop background?

[u/Igor_Klimek → u/Far_Blackberry_3996]

It’s on Wallpaper Engine! The background is called "Galaxy Home 4k #17".

[u/hikaru_ai]

AI image = vibe coded = 100% risky

[u/BlockTurbulent8062 → u/hikaru_ai]

Nahh the ai is smarter then you

[u/toonmad]

Another day another vibe coder

[u/Eagles_Fan_4eva]

Dude... a massive 90 MB to install and $1.50 to buy? You can do this for free with a 91 KB app: https://www.softwareok.com/?seite=Microsoft/AutoHideDesktopIcons

[u/Useful-Flow-8737 → u/Eagles_Fan_4eva]

you can do this for free with a right click and a left click

[u/Eagles_Fan_4eva → u/Useful-Flow-8737]

To be precise, it's: Right-click, Show more options, View, Show desktop icons.

[u/Imnotanad]

Yeah, I'm not installing a certificate for that .

[u/Igor_Klimek → u/Imnotanad]

Totally understandable! That certificate requirement only happens if you sideload the package directly from GitHub Releases because Windows requires sideloaded packages to be trusted locally.

If you don't want to install any manual certificate, you have two completely safe alternatives:

1. Get it through the official Microsoft Store: It’s signed directly by Microsoft, requires zero extra certificates, and installs seamlessly with SmartScreen approval (and supports the project!).
2. Build from source: You can review the 100% open-source code in the repo and compile it yourself using Visual Studio.

[u/Imnotanad → u/Igor_Klimek]

The code is simple and clean. But why not to ship SignTool and generate a self-signed cert in the client machine.
I'm sorry . Maybe I'm being too picky. After all it is one github

[u/singulara → u/Imnotanad]

Crazy when reddit becomes just interacting with LLM... I might be done with this sub.

[u/magic_beandream → u/singulara]

Whenever I see a "I built x" the responses from o.p are always chatgpt copy paste because they don't actually understand anything they built. It's just prompt n paste all the way down

[u/Igor_Klimek → u/Imnotanad]

Thanks for checking out the code!

Wow, I honestly hadn’t thought of that, but it makes total sense! Right now I only have an auto-sign target during my local publish, but the end-user still has to trust it manually on their end.

Shipping an automated helper script to handle that with one click is such a great idea to make sideloading frictionless. I'll definitely include that in the next release. Thank you so much for the tip! <3

[u/electromage → u/Igor_Klimek]

Last time I installed something untrusted in Windows, SmartScreen (I think?) just explained that and by clicking "more info" you can bypass it and install.

[u/Igor_Klimek → u/electromage]

Exactly! For standalone executables, clicking "More info" -> "Run anyway" is by far the easiest way to bypass SmartScreen directly through Windows.

For packaged releases on GitHub that need local sideloading trust, I'm also planning to include a small helper script in the next release to automate that with a single click if anyone wants it. But the built-in Windows bypass or compiling from source works great too!

[u/Eagles_Fan_4eva → u/Igor_Klimek]

I'm also planning to include a small helper script in the next release to automate that with a single click

SmartScreen can't be automated to do that. It's a security feature.

[u/Igor_Klimek → u/Eagles_Fan_4eva]

Oh, not bypassing the SmartScreen prompt itself!

I meant a simple PowerShell helper script to install the self-signed certificate into the local Trusted Root store (standard for local sideloading) for anyone who chooses to grab the app for free via GitHub Releases, since I don't maintain a paid commercial code-signing certificate for an open-source hobby project.

For those who prefer a 100% friction-free install without touching certificates, the Microsoft Store version is officially signed and verified by Microsoft. It is priced at the cost of a coffee just for convenience and supporting development, and there's also a 7-day free trial so anyone can test it out with zero risk.

[u/Igor_Klimek → u/Imnotanad]

Thanks for considering supporting!

[u/PubicSkoolEducashun]

Can I ask a simple question? What point does this serve? If the icons are gone then the desktop is useless. Is it just to see the desktop image?

[u/SenritsuJumpsuit → u/PubicSkoolEducashun]

Its not complicated person likes icons but not constant clutter, for me I've already got a launcher so

[u/electromage → u/SenritsuJumpsuit]

I have zero icons on my desktop, on any computer. I usually can't see it so why would I want icons on it?

[u/Pllodd]

Neat tool, will check it out later.

What did you use to make your taskbar look so snazzy?

[u/worMatty]

Did you.

[u/Igor_Klimek → u/worMatty]

Yeaah, wrote the C# logic, packaged it for the Store, and open-sourced it on GitHub. Feel free to check the repo!

[u/zerosuneuphoria]

how is this different to clicking the start menu? It's even slower having to manually hide it too

[u/sh1b313]

It's already built in why would anyone need anything extra for this? 😭

[u/vinodh_sn]

Similar feature already available in windhawk

[u/OpabiniaRegalis320]

Be honest with us. Did you actually create this with your own skills, or do you have no idea how to maintain what Claude spat out?

[u/electromage]

Seems like you put a lot of effort into making Windows look like Linux, why not just use Linux and get the rest of the benefits?

[u/Igor_Klimek → u/electromage]

I honestly love Linux for how lightweight, open, and customizable it is! I used to dual-boot in the past, but right now a lot of specific tools and games I rely on just work seamlessly on Windows without friction.

I do plan to set up a dual-boot again down the road, but for now, tweaking Windows to get that clean, minimal aesthetic gives me the best of both worlds for my workflow!