How to Group Desktop Shortcut Icons in Windows 11
Is your Windows 11 desktop a disorganized mess? If so, you can organize it better by grouping shortcut icons into category boxes. Windows 11 doesn’t have any feature that enables you to group icons into boxes on the desktop.
Some users stump up for Stardock Fences to organize their desktop icons better. However, it’s possible to group desktop shortcut icons with the freeware iTop Easy Desktop and ToolBox software packages for Windows 11.
How to Group Desktop Icons With iTop Easy Desktop
The iTop Easy Desktop software for Windows 11, 10, 8.1, and 7 enables you to add transparent boxes with different titles to the desktop. Then you can organize your software shortcuts into distinct groups by moving them into the category boxes. This is how you can groupdesktop shortcutswith iTop Easy Desktop:
it’s possible to access options for the boxes by clicking theMenubuttons on their top left corners. Move the cursor over theSort byoption to select one of several options for organizing the icons in their respective boxes. There you can also select to rename and remove boxes.
TheViewsubmenu on that menu also includes aRoll upboxoption. Selecting that option rolls up the box to its title bar, as shown below. That’s a handy feature for preserving desktop space. To unroll a box when you need to access it, deselect the same option.
You can customize the appearance of all desktop boxes or individual ones from theAppearancetab on the iTop Easy Desktop window. There you can customize colors by selectingAll Boxesor an individual one on the drop-down menu and selecting colors on the palette. Drag theTransparencybar’s slider to make boxes more or less transparent.
TheQuick Actionstab on that window shows iTop Easy Desktop’s hotkeys. TheWin+F3hotkey listed there is a particularly noteworthy one. Pressing theWindows+F3key combination opens (and closes) a search tool in the middle of the desktop. You can search for and find apps, documents, and files in Windows 11 with that utility.
If you ever want to disable the desktop boxes, uncheck theEnable iTop Easy Desktopcheckbox on theGuidetab. Deselecting that setting will restore all your shortcuts on the desktop as they originally were before you grouped them in boxes. Reselecting the same option will display all boxes you added.
How to Group Desktop Icons With ToolBox
ToolBox is older software for grouping desktop shortcuts that dates back to Windows 3.1. So, you can utilize it on a wide range of Windows platforms, including the most recent addition to the series. ToolBox isn’t actively updated anymore, but it packs in more customization settings than iTop Easy Desktop. You can group shortcuts on your desktop with ToolBox as follows:
You can customize a desktop box by right-clicking it and selectingToolbox Properties. The Toolbox Properties window includes options for resizing boxes. Drag theTile WidthandTile Heightbars’ sliders to make a box bigger or smaller. Alternatively, drag theRoworColumnbars’ sliders to change the number of rows and columns a box has for its shortcuts.
If you want to add a title to the box, select theTitle Bar Visiblecheckbox. Then input a title for the box in theToolbox Namebox. You can further configure the title by clicking theFontandSizebutton. Choose a different font, style, and size option on the window that appears.
The boxes are transparent by default. You can adjust the transparency level by moving theTintbar’s slider left and ride. Click theTransparency Effectdrop-down menu to choose one of the four effect options there.
To change the color of a box, press the click to change button for theColoroption; then select an alternative on the Color Picker window and clickOK. Press theApply Changesbutton to save the new color.
There are more options available on the ToolBox control panel. Right-click the program’s system tray icon and selectToolBox Control Panel. TheToolBoxestab there displays a list of your boxes. You can remove a box from the desktop by right-clicking it and selectingDelete ToolBox.
Select theApplication Settingstab to view more general ToolBox software settings. Select theStart Toolbox when Windows startssetting there if you want the program to run automatically. There you can also add two pre-made boxes to the desktop by clickingWizardand selectingCreate System Folders ToolboxorCreate Toolbox for Drives.
Organize Your Desktop Better in Windows 11
ToolBox and iTop Easy Desktop are ideal for organizing the Windows 11 desktop more efficiently. It’s quick and easy to group your desktop’s software, folder, and file shortcuts into different box categories with both those software packages. They’re decent alternatives to Fences that pack in a good range of options and features.
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