There are a couple of reasons why you would want to save positions of desktop icons and layouts on your PC. Maybe you have positioned icons in a custom way and don’t want other users to disturb it; or maybe you want to have a tidy desktop and don’t want to mess up with the current positions.
With default settings, you can’t save desktop icon positions in Windows, at least in current versions of Windows. However, one can get this functionality in Windows with the help of third-party tools.
There are plenty of free tools available for this job. The problem with most of the tools is that you need to launch them every time you want to save or restore icon positions and layout. In the past, we reviewed a couple of tools that help you save and restore desktop icon positions.
This time around, we have a unique program that works as a shell extension for XP, Vista, and the latest Windows 7.
Desktop Restore is a shell extension that integrates into the desktop context menu to record the layout and positions of icons and programs on the desktop so that you can restore it later. The extension can save more than one custom layout, which comes in handy, especially if you have enough icons and program shortcuts on your desktop.
And the best part is it also supports multi-monitor layouts. When you install the Desktop Restore extension, Save desktop, Restore desktop, and Custom save/restore entries will be added to the desktop context menu (right-click menu). If you think this clutters the desktop context menu, simply enable the Display only custom menu on the desktop option to see only one entry in the context menu.
Once installed, right-click on the desktop and then click the Save desktop button to save icon positions. To restore, again do right-click on the desktop and then click the Restore desktop option.
Overall, it’s a handy extension to keep your desktop clean and organized in a few clicks. How to change icon spacing on desktop guide might also interest you.