Remove arrows from shortcuts in Windows – 3 ways

In the Windows operating system, all objects are identified by their own icons, with the help of which they perform the necessary actions, for example, launching a program, opening a window, etc. For any object in Windows, you can create several icons by placing them in different places on your computer.

These icons are called “shortcuts”. You can distinguish a shortcut from a file by a small blue arrow located in the lower left corner of the icon.

The arrow indicates that the shortcut is associated with a specific object in Windows. Shortcuts make the operating system easier to use by allowing you to quickly access files or programs.

Some users need to remove the arrow from the Windows shortcut. Why might this be required? Perhaps due to the user’s aesthetic perceptions of how Windows elements should be displayed on a PC screen.

A label is essentially a reference to an object. The program, file or element of the system itself is in its place in the operating system by default, and the shortcut is freely placed in any other convenient location on the computer.

The shortcut can be moved, deleted or renamed, or a new one created, while the original file itself will not be affected in any way. If we create a new document or some other file on the Windows Desktop, then it will no longer be a shortcut, but the object itself. There are no arrows on such files.

How to remove arrows from labels? There are several ways to remove arrows from icons in Windows.

Despite the fact that some users want to remove the arrows from the Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows 10 shortcuts, I do not recommend doing this because of the risk of negative consequences. It will not be possible to distinguish by eye where the shortcut or the file itself is located, therefore, when working on a computer, erroneous actions with objects are possible, for example, deleting necessary and important files.

In this article, you will find instructions on how to remove the blue arrows on the icons, as well as how to return the arrows to the icons again after removing them. For this, we use a system tool – the Registry Editor and third-party software – the Winaero Tweaker program.

How to remove arrows from Windows 10 shortcuts – 1 way

You can remove the arrows from the icons by making changes to the Windows system registry. After making changes to the registry settings, icons without arrows on the desktop will appear on the computer, which in fact are shortcuts.

Do the following:

1. Open Registry Editor.
2. Follow the path:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer

3. In the “Explorer” section, create a section named “Shell Icons”.
4. Right-click on an empty space in the Registry Editor window.
5. From the context menu, first select New and then String Value.
6. Name the created parameter “29” without entering any other values.
7. Restart your computer or restart File Explorer.

After performing these steps, the arrows will disappear from the shortcuts, but these icons are still shortcuts.

This is easy to verify if you right-click on the icon, and select “Properties” in the menu that opens. In the window that opens, in the “Shortcut” tab, information about the object on the computer to which this shortcut is attached will be displayed.

To bring back shortcuts in Windows 10, do the following:

1. Enter the Registry Editor, follow the path:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer

2. Delete the “Shell Icons” key from the registry.
3. Restart your computer or restart Windows Explorer.

How to remove arrows from the Windows desktop – method 2

When using the second method, the standard arrow icon is replaced with a transparent one, so the arrows are not displayed on the PC screen.

Do the following:

1. Download the ZIP archive from the link .
2. Unzip the “Icon_Arrow” archive on your computer. The archive contains a transparent image “Blank” with the extension “.ico” and two registry files.
3. Copy the “Blank.ico” file to the “Windows” folder on the Local Disk “C:”.
4. Right-click on the “RemoveArrow.reg” file.
5. In the context menu, select “Merge”, agree to make changes to the registry.
6. Restart your PC or restart Windows Explorer.

To bring back shortcut arrows in Windows, do the following:

1. Double-click on the “RestoreArrow.reg” file, and then agree to apply the changes in the registry.
2. Restart File Explorer or restart your computer.

Remove arrows from shortcuts in Winaero Tweaker – 3 way

Winaero Tweaker is a free program that removes arrows from shortcuts. This is a powerful application for customizing the Windows operating system to the needs of the user. The application works in English.

Go through the following steps:

1. Download Winaero Tweaker from the official website: https://winaero.com/download-winaero-tweaker/ .
2. Install the program on your computer or use the portable version (this option is available during the application installation process).
3. In the program window on the left panel, find the “Shortcuts” section, click on the “Shortcut Arrow” item.
4. In the right area, activate the “No arrow” item.
5. Click on the “Restart Explorer” button.

To return to the default Windows settings, you must do the following:

1. In the Winaero Tweaker window, open the “Shortcuts” section.
2. Highlight the “Shortcut Arrow” item.
3. In the settings of the “Customize Shortcut Arrow” section, check the box next to the “Windows default” item.
4. To apply the changes, click on the “Restart Explorer” button.

After restarting the Explorer, the blue arrows will appear on the shortcuts again.

Article Conclusions

If necessary, the user can remove the arrows from the shortcuts in the Windows operating system. This operation can be done by applying changes to the system registry or using a third-party application – the free Winaero Tweaker program.

Keep in mind that after applying such settings, the user may mix up shortcuts and files, as a result, you can delete something you need, so it would be better to refuse to use such changes in the operating system.