What to do when Windows 10 desktop icons are missing. When desktop icons disappear, it can be tough to find what you need. In this video, we'll show you why Windows 10 desktop icons go missing and how to restore them. Before we begin, be sure to subscribe to Ninja One's IT Video Hub. For more tech content. Like this, windows 10 desktop icons can vanish for reasons such as default system configuration settings, outdated or missing graphics drivers, and a corrupted icon cache. Even if your desktop icons aren't missing, they might appear outdated or even distorted. You can restore desktop icons in several ways. Let's start with the easiest one. Check your desktop icon settings first. Click on the start button and select settings. Choose personalization, and then themes. Scroll down to related settings. Before selecting desktop icon settings, tick the boxes next to the icons you wanna see on your desktop. Then click on apply and okay. Rebuild the icon cache to clear and rebuild your cache. First, open file Explorer. Next, type this in the navigation bar, making sure to replace the bracketed section with the name of your user profile, and press enter in the file Explorer window. Press control plus F and type icon Cache to show all the files that begin with this term. Delete all these files and restart. Your PC Windows will automatically rebuild your icon cache, restoring your missing desktop icons. Finally, outdated Graphics drivers can lead to some display issues including your desktop icons turning white. To update them right click on the start button and choose Device Manager on the left panel. Expand the display adapters menu. Right click on your graphics card and choose Update Driver. Lastly, select search automatically for drivers and follow the installation prompts. Overall, the methods to restore desktop icons are fairly straightforward. Simply change your settings, update your drivers or repair system errors on your device. For more information, check out our official blog post on Missing Windows 10 desktop icons linked in the description below.