How can I manually/via the registry delete desktop icons?

Question

There are a bunch of annoying icons on my corporate laptop that I cannot delete due to group policy, how can I remove them via the registry?

Answer 1

If you want to remove all the icons in the desktop, go to:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]

Add:

Name: HideIcons 
Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 1

If you want to remove a specific icon (not tested):

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\NewStartPanel]

Here you will find several GUIDs, one for each of the icons. A value of 0x0 will show the icon, 0x1 will hide it. Just change it and refresh the desktop, it should work.

Some examples:

Network Places:         {208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D}
My Computer:            {20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}
My Documents:           {450D8FBA-AD25-11D0-98A8-0800361B1103}
Internet Explorer:      {871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30309D}
Recycle Bin:            {645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}