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Windows Vista - Recycle Bin

Show the Recycle Bin on the Desktop

SUMMARY: Show the Recycle Bin on the Windows Vista Desktop if it is not present. Includes registry, Policy, and other workarounds if necessary.

The Recycle Bin icon on the Windows Vista desktop lets you drag and drop icons from Explorer to delete them, plus it provides a way to recover some files that have been deleted before they are permanently removed from the machine.*

If this icon is not present on the Desktop, do the following:

1. Right-click an empty area of the Desktop and choose "Personalize".

2. The "Personalization" window appears. Underneath "Tasks" in the left pane, click "Change desktop icons".

3. The "Desktop Icon Settings" dialog box appears. Check "Recycle Bin".

Displaying the Recycle Bin on a Windows Vista Desktop

4 Click "OK" to close the dialog box, then close the "Personalization" window.

If the Recycle Bin checkbox is grayed out:

Policy may prevent the Recycle Bin icon from appearing on the Desktop. If you are an administrator on a Windows Vista Machine running Business, Enterprise, or Ultimate, do the following:

1. Click the Start button, typing gpedit.msc and pressing Enter.

2. If the "User Account Control" dialog box appears, click "Continue".

Windows Vista User Account Control dialog box

3. The "Local Group Policy Editor" appears. In the left pane, navigate to "User Configuration" - "Administrative Templates" - "Desktop".

4. Double-click "Remove Recycle Bin icon from desktop".

Changing Desktop Recycle Bin settings via the Windows Vista Local Group Policy editor

5. When the Properties dialog box appears, click the "Not Configured" radio button.

6. Click "OK" to close the dialog box, then close the Local Group Policy Editor.

If the Recycle Bin checkbox is grayed out and you cannot access the Local Group Policy Editor

The following registry edit may restore the Recycle Bin to the Desktop or the ability to add the Recycle Bin to the Desktop.

Incorrect Registry Edits can have disastrous consequences including not being able to reboot your machine!

Read the disclaimer...

In the Windows Registry Editor, delete the following key:

Computer \ HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ NonEnum \ {645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}

If none of the above work:

Microsoft has a knowledge base article, KB810869, with a possible workaround. This may restore some, but not all, Recycle Bin functionality on the Desktop.

* Even if a file has been permanently removed, it still may be recoverable in some situations and with the right file recovery software.