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How to Recover & Create "Show Desktop" Icon Function on Windows 7, Vista, XP and 2000

The Show Desktop feature, included with almost all versions of Windows up to Windows 7, allows a user to minimize or restore all open programs and easily view the desktop. To use this feature, a user must simply click Show Desktop on the Quicklaunch toolbar to the right of the taskbar.

A common problem amongst Windows users is that the Show Desktop icon can accidentally be deleted, thus losing the ability to minimize all open programs and reveal your desktop.

This short article will explain how you can recover and create the Show Desktop icon and restore this functionality. The instructions included are valid for Windows 95, 98, 2000, Windows Vista and Windows 7 operating systems.

To recreate the Show Desktop icon, follow these steps:

1) Click on Start, Run, type Notepad and click on OK or Hit Enter. Alternatively, open the Notepad application.

2) Carefully copy and paste the following text into the Notepad window:

[Shell]
    Command=2
    IconFile=explorer.exe,3
    [Taskbar]
    Command=ToggleDesktop

On the File menu, click Save As, then save the file to your desktop as Show desktop.scf. The Show Desktop icon is now created on your desktop.

3) Finally, click and drag the Show Desktop icon to your Quick Launch toolbar.