Workaround to Remove Shortcut Arrow (Make Transparent) in Windows 7 Yet Can Pin to Taskbar or Start Menu
In Windows 7, once user uses the IsShortcut hack to remove shortcut icon arrow overlay image, the shortcut can no longer been pinned to Windows 7 Taskbar and Start Menu. For Windows 7 user who don’t like the shortcut arrow image to appear on the icon, but yet still want to pin the shortcut to Taskbar or Start Menu, there is a workaround hack to remove and hide the shortcut arrow.
In fact, the following trick, which make the arrow shortcut overlay image transparent through registry, is the proper way to remove and hide the arrow overlay on the icon of shortcut, which is implemented in TweakUI PowerToy for Windows XP too. By using the proper registry hack below to remove the shortcut arrow, user can avoid the double items issue when right clicking on a shortcut (.lnk) file. In Windows 7, user can avoid the problem of unable or cannot pin shortcut item to Taskbar or Start Menu and other related issues.
How to Remove Shortcut Arrow in Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows Server
Open a command prompt (with administrator rights in Windows Vista and Windows 7), and the run the following command line statement to add the necessary registry key:
REG ADD “HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Icons” /v 29 /d %SystemRoot%\System32\shell32.dll,50 /f
Alternatively, download and apply the following registry file, which has the HEX value for Shell Icons which equals to %SystemRoot%\System32\shell32.dll,50
Download Remove_Shortcut_Arrow.reg
After applying the tweak, download and run the FlushCode.exe to refresh the icon cache.
Important: For user who has previously use the common method (deleting IsShortcut registry value) to remove the arrow on shortcut, restore the IsShortcut registry value first as per instruction used to fix issue related to right click menu items after removing shortcut arrow. Alternatively, copy and paste the following lines of code to a text editor, and then save as a file with .reg extension and run the saved registry file to merge back the value.
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\lnkfile]
@="Shortcut"
"IsShortcut"=""
Related Articles
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- How to Remove ‘- Shortcut’ Suffix for a Shortcut Created in Windows Vista
- Workaround to Pin My Computer, Documents, Recycle Bin or Any Folders to Windows 7 TaskBar (Pin to Windows Explorer Alternative)
- Add and Create Aero Flip 3D Shortcut (on Desktop, Quick Launch or Windows 7 Taskbar)
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Entries (RSS)
November 13th, 2009 02:39
Ed K.
Did you try the program I mentioned below?
November 12th, 2009 03:44
Help, after applying shortcut remover in Windows 7 the shortcut overlay displays a small black square where the shortcut arrow was previously. How do I fix this? Thanks!
November 8th, 2009 01:17
Download ultimate windows tweaker v2
Apply the arrow removal option under “Additional Tweaks” and all should be good. Hope this helps. I was having the black box problem too.
November 7th, 2009 20:52
anybody tried doing a “switch user” after the shortcut icon arrow fix; Win7 does a blue screen crash. Log off is ok, just switch user
Any suggestions?
November 7th, 2009 06:40
So used the reg file that was given from this site, and i forgot to do a system restore point. Right now I have black icons, the whole icon is black. How do i fix it? please help.
November 5th, 2009 01:39
I used the reg file from the original article and it worked fine but I was wondering if it’s possible to add the shortcut arrow back?
October 23rd, 2009 14:40
Thank you genetix for uploading the FxVisor Old Editions to Mediafire. It removed the black boxes over my icons that was driving me nuts. You’re a life saver. Feel free to smack me on the head for blindly trying out a registry tweak without reading the comments from other users first.
October 22nd, 2009 20:49
Guys this is how to really fix the back box issue
as said by:Andy
__________________________
Well, that worked rather pleasantly.
change the registry value at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Icons\29 to point to it, ending in ,0.
Example:
C:\Users\RealityRipple\Pictures\ICO\Shortcut.ico,0
______________________________________
Instead of using his icon try mine….
Simply rename the icon to Shortcut.ico and do as told above.
I definitely worked for me… thanks guys for posting comments and this article, enabled me to get rid of those arrows ….
October 19th, 2009 03:26
I have tried the code mentioned here and had no luck. Upon searching some more I found this code that finally worked for me.
REG ADD "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Icons" /v 29 /t REG_EXPAND_SZ /d %systemroot%\system32\shell32.dll,52 /fOctober 13th, 2009 01:08
Christian’s code is the best for doing this in windows 7 the problem I had was that the second set of quotes is making it create a hierarchy within the registry.
reg add “HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Icons” /v 29 /d %SystemRoot%\System32\shell32.dll,52 /f
this code is what I used and it should be able to be copied and pasted into the command prompt to get everything to work.
September 26th, 2009 03:36
There is no ‘Shell Icons’ key in Windows 7.
September 24th, 2009 09:49
I’ve tried most methods. Her is the easiest:
Install Microangelo On Display. The trial version will do the trick. (You don’t have to buy it to remove the arrows permanently.
http://www.microangelo.us/mod.asp
In the Icon Overlay section, click “None.” That’s it. No more arrows. You may or may not have to reboot (not sure), but you can then uninstall the trial version and arrow won’t plaque you again!
September 15th, 2009 02:28
Christian solution is working, but the register key is not wrriten properly. It should be
REG ADD “HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Icons” /v 29 /d %SystemRoot%\System32\shell32.dll,52 /fSeptember 1st, 2009 22:00
This tip was correct for Vista and XP, but is not correct for Windows 7. If you follow this in Windows 7, you’ll get black boxes over your icons, as others have noticed. That’s because the registry key references icon position 50 in shell32.dll, when it should reference position 52. The correct command to run, therefore, is:
reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Icons” /v 29 /d "%SystemRoot%\System32\shell32.dll,52" /f"I’ve tested this on Windows 7 Ultimate x64 Build 7100, and it works. Not that it is not necessary to do anything other than issue this command and reboot; refreshing icon caches, etc. are unnecessary.
August 11th, 2009 01:24
I found a solution to black desktop icons…. I restored my registry to the point BEFORE I applied this tweak. The arrows are there but the icons are not blacked out and my right click menu under IE (to open a link in a new window) works again.
August 11th, 2009 01:07
First problem was the IE right click menu stopped working. I’m convinced this had something to do with it. I got that restored by running “regsvr32 actxprxy.dll” then, as others have mentioned… over half my desktop icons turned black. There must be a better method than this one.
May 16th, 2009 22:26
Well, seems for somereason the frameworkx no longer exists..
so dumped to mediafire.com
http://www.mediafire.com/?qvl3mlnciwy
May 16th, 2009 22:19
Well, testing here old software for Vista called ‘FxVisor’ (comes in x86 and x64 flavor (DO NOT MEAN new ‘FxVisor’) I mean v1.3.0.0 from frameworkx.com.
Works perfectly where these registry tweaks doesn’t.
for note why the old version is since I tested their new versions after this v1.3.0.0 and none seemed exactly to work as they should, but this one old version works always.
March 5th, 2009 06:08
Well, that worked rather pleasantly.
Download this icon and save it to somewhere it can stay (such as a system directory or My Pictures), and change the registry value at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Icons\29 to point to it, ending in ,0.
Example:
C:\Users\RealityRipple\Pictures\ICO\Shortcut.ico,0Then restart your computer and your icons should be back to somewhat normal, but with a nice little tiny shortcut icon. Of course, you can create your own icon or modify this one with an image editor such as The GIMP. A single white pixel in the bottom left corner would work just as well, I’m sure.
March 5th, 2009 05:51
Same problem, except it’s black, and the properties window of any shortcut shows the entire icon as black.
I’m changing the icon to use a custom made one that simply has a tiny arrow in the corner to see if that fixes it… I’ll let you guys know if it works and put a copy up on my website so you can use it if you like.
February 13th, 2009 23:58
Tof,
I have the same arrow error that you have shown. Were you able to fix it or restore the previous arrow state?
February 3rd, 2009 12:35
[...] user who insists on removing the shortcut arrow, the proper way to remove shortcut arrow yet still allowing pin to [...]
January 31st, 2009 16:45
doesn’t seem to work as intended. It worked the first time, then after rebooting this is how my shortcuts looked like. I flushed the icon cache again, just in case, but no go.
http://i461.photobucket.com/albums/qq331/hpwpaper/arrowerrors.jpg
“After applying the tweak, download and run the FlushCode.exe to refresh the icon cache.”
Doesn’t work either.
you need to it the old way by going to “C:\Users\[ProfileName]\AppData\Local” with hidden files and hidden system files turned off, delete the IconCache.db and log off and on to refresh the icon cache.