WINDOWS DESKTOP - OVERVIEW
The desktop is the main screen area that you see after you turn on your computer and log on to Windows. Like the top of an actual desk, it serves as a surface for your work. When you open programs or folders, they appear on the desktop. You can also put things on the desktop, such as files and folders, and arrange them however you want.
The desktop is sometimes defined
more broadly to include the taskbar. The taskbar sits at the bottom of your
screen. It shows you which programs are running and allows you to switch
between them. It also contains the Start button Picture of the Start button,
which you can use to access programs, folders, and computer settings.
(a) Working with desktop icons
Icons are small pictures that
represent files, folders, programs, and other items. When you first start
Windows, you'll see at least one icon on your desktop: The Recycle Bin (more on
that later). Your computer manufacturer might have added other icons to the
desktop. Some examples of desktop icons are shown below.
Double-clicking a desktop icon
starts or opens the item it represents.
(i) Adding and removing icons from the desktop
You can choose which icons appear
on the desktop—you can add or remove an icon at any time. Some people like a
clean, uncluttered desktop with few or no icons. Others place dozens of icons on
their desktop to give them quick access to frequently used programs, files, and
folders.
If you want easy access from the desktop to your favorite files or programs, you can create shortcuts to them. A shortcut is an icon that represents a link to an item, rather than the item itself. When you double-click a shortcut, the item opens. If you delete a shortcut, only the shortcut is removed, not the original item. You can identify shortcuts by the arrow on their icon.
(ii) To add a shortcut to the desktop
·
Locate the item that you want to create a shortcut for.
· Right-(iii) To add or remove common desktop icons
Common desktop icons include
Computer, your personal folder, the Recycle Bin, and Control Panel.
·
Right-click an empty area of the desktop, and then click
Personalize.
·
In the left pane, click Change desktop icons.
Under
Desktop icons, select the check box for each icon that you want to add to the
desktop, or clear the check box for each icon that you want to remove from the
desktop, and then click OK.
(iv) To move a file from a folder to the desktop
·
Open the folder that contains the file.
· Drag the file to the desktop .lick the item, click Send to, and then click Desktop (create shortcut). The shortcut icon appears on your desktop.
(v) To remove an icon from the desktop
Right-click the icon, and then
click Delete. If the icon is a shortcut, only the shortcut is removed; the
original item is not deleted.
(vi) Moving icons around
Windows stacks icons in columns on
the left side of the desktop. But you're not stuck with that arrangement. You
can move an icon by dragging it to a new place on the desktop.
You can also have Windows
automatically arrange your icons. Right-click an empty area of the desktop,
click View, and then click Auto arrange icons. Windows stacks your icons in the
upper-left corner and locks them in place. To unlock the icons so that you can
move them again, click Auto arrange icons again, clearing the check mark next
to it.
Note:
By default, Windows spaces icons
evenly on an invisible grid. To place icons closer together or with more
precision, turn off the grid. Right-click an empty area of the desktop, point
to View, and then click Align icons to grid to clear the check mark. Repeat
these steps to turn the grid back on.
(vii) Selecting multiple icons
To move or delete a bunch of icons
at once, you must first select all of them. Click an empty area of the desktop
and drag the mouse. Surround the icons that you want to select with the
rectangle that appears. Then release the mouse button. Now you can drag the
icons as a group or delete them.
Select multiple desktop icons by
dragging a rectangle around them
Comments
Post a Comment